Tell the Chicago City Council: Protect Families from Breathing Toxic Chemicals!

What's At Stake

No matter your race, zip code, or what you have in your pocket, you and your community deserve protection from toxic chemicals in your air. Yet in Chicago, the neighborhoods where mostly Black, Brown, and working-class people live are burdened with the largest number of polluting facilities. South and West Side communities are consistently selected as sites for building new asphalt plants and warehouses that attract hundreds of diesel trucks daily, releasing toxic chemicals near homes, daycares, schools, hospitals, and parks.  

All this pollution is incredibly dangerous to families and children. Experts say exposure to toxic chemicals can increase the risk of asthma, heart disease, and cancer.  

Now, environmental advocates across the city have joined together to end the use of these “sacrifice zones” by introducing the Hazel M. Johnson Cumulative Impacts Ordinance in the Chicago City Council. Named after the legendary “mother of environmental justice,” the ordinance will force the city to assess the existing pollution burden on a community before greenlighting more facilities there. As a result, it will protect every Chicago neighborhood from bearing a disproportionate brunt of industrial pollution and the dirty air that comes with it. 

The ordinance is currently at a standstill in the city’s zoning committee because of industry-led opposition. Community members understand that we should not have to choose between our health and jobs. We need a consistent groundswell of support from Chicago residents to counteract this industry push and get the ordinance passed.  

As the Trump administration attacks the clean air protections we have relied on for decades, it’s more critical than ever to demand that Chicago’s city council take bold action to put our health first.  

Sign this petition to urge your member of city council to do everything in their power to pass the Hazel M. Johnson Cumulative Impacts Ordinance!