Together We Made Strides toward Cleaner Air

RHA has worked for decades to reduce pollution from industrial sources like power plants and the millions of vehicles operating in Illinois.  This spring, your advocacy visits, emails and phone calls led to substantial victories for clean air. We also gained ground on important policies we’ll continue to advance next session.

 

Clean Energy Jobs Act Continues to Build Momentum

The ambitious Clean Energy Jobs bill continues to gain momentum with 49 co-sponsors in the House and 27 in the Senate by the end of May – with many joining as co-sponsors after RHA’s Lung Health Education Day in March.

The bill would ensure all electricity comes from non-carbon sources by 2030 (no fossil fuels) and all electricity comes from clean renewable sources by 2050; that the benefits of clean energy development from this transition are distributed equitably; and that efforts to electrify transportation remove the emissions equivalent of a million cars from the air people breathe.

RHA will continue to build on this momentum until the General Assembly comes back to Springfield in October.

 

Long-Standing Prohibition on State Action to Address Climate Crisis is Repealed

Legislation passed this session will remove a law passed 20 years ago that prohibited Illinois from enacting any policies to reduce greenhouse gases and tackle the climate crisis. The vote reflects that the state legislature increasingly sees an unstable climate as a health threat, especially for vulnerable people and those living with chronic medical conditions.

Removing this restriction means Illinois can now forge a more effective climate strategy and implement stronger greenhouse gas reduction policies, which will help expand clean renewable energy resources and reduce ozone smog. As the Sun-Times noted, Illinois could now even require tighter pollution limits for cars.

 

Clean Energy – Clean Air Victories in State Budget and Capital Spending Plan

The new state budget and capital plan passed this spring included several provisions to reduce emissions from electricity generation and transportation. Some harmful ideas were prevented as well.

Early versions of the capital plan included a $1000/year registration fee for any electric vehicles (EVs), which would have been a serious blow to the small but quickly growing market in Illinois just as more affordable EVs are beginning to show up at dealerships. In the end, zero-emission EV registration fees were raised to the same level as fossil fuel-powered vehicles and an extra $100/year fee was assessed since EV don’t contribute to state gasoline taxes. While this eliminated discounted registration fees for EVs, one of the very few incentives Illinois had to encourage people to by zero-emission vehicles, it also means EV fees are only a quarter of what was initially proposed.  Electric vehicles will still save drivers hundreds of dollars a year on gasoline not bought, and help reduce smog and greenhouse gas pollution!

 

Other victories this year in the state budget:

  • $50 million for the Renewable Energy Resources Fund. This supports the Illinois Solar for All program, which prioritizes new solar electric generation projects and solar job training in low-income communities.
  • $70 million is in the capital plan for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs for state facilities. This is sufficient funding to reduce 5% of state building energy usage, which will lower power demand and air pollution.
  • $70 million is in the capital plan to construct electric vehicle charging infrastructure in low income communities, helping ensure all communities can use electric vehicles.
  • $20 million is re-appropriated and another $60 million is appropriated from the Volkswagen emissions cheating settlement fund. Illinois EPA can now spend $80m on electric vehicle projects in the coming year that help reduce emissions from transportation sources to clean the air.

 

Together we’ve made great strides toward cleaner air, healthier lungs and a more sustainable future.

If you’d like to get move involved in Respiratory Health Association’s advocacy work, become an Advocacy Champion today.

10 steps we’ve taken together to prevent lung disease & promote clean air

It’s the end of our program year, and we want to share some of the ways your support helped our work preventing lung disease and promoting clean air. These are just a few of the ways we were able to give back to our communities in Chicago, Illinois and across the country over the last year.

Women’s Lung Health

We re-launched our Catch Your Breath® campaign to raise awareness and funds for women’s lung health research. One out of every six women in the U.S. lives with chronic lung disease. Through a partnership with Jewelry Television, we reached millions of people and raised funds to address lung disease.

Tobacco 21 Becomes Law

Raising the tobacco purchase age to 21 protects kids, saves lives and saves money. After a veto last year, RHA volunteers, board members and event participants doubled down to ensure Illinois lawmakers again passed Tobacco 21 legislation. This April, the Governor signed the bill into law.

Caring for COPD Caregivers

As a part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Learn More Breathe Better Campaign to empower COPD patients, RHA studied the usefulness of our COPD Caregiver’s Toolkit among caregivers in four Midwestern states. Between 80-90% of participants found the Toolkit to be relevant, understandable and would recommend it to another caregiver.

RHA Associates Board Grows

Part of our commitment to creating a better future includes shaping future leaders in the lung health community. This year we welcomed several new members to the Associates Board where members network, learn about volunteer leadership and have access to professional development opportunities while supporting RHA’s mission. Do you know a promising young professional looking for volunteer leadership experience? Nominate a new AB member. 

Training Educators for Asthma Emergencies

RHA’s online training in emergency asthma response reached more than 9,500 school staff. The results are in: after the training, over 90% of staff & teachers were able to identify a child having difficulty with asthma, knew how to help students avoid asthma triggers and knew how to respond to an asthma emergency.

Next Generation Advocates at RHA's 2018 volunteer recognition night

Next Generation Advocates

RHA has a secret weapon behind our recent advocacy successes – youth advocates. From third graders at Chicago’s Village Leadership Academy to RHA event participants, young people are raising their voices to help build a future free of lung disease—all while learning about local government and the value of civic engagement.

Supporting Providers, Supporting Patients

RHA’s Counsel to Quit® brief tobacco intervention training reached over 500 healthcare providers. Outcomes were published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment and showed that our program gave providers greater confidence in their ability to help smokers and to answer questions about the use of e-cigarettes.

Kicking the Habit

Through our City-funded Chicago Quits program, an initiative helping high-risk adults quit smoking, RHA delivered the Courage to Quit® smoking cessation program to nearly 500 program participants with a 27% quit rate among program completers, compared to 5% when people try to quit smoking cold turkey.

Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes

Dr. Kevin Haas used RHA research funding to study educational lung cancer screening resources. He determined current online information was written at a reading level many patients couldn’t understand and set out to make clear materials that help all patients realize the benefits of lung cancer screening.

Bringing Clean Energy to Chicago

RHA worked with the Chicago City Council to pass a resolution for Chicago to use 100% clean, renewable power in all buildings in the city by 2035. It also sets a 2040 deadline for using electric buses in the entire CTA fleet, and we are currently working with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to reach this goal even sooner.

Your support made these and other lung health victories possible. Thank you. 

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