Government by committee sometimes leads to the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. In Illinois, specifically in Chicago, there is a large push being done to create a greener city lifestyle. The city is encouraging people to build ‘green buildings’ and to plant gardens on their roofs. They’ve created a center for green technology that helps residents figure out how to make being ‘green’ a part of their lifestyle. Every year the city holds a large Green Festival (http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/230/200/) for two days that teaches people how to live more eco-friendly lives. One of the things that Chicago is known for is it’s public transportation, the Chicago “El” Elevated Train system.

It is this public transportation that is in jeopardy. For three months the state legislature has been working on a budget which is threatening to cut 43 of the city’s bus routes entirely and raise the cost of using the remaining public transportation by over 50% in the next 3 months. For a city that is putting so much effort into becoming ‘green’ and follow the Kyoto Accords, such a cut would be catastrophic. Chicago groups of the Sierra Club, the Center for Neighborhood Technology and the American Lung Association, among others, are lobbying the state legislature to not only approve the relief for the Chicago Transit Authority but to increase the budget for regional transportation. They are urging law makers to create an even more convenient and affordable public transit system in order to meet the governor’s goals of cutting greenhouse emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

While protests, petitions and calls for support continue to roll in the ‘Doomsday’ deadline of November 4th marches closer with Illinois lobbyists still locked in debate.