Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition Celebrates National Energy Awareness Month with Listen, Lead, Share Events

The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) is celebrating National Energy Awareness Month with a Saturday series of Listen, Lead, Share (LLS) events throughout south and west side neighborhoods in Chicago this October.
The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) is celebrating National Energy Awareness Month with a Saturday series of Listen, Lead, Share (LLS) events throughout south and west side neighborhoods in Chicago this October.

Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition Celebrates National Energy Awareness Month with Listen, Lead, Share Events

The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) is celebrating National Energy Awareness Month with a Saturday series of Listen, Lead, Share (LLS) events throughout south and west side neighborhoods in Chicago this October.

LLS will educate communities on energy efficiency, alternatives, equity, and how the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) can help. The first LLS event kicked off recently on Saturday, October 5 at the Chicago Westside NAACP Office. Additional events will take place on October 19, and 26.

“Clean energy is needed in my community. It’s needed around the world because of global warming. Solar helps tackle global warming,” said Nigel Mosley, a graduate of Elevate Energy and partner’s Solar Jobs Training Program, and a member of Blacks in Green, a Chicago nonprofit member of the ICJC coalition. “It’s needed on the south and west sides,” Mosley adds.

LLS events welcome an open conversation to explore how communities across Illinois can benefit from the clean energy economy. LLS events provide an opportunity for members of the community to shape the future of clean energy in Illinois. CEJA was influenced by more than 100 LLS events that ICJC held last year across the state, where residents from different backgrounds showed strong support for CEJA.

The passage of the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) helped Illinois become a clean energy leader and advanced Illinois towards a clean, affordable energy future, according to a press release. CEJA will expand energy efficiency programs, invest in renewable energy in underserved communities, and create jobs and economic opportunities for Illinois residents, the press release further stated.

The events will provide information on how to save money on energy costs and understand what the climate crisis and the clean energy economy mean to people on the west and south side of Chicago.

The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition is made up of environmental groups, healthcare professionals, environmental justice champions, businesses, community leaders, consumer advocates, labor unions, and faith-based organizations working together to advance clean energy jobs, lower energy bills, and healthier air and water. The group championed the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA), which passed the Illinois General Assembly with bipartisan support and was signed into law in 2016. The law positioned Illinois to become a leader in clean energy and to capture the jobs and investments that come with it, according to a press release.

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