{"id":72625,"date":"2018-10-30T17:14:14","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T22:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=72625"},"modified":"2018-10-30T17:14:14","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T22:14:14","slug":"in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"In Chicago suburb, candidates\u2019 environment message easy on climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lauren Robinson<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. \u2014 Calling for a stronger focus on renewable energy and protection of the Great Lakes, the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club hosted a day of action on a recent Saturday in support of two pro-environment Democrats campaigning for the state legislature.<\/p>\n

The Democrats \u2013 Sen. Julie Morrison and House hopeful Bob Morgan \u2013 spoke of specific ways to safeguard the environment in the Midwest, where temperatures are forecast to increase as a result of climate change. But, facing a polarized electorate, they avoided invoking the issue of climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, I think the phrase \u2018climate change\u2019 has been politicized too much by the right,\u201d said Anthony Vega, a Sierra Club Illinois organizer. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen is candidates from across Lake County and the state of Illinois say that they are 100 percent for clean energy or sustainable transportation. It\u2019s talking about climate change in another way, so it doesn\u2019t trigger the partisan clique.\u201d
\n\u200b
\nClimate change is still an abstract concept for many people in Illinois, Vega said. By talking about climate change in terms that are concrete and relatable, candidates and activists aim to reach voters on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n

The Sierra Club\u2019s day of action in Highland Park on Oct. 13 capped a week in which an international coalition of scientists released a report that predicted a human calamity caused by climate change and Florida reeled from a Category 4 hurricane believed by scientists to be a symptom of warming ocean temperatures.<\/p>\n

In the Midwest, temperatures stand to rise substantially over the course of the next several decades, resulting in\u00a0increased flooding,<\/a>\u00a0heat waves and warmer, less snowy winters,<\/a> according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Yale University data\u00a0show<\/a>\u00a0that while nearly three-quarters of Illinoisans believe climate change is occurring, much fewer \u2014 42 percent \u2014 believe it will harm them personally.<\/p>\n

While Morrison and Morgan were open to talking about climate change on the sidelines of the Sierra Club event, they did not emphasize the issue by name in their speeches to volunteers at Morrison\u2019s campaign headquarters. Instead, they spoke of specific environmental policies.<\/p>\n

Morrison, who serves on the Environment and Conservation Committee, said there is bipartisan interest in such issues as water quality in Senate District 29.<\/p>\n

But when asked if she got the sense that climate change was on her constituents\u2019 minds, she hesitated before saying, \u201cto an extent.\u201d She said voters in her district are more likely to talk about issues that are impacting them now and directly, she said.<\/p>\n

Morgan takes a similar stance. A health care attorney running for House District 58, he lists the environment \u2014 but not explicitly climate change \u2014 as a top priority on his campaign website.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about it, I think, in ways that are actually more accessible and real to people than just saying, \u2018We\u2019re fighting climate change,\u2019\u201d said Allie McRaith, Morgan\u2019s campaign manager.<\/p>\n

The campaign considers the environment a \u201ctop-three\u201d issue, along with schools and property taxes, McRaith said. She said this is because of the district\u2019s proximity to Lake Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut climate change is, oh, my gosh, it\u2019s not something that we pretend isn\u2019t going to affect us in any way shape or form here,\u201d McRaith said.<\/p>\n

Sam Salustro, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Illinois, said it\u2019s mainly Democratic candidates who are trying to tackle climate change. Yet he disputed the idea that the party is avoiding calling it by its name.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not shying away from it at all,\u201d Salustro said. He added that he hopes climate change becomes a bipartisan issue.<\/p>\n

The Illinois Republican Party did not respond to an emailed request for comment.<\/p>\n

Doug Ower, a Sierra Club volunteer who attended the day of action with his wife, Diane, said journalists need to hold political leaders accountable on the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many questions were asked in the last presidential debate about climate change?\u201d asked Ower. \u201cI don\u2019t think there was even one.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, President Donald Trump was not asked about climate change until 21 months into his presidency, in an interview with CBS journalist Lesley Stahl. He has repeatedly cast climate change as a \u201choax\u201d and once said it was a fake issue invented by China.<\/p>\n

Asked if he thought Illinois politicians were adequately addressing the issue, Ower said, \u201cThat could probably be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in Illinois, some Democrats running for U.S. Congress, including scientist Sean Casten and registered nurse Lauren Underwood, are adamant about including climate change in their platforms.<\/p>\n

