This Blog Spotlight post is authored by Oscar Lee, a student at the Illinois Mathematics & Science Academy (IMSA) and Go Green Northbrook Intern.
Hello! I hope everyone’s 2026 is off to a great start. I’m back to share more environmental policy news from a state, national, and global level!
The Climate Change Superfund Act
In Illinois this past month, two particularly exciting pieces of legislation have been in the works. Firstly, a new bill, HB4773, or the Climate Change Superfund Act. Filed by Illinois House of Representatives member Robyn Gabel, the bill requires climate polluters to pay into a new fund for climate change impacts to offset their environmental impacts (Bill Status of HB4773, 2026). The IEPA is in charge of rulemaking to quantify the emissions and set payment amounts proportional to each company’s emissions. These funds will go towards climate change adaptation and infrastructure projects (specific projects are to be determined). What’s unique about this bill is that it mandates at least 40% of the fund be spent on projects in disadvantaged communities, which are often disproportionate victims of climate change impacts (US EPA, 2021).
At the time of writing, the bill is still in its very early stages. It has been filed and got its first formal reading in the House, but there are still high expectations and hopes for this bill. I think the bill has the potential to have lots of great environmental impact and help disadvantaged communities, but it needs to be done correctly. As I mentioned earlier, the bill doesn’t have a set rate for these climate polluters to pay yet; it simply leaves it up to the IPEA to choose. In my experience reading these types of bills, without a quantifiable and set action plan, it is hard for the bill to be passed, and if it does, it is often watered down and doesn’t impact as much as they had originally hoped. In addition, key terms like “disadvantaged communities” and “climate adaptation project” are left undefined, which leaves room for loopholes and ineffective legislation.
Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act
On the other end of the legislative lifetime, Governor Pritzker has signed a major clean energy reform into effect. On Jan 8, 2026 , Pritzker signed the “Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act”, a broad energy reform package that aims to strengthen Illinois’ power grid and make clean energy development more viable. The bill, put simply, creates a new system that encourages large-scale battery projects, lifts nuclear power plant bans, and creates new requirements for electric utilities. To pay for these new systems, a new charge will appear on consumer bills starting in 2030. However, the Illinois Power Agency (IPA) estimates that the law will save customers $13.4 billion over 20 years. Bill sponsor Senator Bill Cunningham stated, “We’re making it easier to develop renewable energy” (Dougherty, 2024). The law directs the Illinois Power Agency (IPA) to produce 3 megawatts of battery energy storage by 2030, 15 times the current grid-scale storage. It also incentivizes solar and wind energy expansion. The bill comes in response to the energy shortfalls that have been projected to drive up energy costs in the next three to five years. Pritzker claimed these shortfalls would only be made worse by Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, which eliminated tax incentives for renewable energy and stopped funding for energy-related projects (Dougherty, 2024).
National Environmental Regulation Changes
In the United States, President Trump issued a new executive order, which continues to remove environmental regulations. Essentially, for every new regulation federal agencies (specifically the Environmental Protection Agency) create, they have to eliminate 10 old ones. (Boerner, 2026) This has pushed the EPA to look for more rules to cut, leading to less regulation around climate change. As I mentioned in last month’s article, the removal of these regulations is a part of this administration’s continual anti-environmental efforts. According to the group Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), “a new report shows the Trump EPA has initiated a record low number of actions against polluters, compared to past administrations” (Brady, 2026).
On the global stage, the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement came into effect on January 10, 2026. The treaty is the first legally binding agreement to protect marine life in “high seas,” or international waters that lie beyond any one country’s control. These waters make up a whopping 2/3rds of the ocean, which means this agreement will significantly increase the protection of marine life. This agreement took nearly 20 years of negotiations to complete, which just goes to show how much time and effort go into these treaties. The treaty’s main goals include accountability for polluters, inclusive governance, and addressing the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution (Lennon, 2026). Overall, this is a game-changer for protecting our waters and represents a bigger accomplishment in international negotiations.
February Highlights
Ultimately, the state of Illinois continues to have bright hope and actions toward a more sustainable future. I always feel a sense of relief knowing that our representatives care about the environment. On a national level, it’s a different feeling, however. It’s incredibly frustrating to see the administration sneakily get away with deregulating environmental policies every month, and no one is batting an eye. On a global scale, there is definitely a more optimistic feeling. While these agreements on the global scale often take much longer than at a state or national level, they truly represent human cooperation towards a greater good. I hope to see more cooperation as we continue to move forward into the new year.
That’s it for this month, thanks for reading!
Today’s environmental fun fact: One piece of paper can be recycled around 6 times (“How Many Times Can Paper Be Recycled?”, 2010)!
References
Bill Status of HB4773. (2026). www.ilga.gov.
Boerner, L. K. (2026). EPA plans more environmental deregulation in 2026. Chemical & Engineering News. https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-280452-Feature
Brady, J. (2026). Welcome To Zscaler Directory Authentication. Npr.org.
https://www.npr.org/2026/02/05/nx-s1-5699511/epa-trump-enforcement
Dougherty, M. (2024). Pritzker Signs Major Energy Reform Bill Amid Projected Shortages. WTTW News.
https://news.wttw.com/2026/01/08/pritzker-signs-major-energy-reform-bill-amid-projecte d-shortages
How Many Times Can Paper Be Recycled? (2010, December 20). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/science/21qna.html
Lennon, C. (2026, January 16). Game-changing international ocean treaty comes into force. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166762
US EPA. (2021, September 2). EPA Report Shows Disproportionate Impacts of Climate Change on Socially Vulnerable Populations in the United States. Www.epa.gov.