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CLIMATE CHANGE ADDRESSING THE THREAT

According to the EPA, most of Illinois has gotten warmer, floods are becoming more frequent and ice cover on the Great Lakes is forming later or melting sooner. In the coming decades, it’s predicted that we’ll have more extremely hot days, with a climate similar to today’s Texas. Three local executives on the front lines of addressing climate change shared their insights with Crain’s Content Studio.

How is climate change impacting your organization, and how are you dealing with it?

Michelle Carr: The urgency of the climate crisis has driven us to ask ourselves, “Can nature and people thrive together?” Through scientific inquiry, we found the answer is yes, but if and only if we move toward a more sustainable path, and advance strategies that address the biggest threats to both nature and people simultaneously. Climate change is now integrated into every aspect of our work. Restoring and managing natural and working lands remains a key priority, because this enhances land’s ability to store carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We also promote clean energy, advance smart, bipartisan climate policies and help nature and people build resilience to climate impacts that are already happening.

Howard A. Learner: Climate change is already causing significant, far-reaching impacts on our ecology and economy, including more extreme weather, degraded water quality and increased erosion in the Great Lakes, and tougher growing conditions for farmers. The U.S. Army Corps of

Ted Hamilton: Climate change impacts all organizations and all people. What’s more important is what companies are doing about it.

At Elkay, we recognize and accept that climate change is, in part, our responsibility. We’re trying to make a difference; in early 2019, we launched our first-ever Corporate Social Responsibility report and are moving toward measuring and improving our performance on complex challenges like greenhouse gases. Programs like our newly created work from home initiative reduce commuting time for our employees, so in addition to enhancing employee work-life balance, we’re also reducing our GHG footprint. We like to look for winwin opportunities like these when putting new corporate responsibility initiatives in place.

How have recent rollbacks of environmental protections affected the Chicago area?

Carr: Environmental protections have been put in place to protect nature and people, not just today, but in the future. Removing them undermines the progress made by these remarkably effective tools.

For example, the EPA and the National Highway Traffic and Safety

MICHELLE CARR

Illinois Director The Nature Conservancy mscarr@tnc.org 312-580-2111

relies on us to fill the void. The recent Edelman Trust Barometer identified that consumers trust businesses more than the government or any other type of institution. Companies need to continue self-monitoring and selfregulating our environmental impact to live up to and retain that trust, and

TED HAMILTON

HOWARD A. LEARNER

President - Elkay Plumbing Elkay Manufacturing Co. ted.hamilton@elkay.com 630-575-4742

President, Executive Director Environmental Law & Policy Center hlearner@elpc.org 312-673-6500

not wait for a government agency to regulate our behavior and enforce doing the right thing. At Elkay, one of our core values is “We are in business forever,” which calls on us to do our part to ensure that the world we live in and the resources we depend upon are here for future Elkay generations.

Learner: President Trump’s “War on the Great Lakes” threatens safe, clean water, fisheries and enjoyable outdoor recreation in Lake Michigan and the other lakes, which are cherished by all. The EPA’s cutbacks in the Clean Air Act standards for the Chicago region mean dirtier air,

“ . . . IN EARLY 2019, WE LAUNCHED OUR FIRST-EVER CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT AND ARE MOVING TOWARD MEASURING AND IMPROVING OUR PERFORMANCE ON COMPLEX CHALLENGES LIKE GREENHOUSE GASES.” - TED HAMILTON Engineers is forecasting that Lake Michigan water levels will be even higher in 2020. That means more flooding of communities along the shoreline. ELPC is urging preparedness today to protect people, public health and our communities. Policymakers and the public will need to rethink the Great Lakes shoreline’s built infrastructure and natural systems in light of climate change realities—more extreme higher, though occasionally lower, water levels. The time for action is now. We’re engaging our legal, science and policy advocacy expertise to accelerate sensible green infrastructure strategies and climate change solutions that work for us all.