Other Illinois candidates, such as Republican Tom Hanson, running to replace Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley in the 5th District, have rejected the scientific consensus on climate change and,\u00a0in a\u00a0Chicago Sun-Times<\/em>\u00a0interview,<\/a> denied that it poses a threat to posterity.<\/p>\n

Back in Highland Park, Vega and Luke Charter, a 21-year-old Sierra Club political apprentice, climbed out of Charter\u2019s car to canvass a neighborhood near Northmoor Country Club.<\/p>\n

Andrew Eisenberg, a father of two, came to the door and said he plans to vote for Morgan and Morrison. He said later that he does not care whether his local representatives take a stand on climate change as long as they support policies to preserve the environment.<\/p>\n

Leadership on climate change, he said, \u201chas to come from higher up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Sierra Club organizer Anthony Vega (right) and activist Luke Charter canvass for Democratic candidates for state legislature in Highland Park on a recent Saturday. (Lauren Robinson\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lauren Robinson Medill Reports HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. \u2014 Calling for a stronger focus on renewable energy and protection of the Great Lakes, the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club hosted a day of action on a recent Saturday in support of two pro-environment Democrats campaigning for the state legislature. The Democrats \u2013 Sen. Julie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":508,"featured_media":72640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4447,29,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2018","category-health-and-science","category-public-affairs"],"yoast_head":"\nIn Chicago suburb, candidates\u2019 environment message easy on climate change - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Chicago suburb, candidates\u2019 environment message easy on climate change - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lauren Robinson Medill Reports HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. \u2014 Calling for a stronger focus on renewable energy and protection of the Great Lakes, the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club hosted a day of action on a recent Saturday in support of two pro-environment Democrats campaigning for the state legislature. The Democrats \u2013 Sen. Julie […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-30T22:14:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/IMG_9205EDIT2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"733\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"laurenrobinson2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"laurenrobinson2019\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/\",\"name\":\"In Chicago suburb, candidates\u2019 environment message easy on climate change - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/IMG_9205EDIT2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-30T22:14:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/fc8a82d1c49a464c762cb195e1c9ad67\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/IMG_9205EDIT2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/IMG_9205EDIT2.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":733,\"caption\":\"Sierra Club organizer Anthony Vega (right) and activist Luke Charter canvass for Democratic candidates for state legislature in Highland Park on a recent Saturday. By Lauren Robinson Medill Reports HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. \u2014 Calling for a stronger focus on renewable energy and protection of the Great Lakes, the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club hosted a day of action on a recent Saturday in support of two pro-environment Democrats campaigning for the state legislature. The Democrats \u2013 Sen. Julie Morrison and House hopeful Bob Morgan \u2013 spoke of specific ways to safeguard the environment in the Midwest, where temperatures are forecast to increase as a result of climate change. But, facing a polarized electorate, they avoided invoking the issue of climate change. \u201cUnfortunately, I think the phrase \u2018climate change\u2019 has been politicized too much by the right,\u201d said Anthony Vega, a Sierra Club Illinois organizer. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen is candidates from across Lake County and the state of Illinois say that they are 100 percent for clean energy or sustainable transportation. It\u2019s talking about climate change in another way, so it doesn\u2019t trigger the partisan clique.\u201d \u200b Climate change is still an abstract concept for many people in Illinois, Vega said. By talking about climate change in terms that are concrete and relatable, candidates and activists aim to reach voters on both sides of the aisle. The Sierra Club\u2019s day of action on Oct. 13 capped a week in which an international coalition of scientists released a report that predicted a human calamity caused by climate change and Florida reeled from a Category 4 hurricane believed by scientists to be a symptom of warming ocean temperatures. In the Midwest, temperatures stand to rise substantially over the course of the next several decades, resulting in\u00a0increased flooding,\u00a0heat waves and warmer, less snowy winters, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Yale University data\u00a0show\u00a0that while nearly three-quarters of Illinoisans believe climate change is occurring, much fewer \u2014 42 percent \u2014 believe it will harm them personally. While Morrison and Morgan were open to talking about climate change on the sidelines of the Sierra Club event, they did not emphasize the issue by name in their speeches to volunteers at Morrison\u2019s campaign headquarters. Instead, they spoke of specific environmental policies. Morrison, who serves on the Environment and Conservation Committee, said there is bipartisan interest in such issues as water quality in Senate District 29. But when asked if she got the sense that climate change was on her constituents\u2019 minds, she hesitated before saying, \u201cto an extent.