ICN Illinois

The Year in Climate: Attacks on Science, the Start of Trump’s Second Term and Surging Electricity Demand Foreshadow a Future Filled with Uncertainty

Global inaction on fossil fuel and plastic treaties, the dismantling of federal agencies and regulations and the rapid rise of data centers were just a few of the consequential stories that Inside Climate News tracked in 2025.

By Dan Gearino, ICN Staff

After a Hard Year for Environmental Justice, Chicago Communities Are Picking Up the Pieces

By Amber X. Chen

In the Great Lakes Region, a Push to Grow Water-Focused Startups Amid Federal Funding Uncertainty

By Leigh Giangreco

Illinois Is Going All In on Battery Storage. What Will That Mean?

By Alexia Underwood

A Long Wait for Flooding Help in Chicago May Be Nearing an End

By Leigh Giangreco

Bill Ensuring Active Management of Shawnee National Forest Clears Senate Committee

By Sarah Mattalian

ICE Raids in Chicago Spotlight the Link Between Immigrant Rights and Environmental Justice

By Susan Cosier

Invasive Scud Is Threatening the Great Lakes. Pollution Might Be Helping to Keep It Back.

By K.R. Callaway

Members of America’s Largest Power Grid Can’t Agree on How to Power Data Centers

By Rambo Talabong

What Chicago’s Boulevards Reveal about Community, Climate Change and Inequality

By Yiannis Mastoras

Lawmakers Press EPA for $3B in Stalled Lead Pipe Replacement Funds

By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco

Unpredictable Spurts of Dry and Wet Weather Cause Confusion and New Challenges for Midwestern Farmers

By Katie Cerulle

Illinois General Assembly Passes Energy Reform Act Aiming to Reduce Rates and Reach Clean Energy Goals

By Sarah Mattalian

Trucks Move the Country’s Goods Through This County. As Even More Loom, People Are Pushing Back.

By Siri Chilukuri

Hurricane and Tropical Storm Remnants Impact the Midwest, Too

By Susan Cosier

As the Data Center Boom Ramps Up in the Rural Midwest, What Should Communities Expect?

By Alexia Underwood

Wetlands Help Remedy Agricultural Pollution. Some Illinois Farmers Are Installing New Ones.

By Alexia Underwood

Renewable Energy Act Before Illinois Legislature Would Decrease Stress on Ratepayers, Advocates Say

By Sarah Mattalian

Illinois Wants Climate Education in Schools. Now Teachers Need to Figure Out How to Make It Happen.

By Amber X. Chen