Good things are happening! A major Midwest city goes renewable, states fund local journalism, Amazon’s e-book empire faces a real competitor, and a new rule requires merger transparency.
Chicago Runs Clean
As of 2025, all municipal buildings in Chicago, including 98 fire stations, two international airports, and two of the largest water treatment plants on the planet, are officially running completely on renewable energy.
The switch is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of the country’s third-largest city by 290,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year — the equivalent of taking 62,000 cars off the road. Chicago joins a growing list of U.S. cities leading the charge to go emissions free as the new Trump administration attacks federal clean energy programs and wipes out any mention of climate change from its online domain. At least for the next four years, the push for renewable energy will likely fall on the shoulders of state and local governments.