\u201d She said voters in her district are more likely to talk about issues that are impacting them now and directly, she said.\u00a0 Morgan takes a similar stance. A health care attorney running for House District 58, he lists the environment \u2014 but not explicitly climate change \u2014 as a top priority on his campaign website. \u201cWe talk about it, I think, in ways that are actually more accessible and real to people than just saying, \u2018We\u2019re fighting climate change,\u2019\u201d said Allie McRaith, Morgan\u2019s campaign manager. The campaign considers the environment a \u201ctop-three\u201d issue, along with schools and property taxes, McRaith said. She said this is because of the district\u2019s proximity to Lake Michigan. \u201cBut climate change is, oh, my gosh, it\u2019s not something that we pretend isn\u2019t going to affect us in any way shape or form here,\u201d McRaith said. Sam Salustro, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Illinois, said it\u2019s mainly Democratic candidates who are trying to tackle climate change. Yet he disputed the idea that the party is avoiding calling it by its name. \u201cWe\u2019re not shying away from it at all,\u201d Salustro said. He added that he hopes climate change becomes a bipartisan issue. The Illinois Republican Party did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Doug Ower, a Sierra Club volunteer who attended the day of action with his wife, Diane, said journalists need to hold political leaders accountable on the subject. \u201cHow many questions were asked in the last presidential debate about climate change?\u201d asked Ower. \u201cI don\u2019t think there was even one.\u201d In fact, President Donald Trump was not asked about climate change until 21 months into his presidency, in an interview with CBS journalist Lesley Stahl. He has repeatedly cast climate change as a \u201choax\u201d and once said it was a fake issue invented by China. Asked if he thought Illinois politicians were adequately addressing the issue, Ower said, \u201cThat could probably be better.\u201d Elsewhere in Illinois, some Democrats running for U.S. Congress, including scientist Sean Casten and registered nurse Lauren Underwood, are adamant about including climate change in their platforms. Other Illinois candidates, such as Republican Tom Hanson, running to replace Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley in the 5th District, have rejected the scientific consensus on climate change and,\u00a0in a\u00a0Chicago Sun-Times\u00a0interview, denied that it poses a threat to posterity. Back in Highland Park, Vega and Luke Charter, a 21-year-old Sierra Club political apprentice, climbed out of Charter\u2019s car to canvass a neighborhood near Northmoor Country Club. Andrew Eisenberg, a father of two, came to the door and said he plans to vote for Morgan and Morrison. He said later that he does not care whether his local representatives take a stand on climate change as long as they support policies to preserve the environment. Leadership on climate change, he said, \u201chas to come from higher up.\u201d Photo at top: Sierra Club organizer Anthony Vega (right) and activist Luke Charter canvass for Democratic candidates for state legislature in Highland Park on a recent Saturday. 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The Democrats \u2013 Sen. Julie […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2018-10-30T22:14:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":733,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/IMG_9205EDIT2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"laurenrobinson2019","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"laurenrobinson2019","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/","name":"In Chicago suburb, candidates\u2019 environment message easy on climate change - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/IMG_9205EDIT2.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-30T22:14:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/fc8a82d1c49a464c762cb195e1c9ad67"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/IMG_9205EDIT2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/10\/IMG_9205EDIT2.jpg","width":1100,"height":733,"caption":"Sierra Club organizer Anthony Vega (right) and activist Luke Charter canvass for Democratic candidates for state legislature in Highland Park on a recent Saturday. By Lauren Robinson Medill Reports HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. \u2014 Calling for a stronger focus on renewable energy and protection of the Great Lakes, the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club hosted a day of action on a recent Saturday in support of two pro-environment Democrats campaigning for the state legislature. The Democrats \u2013 Sen. Julie Morrison and House hopeful Bob Morgan \u2013 spoke of specific ways to safeguard the environment in the Midwest, where temperatures are forecast to increase as a result of climate change. But, facing a polarized electorate, they avoided invoking the issue of climate change. \u201cUnfortunately, I think the phrase \u2018climate change\u2019 has been politicized too much by the right,\u201d said Anthony Vega, a Sierra Club Illinois organizer. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen is candidates from across Lake County and the state of Illinois say that they are 100 percent for clean energy or sustainable transportation. It\u2019s talking about climate change in another way, so it doesn\u2019t trigger the partisan clique.