Addressing Climate Change for Nature and People

Administration recently rolled back fuel economy standards. Reducing these emissions is essential to meet the challenge of climate change and for Americans’ health, especially in cities like Chicago where auto emissions are concentrated. Rolling back these standards lowers air quality, increases costs by forcing people to buy more gas and leaves our country behind by taking us off course to achieve net zero emissions.

nature.org/climate

Hamilton: With the EPA reducing Midwest inspections by as much as 60%, manufacturers have to step in and put more emphasis on efforts to protect the environment—the public

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CLIMATE CHANGE

ADDRESSING THE THREAT more pollution and worse public health, especially for vulnerable children and elderly folks. Our legal team and colleagues are working overtime in the courts to protect the

Refuge in Lewiston has received Goldlevel LEED certification. Since March 2018, the energy usage charge for the building has been $0. To affect change at scale, sustainability efforts like this must

“OUR LEGAL TEAM AND COLLEAGUES ARE WORKING OVERTIME IN THE COURTS TO PROTECT THE MIDWEST ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY.” - HOWARD A. LEARNER Midwest environment, public health and safety. Fortunately, many of the rollbacks thus far have been stopped or stalled because they’re contrary to law. The Trump administration is moving to weaken federal public health and environmental protections during the extraordinary COVID-19 public health crisis—these misplaced rollbacks trump ideology over common-sense priorities.

be implemented across the world and tackled with a range of stakeholders.

Our strategies are designed to address the biggest threats to both nature and people—one of which is climate change—to ensure both can thrive.

Our conservation approaches focus on creating sustainable landscapes, communities and systems.

Learner: ELPC’s core values include seizing opportunities to achieve environmental progress and What are your organization’s economic growth together. We put that sustainability priorities? sustainability principle into practice through our clean energy and clean Carr: As a global organization, we’re transportation advocacy programs. setting science-based sustainability goals y ad. Crain’s Chicago Business. Attract & Retain Special Issue. March, 2020.

Likewise, our downtown Chicago office to reduce our carbon footprint across puts our values into practice. We’ve more than 70 countries where we work. combined innovative technologies For example, the Illinois Rivers Program and forward-thinking design to Office at Emiquon National Wildlife

create a workspace that protects the environment, is healthier for our staff and makes good economic sense. We received LEED Platinum status—the highest LEED rating—in August 2011, and later added solar panels to the exterior walls of our office, which is located in a historic landmark building.

This was a new approach to installing solar panels and required a number of permitting and approval steps. Now that we’ve successfully achieved this, we hope that other offices in high-rise buildings will follow suit.

Hamilton: Elkay’s five focus areas for sustainability include material health and transparency; climate initiatives; corporate responsibility; employee engagement; and extended producer responsibility. We’re currently prioritizing material health and transparency by developing health product declarations for all of our products. These full-material disclosures will help customers make informed purchasing decisions, while enabling us to identify and phase out substances in sourced sub-assemblies that are potentially hazardous to human health or the environment.

Please describe a climateor sustainability-related project your organization is undertaking. How do you track and measure ROI?

Carr: Nature naturally stores carbon and plays a key role globally to fight climate change. Here in Illinois, top opportunities for this include floodplain restoration and advancing sustainable practices in agricultural production. Both have benefits beyond greenhouse gas mitigation.

Protecting and restoring floodplains, especially forested floodplains along the lower Mississippi River, helps sequester carbon while mitigating flood risk for farmers and community members. Wildlife benefits, too. On agricultural lands, we’re working in partnership with the agricultural community to advance practices that promote healthy soil. The combined use of reduced tillage, cover crops and nutrient management practices not only sequester carbon, but also improve water quality. These practices increase soil resilience, buffering it from future climate impacts like harder rains in the spring and more inconsistent rains in the late summer.

A strong ROI is inherent to most conservation approaches because they deliver multiple co-benefits.

Hamilton: This year, Elkay is taking on a greenhouse gas inventory and a water reduction project at our largest manufacturing plant. The greenhouse gas inventory, requested by one of our largest global customers, provides a precise look into our direct and indirect resource consumption. With this level of data, we’ll be able to assess areas for resource reduction.

