Great Lakes
Energy Future:

A Four-Part Workshop Series for Journalists

February - March, 2024

Over the next three decades, deadlines for state and federal carbon neutrality pledges will come due. Minnesota has committed to 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2040. Illinois by 2045. The federal government is striving for net-zero emissions by 2050.

Meeting these ambitious goals will require dramatic changes to our energy and transportation systems in a relatively short time, but time isn’t the only challenge. Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables will cost billions, require new sources of critical minerals and need skeptical citizens to adjust to solar farms in their backyards and wind farms in their viewsheds.

IJNR’s Great Lakes Energy Future program featured a series of virtual one-day webinars capped off with a multi-day in-person workshop in Chicago to introduce a group of up to 20 journalists to the current work being done to chart a greener course in America’s Rust Belt and what these efforts mean for the region and the country. The workshop explored the political, technological and social dynamics of this transition through state and federal regulators, utility representatives, researchers, local citizens, equity advocates and more.

Itinerary

Participating Journalists

Post-Workshop Stories

This workshop made possible by the support of the Joyce Foundation.

IJNR maintains editorial independence and control in all of its programming and decision-making.