\u201d \u200b Climate change is still an abstract concept for many people in Illinois, Vega said. By talking about climate change in terms that are concrete and relatable, candidates and activists aim to reach voters on both sides of the aisle. The Sierra Club\u2019s day of action on Oct. 13 capped a week in which an international coalition of scientists released a report that predicted a human calamity caused by climate change and Florida reeled from a Category 4 hurricane believed by scientists to be a symptom of warming ocean temperatures. In the Midwest, temperatures stand to rise substantially over the course of the next several decades, resulting in\u00a0increased flooding,\u00a0heat waves and warmer, less snowy winters, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Yale University data\u00a0show\u00a0that while nearly three-quarters of Illinoisans believe climate change is occurring, much fewer \u2014 42 percent \u2014 believe it will harm them personally. While Morrison and Morgan were open to talking about climate change on the sidelines of the Sierra Club event, they did not emphasize the issue by name in their speeches to volunteers at Morrison\u2019s campaign headquarters. Instead, they spoke of specific environmental policies. Morrison, who serves on the Environment and Conservation Committee, said there is bipartisan interest in such issues as water quality in Senate District 29. But when asked if she got the sense that climate change was on her constituents\u2019 minds, she hesitated before saying, \u201cto an extent.\u201d She said voters in her district are more likely to talk about issues that are impacting them now and directly, she said.\u00a0 Morgan takes a similar stance. A health care attorney running for House District 58, he lists the environment \u2014 but not explicitly climate change \u2014 as a top priority on his campaign website. \u201cWe talk about it, I think, in ways that are actually more accessible and real to people than just saying, \u2018We\u2019re fighting climate change,\u2019\u201d said Allie McRaith, Morgan\u2019s campaign manager. The campaign considers the environment a \u201ctop-three\u201d issue, along with schools and property taxes, McRaith said. She said this is because of the district\u2019s proximity to Lake Michigan. \u201cBut climate change is, oh, my gosh, it\u2019s not something that we pretend isn\u2019t going to affect us in any way shape or form here,\u201d McRaith said. Sam Salustro, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Illinois, said it\u2019s mainly Democratic candidates who are trying to tackle climate change. Yet he disputed the idea that the party is avoiding calling it by its name. \u201cWe\u2019re not shying away from it at all,\u201d Salustro said. He added that he hopes climate change becomes a bipartisan issue. The Illinois Republican Party did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Doug Ower, a Sierra Club volunteer who attended the day of action with his wife, Diane, said journalists need to hold political leaders accountable on the subject. \u201cHow many questions were asked in the last presidential debate about climate change?\u201d asked Ower. \u201cI don\u2019t think there was even one.\u201d In fact, President Donald Trump was not asked about climate change until 21 months into his presidency, in an interview with CBS journalist Lesley Stahl. He has repeatedly cast climate change as a \u201choax\u201d and once said it was a fake issue invented by China. Asked if he thought Illinois politicians were adequately addressing the issue, Ower said, \u201cThat could probably be better.\u201d Elsewhere in Illinois, some Democrats running for U.S. Congress, including scientist Sean Casten and registered nurse Lauren Underwood, are adamant about including climate change in their platforms. Other Illinois candidates, such as Republican Tom Hanson, running to replace Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley in the 5th District, have rejected the scientific consensus on climate change and,\u00a0in a\u00a0Chicago Sun-Times\u00a0interview, denied that it poses a threat to posterity. Back in Highland Park, Vega and Luke Charter, a 21-year-old Sierra Club political apprentice, climbed out of Charter\u2019s car to canvass a neighborhood near Northmoor Country Club. Andrew Eisenberg, a father of two, came to the door and said he plans to vote for Morgan and Morrison. He said later that he does not care whether his local representatives take a stand on climate change as long as they support policies to preserve the environment. Leadership on climate change, he said, \u201chas to come from higher up.\u201d Photo at top: Sierra Club organizer Anthony Vega (right) and activist Luke Charter canvass for Democratic candidates for state legislature in Highland Park on a recent Saturday. (Lauren Robinson\/MEDILL)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chicago-suburb-candidates-environment-message-easy-on-climate-change\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In Chicago suburb, candidates\u2019 environment message easy on climate change"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/fc8a82d1c49a464c762cb195e1c9ad67","name":"laurenrobinson2019","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c13a9d3ae47713723ff638a98ab3ecddd16b78b677b274769e01d77f0b8826b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c13a9d3ae47713723ff638a98ab3ecddd16b78b677b274769e01d77f0b8826b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"laurenrobinson2019"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/laurenrobinson2019\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/508"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}