As we make changes to our facilities to increase resource efficiency, we expect to experience significant utility savings. Another one of those win/win situations we keep finding as a result of this effort. Outside of the decrease in our bills, the project will also protect our facilities from resource volatility and prepare our operations for future resource use regulations.

Elkay is a thriving, values‐driven global company focused on doing the right things so we can be in business forever. We’re financially‐stable and family‐owned, with an enduring reputation for ethics, integrity, giving back, and providing an engaging, inclusive environment where careers flourish and grow.

Learner: Accelerating the transition to cleaner renewable energy is necessary to reduce carbon pollution.

ELPC helped craft and pass the Illinois renewable energy portfolio standard, which puts the state on a path to accelerate development of 3,000 megawatts of new solar; the prior baseline was less than 100 megawatts. The Illinois Solar for All program involves meaningful deployment of and access to solar in low-income communities leading to lower utility bills for participants in these programs, job opportunities with hands-on training necessary for certification, and cleaner air for all in Illinois. Good for job creation, good for economic growth and good for the environment. That’s a winwin-win!

If you’re ready to join a company where everything you do makes a difference and you go home proud at the end of each day, visit Elkay.com and talk to us about joining the Elkay family!

What lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic thus far can we apply to the fight against climate change?

Imagine working for a company that inspired this kind of feedback: •

I’m proud to work for Elkay.

•

•

The company invests in my success.

•

•

I do work that makes a difference.

I love my co‐workers.

I feel like part of a family.

Come to work for Elkay, and that’s how you’ll feel.

Carr: It’s difficult to watch the severity of this pandemic unfold, and see the incredible toll it’s taking on humanity, from patients to first responders to businesses and many more. It makes us realize just how much all of us who share this earth are connected. That’s important to consider as we work to address climate change. The pandemic highlights the role that science plays in our lives and reinforces the need for coordinated action at both the local and federal levels to move the needle on threats of this size and scope. Climate change is no different.

We must have science-based, bipartisan policies in place if we want to create jobs, protect nature and cut pollution.

Learner: The central lessons are that we’re all in this together, preventative actions and rapid responses save money and lives, and that following and learning from sound science matters. The spread of the coronavirus underscored how we’re globally connected, and when it comes to climate change, it doesn’t matter whether the greenhouse gas pollution comes from a coal plant in Indiana or in Indonesia. Collective rapid, systemic action is necessary to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and to counter climate change. The public is recognizing that allowing politics to trump sound science when it comes to COVID-19 or climate change realities is a tragic and costly losing approach.

Hamilton: Through the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve learned that you can’t act fast enough. You need to be thinking several steps ahead and meet the unfolding situation where it’s headed—not where it is today.

Climate change might not yet be a pandemic, but it’s a severe worldwide concern, and in battling its impacts, it’s in many ways similar to what we’re experiencing with COVID-19.

We know that doing nothing is not an option. Deliberative lifestyle changes—be they in response to a pandemic, or a radically warming planet—are necessary to get us to the future world we want to live in. What does that future-state world look like?

What are the circumstances that are necessary to bring it about? Once we’ve answered those questions, we can outline the lifestyle adjustments that are necessary to bring about that desired reality.

How can individuals most effectively reduce their carbon footprint?

Learner: The transportation sector has become the largest producer of greenhouse gas pollution in the United States. People can make a difference in advancing climate change solutions by changing how they go from place to place. Walking

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ABOUT THE PANELISTS more and biking more are healthier and avoid pollution. Let’s use the CTA, Metra, Pace, the city’s growing system of bikeways and walkways like the Pedway and Riverwalk. At home, by switching to more energy efficient lighting, HVAC and appliances, and installing solar panels in the right locations, people can reduce their carbon pollution and save money on their utility bills. That’s a good deal for our budgets and for the planet.

