Sangamon Valley Group ExCom Elections 2025

I have been helping to lead the fight against Hunter Dam in Springfield for 35 years, often in collaboration with the Sangamon Valley Group of the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club. I became more closely involved locally with the push for and adoption of Springfield City Water, Light & Power's integrated resource plan. I advocated for closure of CWLP's inefficient, money losing, water intensive coal fired power plants as part of that effort. As a member of SVG's Political Committee, I see my goal of preserving and protecting the Sangamon Valley and focusing on climate change in local, regional, and state-level efforts as a natural progression.

I started volunteering with the Sierra Club in 2019 after finding peace in the woods, and now deeply appreciate the opportunities to advocate for systemic changes. From lobbying successfully at the state level for CEJA (climate) and the SAFE-T Act (“justice”) to locally promoting humanization of our neighbors and everyone's rights to clean air and lead-free water. And don't forget the "Seek" app for plant ID. All are welcome!
 

Jake is a passionate advocate living in the Springfield area. He was born and raised near a forest preserve in the suburbs of Chicago where he felt a calling into the woods. It was there he developed a close relationship with the natural world. After learning about the disastrous environmental destruction over the past few centuries and the reality of climate change, Jake was naturally mobilized to action. The more he’s learned about environmental and social injustice, the more radical he has become as an advocate to help solve these issues through people power.

Scott Allen has been a Sierra Club volunteer since 2018.  That year he joined the Sangamon Valley Group ExComm.  He has been Vice Chair since 2022, and represents the group on the Clean Power Team as volunteer chair of that committee.  Scott works for Citizens Utility Board in downstate Illinois, including on Sierra Club's legacy project to decarbonize the city's power generation sector.

Nick Dodson is a passionate community advocate and environmental activist committed to building a just and sustainable future. Born and raised in central Illinois, he has a deep love for the region and a dedication to protecting its people and environment. He believes a small, organized group of passionate individuals can change the world and lives by that ideal, knowing meaningful change happens when communities organize, speak truth to power, and take collective action. Nick works to connect neighbors, grassroots organizations, and policymakers to tackle urgent environmental and social challenges.

Tom brings a robust history in environmental law to SVG: Bachelor of Arts with honors in Philosophy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 19 March 1976 Juris Doctorate, Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey, 24 May 1979 Assistant State's Attorney, McLean County September 1979 through November 1984.
Enforcement Attorney, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, December 1984 through November 1988. Assistant Attorney General to Attorneys General Neil Hartigan, Roland Burris, Jim Ryan, and Lisa Madigan, December 1988 through January 2014. Chief, Asbestos Litigation Bureau, September 1990 through August 1991. Chief, Environmental Bureau, September 1991 through January 2014. Professional accomplishments include numerous trials and settlements with record penalties, major multi-state cases in cooperation with federal authorities, legislative negotiations resulting in the Illinois Hydraulic Fracturing Act, and  successful challenges to EPA rules, including Massachusetts v. EPA (2007), where the Supreme Court first ruled that Greenhouse Gases are “air pollutants” and resulted in the Endangerment Finding in 2009,  which is now under threat.