1Sky's Leadership Summit coming to Chicago

By 1Sky summer intern Melissa Rice. -- Luis

On St. Patrick’s Day, I stood in the shadow of the Sears Tower and cheered as the plumber’s union dyed the Chicago River bright green. Meanwhile, spurred by the work of local activists, Mayor Daley’s ambitious plan to make Chicago America’s greenest city is well underway. Take a look at that picture. It doesn’t get any greener than that!

Now 1Sky is coming to Chicago, the heart of the Midwest, for our regional Leadership Summit! On August 1st and 2nd, we’re bringing climate volunteers together for two days of grassroots training, networking, and policy briefings at Loyola University. Since our successful East Coast Leadership Summit, which generated ten lobby visits and numerous positive connection, we have been preparing to make our Midwest summit another smash hit. Our Climate Precinct Captains (CPCs) and activists will get a policy update and polish their skills, while new volunteers will gain an invaluable toolkit of grassroots skills. The folks from the famed Wellstone Action will be back again to help us with their training expertise.

To make the summit a success, I’ve gone back to my Chicago roots, calling numerous Illinois relatives and Midwest environmental groups to spread the word. Last week, a lead from a Loyola University student revealed an exciting, vibrant environmental community in the her neighborhood! Lauryn put me in touch with the local alderman’s office, which directs a local group of environmental buffs called the Ward 49 Green Corps, who coordinate with another local group, that works in turn with two Illinois state legislators! Within a few days, I was in touch with all of them. As this chain of involvement demonstrates, Chicago is a natural home for our grassroots summit and citizen-activists. But we need more people to make this a success. Sign up today! Want to spread the word? Download our flier (PDF) or ask us for some numbers to make calls! Email us at Local@1sky.org for more information.

Back to St. Paddy’s Day: Remember when Michelle Obama took the Chicago dying tradition and brought it to the White House by dying the fountains green? Now members of Congress have taken their constituents’ bold climate advocacy and brought it to Congress, as the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Since ACES passed the House of Representatives, we’re gearing up to pass a strong, effective climate bill in the Senate. And Midwestern senators (many of them swing votes) have a huge influence on this process.

This is the perfect time to take your climate leadership to the next level! Please join us by registering at 1Sky.org/summit. It’s time for real climate action. We can’t do it without you!