CHICAGO – In recognition of his commitment to securing environmental justice and fighting to secure a greener future, State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) was given the 2020 Legislative Leadership Award by the Illinois Environmental Counsel.

“It is an honor to receive this award from the IEC,” Peters said. “Climate change is an existential crisis, and environmental injustice is a threat to communities everywhere, especially Black and Brown communities. We must not stop fighting until the danger is gone.”

The IEC noted several reasons for why it believed Peters deserved the award, including: • His opposition to a 2019 bill that would have penalized environmental free speech and criminalized protests against fossil fuel expansion; • His involvement in opposition efforts against the relocation of a scrap metal plant into low-income Southside communities of color; • His sponsorship of a bill requiring lead testing water supplies at public parks; • His co-sponsorship of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a landmark package of bills meant with an overarching goal of reducing Illinois dependency on fossil fuels for energy to zero by 2050; and • His general passion for fighting for environmental justice and dedication to working for a cleaner, more energy efficient future for the state, country, and world.

“The future of our planet is at stake, and I take the responsibility to fight for it very seriously,” Peters said.