Heart of Illinois Group participates in the established National Sierra Club series of requirements for candidate endorsements. Multiple steps are necessary, from review of candidate responses to the Sierra Club survey, to an interview, to local group review and discussion and vote of the HOI Board; to providing documentation and obtaining the approval of the IL Chapter Sierra Political Committee and then the Chapter board. Candidates for Congress and other federal offices require National Sierra approval. This process typically can take multiple weeks. It is an important tool for evaluating and then obtaining Sierra Club endorsements for environmentally substantive candidates for office.
US House, 16th District:
Nolley is committed to clean energy and moving forward to meet 21st Century energy needs. He is very concerned and responsive to environmental and social justice issues affecting everyday people and workers. He shared several issues for our area including lead service lines; helping small family farms; concerns for consolidation by big agriculture; pollution from coal-fired power plants and other dirty energy impacts on air and water and related health impacts. Nolley has years of experience with labor unions and has endorsements from many. His background includes work as a community organizer and leading and managing various organizations. See his campaign Facebook page for examples of how he is confronting the corporation funding the incumbent takes. Nolley takes no corporation campaign donations. Other campaign issues are on his website.
US House, 17th District:
Sorensen has a strong record on environmental concerns. He cites his work as a meteorologist for over two decades commenting on the negative impacts of extreme weather across Central and Northwestern Illinois. He supports investing in clean energy sources that will create sustainable, good-paying jobs. He has sponsored legislation to help communities better prepare for flooding before disasters strike. He works with bipartisan efforts regularly, such as a House committee to inform Congress about weather forecasting and research and its its importance for U.S. economic, national and public security. He is also engaged on efforts regarding high utility costs to make sure that data centers are not passing energy costs to households, and he wants progress on clean and affordable energy. Sorensen reintroduced bipartisan legislation to preserve and restore the Driftless Area between Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Check out Sorensen’s website for more of his priorities.
Illinois House, 76th District:
Briel’s environmental concerns include threats to family farms, along with concerns for the conservation and the future. She sees real worries in the cuts to inspections and staffing at nuclear energy facilities, especially because Illinois has more nuclear plants (9) than any other state. She has a high environmental ranking based on key state environmental legislative votes, as evaluated by the Illinois Environmental Council for the most recent legislative session. She has received wide-ranging endorsements from labor unions, to nursing and a variety of other organizations.