Description:

Join the Program in Environmental Policy and Culture for our Green Bag lunch lecture series. Lunch provided - please RSVP by January 30.

Speaker: Jennifer Walling, Executive Director for the Illinois Environmental Council 

Topic: Illinois Environmental Legislative Developments: 2025

Abstract: 2025 legislative priorities include:

- Blocking potential federal rollbacks at the state level

- Passing legislation to expedite getting renewable energy onto the grid, reduce emissions from the transportation sector, and decarbonizing buildings

- Passing legislation to reduce plastic waste

- Protecting wetlands from the Trump Supreme Court rollbacks

Bio: Jen Walling has served as the Executive Director for the Illinois Environmental Council since January of 2011, where she oversees the strategic direction and management of the organization and lobbies decision makers on environmental issues. Jen has drafted, negotiated, lobbied and passed hundreds of bills in Springfield while working to build the power, expertise and relationships of the entire environmental community. Jen holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also received a juris doctorate from the University of Illinois College of Law and is an attorney licensed to practice law in Illinois.