Carr: There is an action we think is extremely important—talking about climate change with friends, family and loved ones. Even though seven in 10 Americans believe climate change is happening, and six in 10 are at least somewhat concerned about it, two-thirds of Americans rarely, if ever, talk about climate change with the people they care about. We must foster a good dialogue about this issue if we want to affect change.

Conversations at home can lead to conversations with coworkers, business leaders and ultimately policy makers, which is essential for gaining traction on durable climate policies.

Hamilton: Those who have the resources can vote with their dollar by supporting businesses that are actively working to decrease their carbon footprint. These activities are often financially and time-intensive, so seeing support from consumers provides the necessary motivation for companies to continue their reduction activities. As a result, purchasing products with smaller

corporations like Elkay stand firm in our sustainability goals. It helps that financial institutions like Blackrock and thought leaders like the Business Roundtable have weighed in on climate change and openly embraced sustainability practices.

This reinforces the importance of making changes now through investments, innovations and largescale procurement, leading to a more environmentally and economically stable world. Right now, Elkay is actively exploring options to make material transparency available on all products to support healthy buildings, regardless of budget.

Carr: We’re an apolitical organization and have a history of working to promote bipartisan solutions to environmental problems.

Moving forward, we’ll need to bring even more diverse constituents on board, and increase collaboration among nonprofits, corporations and lawmakers to reduce carbon emissions and invest in greener technology. We see the value in mobilizing new groups on the front lines of climate change that are already experiencing local impacts.

Those most vulnerable to climate change are often in a strong position to push their local, state and federal representatives to draft increasingly ambitious climate policy.

Learner: Changes in our political leadership are necessary for fundamental policy changes to accelerate climate change solutions.

We’ve engaged focus groups of

“AS A GLOBAL ORGANIZATION, WE’RE SETTING SCIENCE-BASED SUSTAINABILITY GOALS TO REDUCE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT ACROSS MORE THAN 70 COUNTRIES WHERE WE WORK.” - MICHELLE CARR carbon footprints will decrease your carbon footprint. You can also do your own simplified greenhouse gas inventory by documenting your use of electricity, natural gas and water each month. This will help you and your family better understand what contributes to your usage and how you may be able to cut back.

How can we overcome the current political divide on climate change? What longer-term impacts can we expect?

Hamilton: It helps to remind ourselves that climate change and environmental sustainability are scientific topics, not political issues. With the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement,

conservative voters multiple times over the past decade to learn more about how to better communicate across ideological divides. Clean energy and clean transportation technologies can drive climate change solutions, especially as they become more economically competitive. Many companies are stepping up with climate change solutions because it’s good business, and that’s want their customers— the public—want and increasingly demand. The recent Great Lakes and Mississippi River basin floods and other extreme weather events are tragically making it clear to Midwesterners that climate change is real and the impacts on people, public health and our communities can be severe. The time for action on climate solutions is now.

MICHELLE CARR is the Illinois director of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a global conservation organization, where she leads strategic efforts to advance the organization’s work throughout the Midwest. She joined TNC in 2013 after 16 years as an advisor at Goldman Sachs.

Through her leadership, the chapter has successfully piloted innovative approaches to protect land and water, provide food and water sustainably, tackle climate change, and build healthy, resilient cities. She received a bachelor’s degree from St. Louis University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

TED HAMILTON is president of Elkay Plumbing, a division of Elkay Manufacturing Co., a Downers Grove-based, 100-year-old family-owned company that produces, sources and delivers residential and commercial building products and services. As a shareholder and fifth generation member of Elkay’s founding family, he became president 25 years after joining the company, where he worked in a wide variety of positions since he joined in 1992. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University, an MBA from DePaul University and has completed the Executive Development Program at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

HOWARD A. LEARNER is president and executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), the Midwest’s leading public interest environmental legal advocacy and eco-business innovation organization. He previously served as general counsel of Business and Professional People for the Public Interest. As an adjunct professor, he teaches advanced seminars on environmental and energy law and climate change solutions policies at Northwestern University Law School and the University of Michigan Law School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Harvard Law School.