Climate Changemakers is a podcast series showcasing and celebrating leaders in equity work and climate action across Illinois, presented in celebration of the 20th anniversary of nonprofit organization Elevate Energy.

On this eighth and final episode of Climate Changemakers, Dame and Daniel are joined by Olga Bautista of the Chicago Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke. In response to decades of pollution and environmental destruction by industry in her home neighborhood on the Southeast side of the city, Olga banded together with other community members to fight for environmental protections from and cleanup of Petcoke, a toxic byproduct of oil refinement that was poisoning the air she and her family were breathing. The coalition successfully fought the Koch brothers, who were forced to dispose of the petcoke in a less destructive manner. She talks about the devastation of industrial pollution, learning to collect the necessary data herself, the unique challenges of having a set at the redevelopment table during a pandemic, and much more.

SHOW NOTES

Exit Zero - www.goodreads.com/book/show/24898568-exit-zero

COPD - www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-condit…es/syc-20353679

NRDC - www.nrdc.org/

Nancy Loeb - www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/prof…s/NancyLoeb/

Invest South/West - www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/invest_sw/home.html

Great Cities Institute - greatcities.uic.edu

Poor People's Campaign - www.poorpeoplescampaign.org