We know what will power the transition to clean energy — it’s renewables, electricity and batteries, for starters.
But do we know who will power the clean energy transition?
A pre-apprenticeship program called Take Charge seeks to answer that question. A partnership between ComEd, Chicagoland’s electric provider, and HIRE360, a nonprofit devoted to workforce development, Take Charge equips job-seekers with the workforce training and skills programs they need to prepare for careers in a more electrified future.
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Of the 17 students who graduated from Take Charge on Nov. 7, 100% are people of color or women. And most are from communities in or near the South and West sides, where investment in job training and economic development has been lacking historically.
In a study commissioned earlier this year by ComEd, an economic research firm found the clean energy transition could create a net increase of 40,000 jobs in Illinois by 2030 — and 150,000 jobs by 2050.
Electricity providers like ComEd are among the organizations positioned to make the kind of capital investments that will produce this job growth, while HIRE360 will help connect underrepresented populations with necessary training and skills.
But first, it will take a diverse, durable coalition of policymakers willing to take the actions necessary to drive toward a cleaner, more equitable future, and a coalition that recognizes the importance of a financially strong utility as being key to those job-creating investments.
We face a test of our collective resolve. Here’s hoping we meet the moment.
Gil Quiniones, chief executive officer, ComEd; Jay Rowell, executive director, HIRE360 Chicago
We all won with Victory Auto Wreckers
I would like to thank Victory Auto Wreckers on behalf of people like me who benefited from their services and for how they contributed to environmental sustainability before anyone else knew the word.
My 1973 Pontiac Grand Prix was on its last legs when on New Year’s Eve 1989 a kind mechanic told me he wasn’t supposed to say so, but I shouldn’t put another dollar into my car. The Grand Prix was enormous, and with a V-8 engine, she was fun to drive. But that big engine was a wreck, its parts were disintegrating, and the passenger door was stuck closed.
It was a perfect manifestation of everything that was wrong with my old friend. For months I worried about how I could afford to get rid of her, and finally someone suggested Victory Auto Wreckers. Then, for the price of a phone call I got a free tow, $26 and the great relief my weighty problem was gone — and they got the money for recycling my car. A win-win-win for all.
Margaret Frisbie, Hermosa
Supreme Court ‘nonsense’ on ethics
The U.S. Supreme Court has adopted its first code of ethics. But it reportedly has no means of enforcement and imposes no new requirements. Compliance is completely left up to each individual justice.
The justices contend they have always adhered to ethical standards, and criticism of the court is due to the public’s “misunderstanding,” rather than any unethical judicial behavior. Seriously?
Do the justices expect us to believe this utter nonsense, especially in light of a mountain of reporting to the contrary, particularly by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch? Do they have so little respect for the public they think this gambit will work?
This barn door has been left open for so long, the horse has not only left, it is now so far down the road it can no longer be seen. And the justices wonder why the American public holds them in such low regard?
Bob Chimis, Elmwood Park
Make newer drivers take road test, just like seniors
I am 80 years old. I just got a letter for renewing my drivers license. I would consider myself a very good driver, one speeding ticket 6-10 miles over (in Kansas on a highway) in probably the last 20 years.
I had to take the road test four years ago — why, I’m not sure, but maybe because I turned 76. I figured once every four years I could live with that. But now my license will only be valid for two years. Are seniors that much more likely to be bad drivers than teenagers? Are new drivers better than those who have been driving for 60 or 70 years? Why aren’t new drivers subjected to the same rules?
I know people will say seniors are susceptible to declining health and physical impairment. I get it. I’m just trying to make a point if “old” drivers have to be tested every two years, why not make “new” drivers subject to the same rule for the first six years until they become more experienced and responsible?
Walter Wiszowaty, Wayne
Impose a ceasefire in Gaza to save innocent lives
Kudos to both Adora Namigadde, for her eloquently concise reporting of the pro-peace protest inside the Accenture Tower by Jewish groups who, in strong solidarity with Palestinians, called for the immediate ceasefire of the Israel-Hamas war; and to Anthony Vazquez, for his outstanding photographs.
I completely agree with the Jewish protesters, as well as with our Chicagoland Palestinian brothers and sisters who have peacefully marched for weeks, on their collective call for Israel to stop the bloodshed in Gaza, for Hamas to release the hostages and for the region’s need for an immediate ceasefire to begin serious negotiations on a peace plan that includes a two-state solution.
We urgently need a solution that immediately stops the violent loss of innocent life, especially the thousands of innocent Palestinian children.
After all, children on either side should not be treated, as Alfred Tennyson would have said in his poem, “Idylls of the King”, “as if some lesser god had made the[ir] world.”
Alejandro Lugo, Park Forest
