Chicagoans are once again breathing dangerous air from Canadian wildfires, a reminder that the climate crisis is no longer distant. That reality hit me even harder on a recent hike at Denali National Park and Preserve, where I learned that more than 1 million acres of Alaskan tundra and forest burned last year — roughly double California’s losses and nearly triple those in Oregon and Utah combined.
Illinois rarely sees wildfires, but our exposure to unhealthy air is becoming routine. Thick smoke drifting in from Canada recently pushed Chicago to the top of the list of the world’s most‑polluted cities for the second summer in a row, according to the global monitoring platform IQAir.
Every year, our destabilized climate drives more extremes: megafires, floods, droughts and heat waves. That’s why this week, I’ll join 40 other Illinois volunteers — and hundreds more from around the country — in Washington, D.C., for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s Summer Conference and Lobby Day. We’ll meet with members of Congress to encourage bipartisan action to protect forests and reduce the conditions fueling severe heat waves and worsening wildfires.
Among those traveling with us are Illinois college students who see climate policy not as an abstraction, but as a matter of public health, economic opportunity and generational responsibility.
Illinois State University senior Kayleigh Anderson says a human rights course reshaped her understanding of climate change: “One concept that stuck with me was that climate change is a ‘threat multiplier.’ It makes existing challenges like poverty, food insecurity, displacement and public health issues even worse. That was when I realized climate change is not just an environmental issue; it’s a human rights issue.”
Southern Illinois University senior Haresh Kittu brings a similar urgency: “A dirtier, more polluted society will only increase the burden for our children to bear. A day may soon come when our children struggle to breathe on the same planet that once gave us life.”
Climate and energy debates often get trapped in partisanship. But America needs a healthy environment, a strong economy and reliable, affordable energy. The right policies can advance all three. That’s why we’re urging Congress to support permitting reform that speeds clean energy build-out while protecting communities and natural resources.
Joe Tedino, Lake View
TV president hijacks current episodes of America’s story
Neil Steinberg pointed out in a recent column that radio did not destroy America. True. Instead, it is television that has destroyed America. Television has turned all of us into a nation of passive viewers.
Take the war in Iran. If the news is too much of a downer, just flip the channel.
Television created a pathway for TV personalities to enter politics. Look at Donald Trump. Before he came down that escalator in 2015, he had zero experience as a politician. None. But he knows how to entertain people.
People say that he lies, which isn’t entirely accurate. Trump is writing his own script. He will promise something, and that something ends up taking place two or three weeks later. Will he do it? Won’t he do it? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of “Trump the President.”
Trump’s view of the world has also been shaped by movies and TV. He says he knows more about combat than our generals and has likely watched more war movies than any other president. He knows exactly how this current episode of “Trump at War” ends. The enemy will be totally destroyed, and he, the victor, will stand triumphant.
What frustrates Trump so much is that many in the news business keep going off script. They criticize him. They say that he is wrong. Instead of praising him, they are trying to spoil his ratings with facts.
When Trump isn’t happy with the props he’s been given at the nation’s capital, he changes the scenery. The Oval Office — too plain. The East Wing — replace it with a magnificent ballroom where he can give speeches and be the center of attention. The district itself needs to be beautified — Trump’s planned 250-foot triumphal arch will dominate the capital’s skyline and be a constant reminder of his “greatness.”
This TV president’s behavior should be a call to action. What our country desperately needs is an amendment to the Constitution that says that anyone running for Congress or the presidency must have at least six years of previous experience as a politician. If such an amendment were added, it would keep the ego freaks and TV personalities out of politics.
William Dodd Brown, Lincoln Square
Trump ‘made in China’ election fraud allegations
During his July 16 primetime address, President Donald Trump falsely claimed again that our elections, specifically the 2020 election, can’t be trusted. This time, he alleged Chinese interference in 2020. Over the years, he has also blamed voting by noncitizens, rigged voting machines and election fraud.
If these allegations were true, Trump would have had the same issues with the 2024 election. At that time, we had a Democratic president and a Democrat-controlled Senate. Yet, not only did Trump win, but the Republicans took control of the Senate and the House. Either the 2024 election was also rigged (which would call into question the legitimacy of Trump’s second term) or the problems that our elections had in 2020, including the supposed Chinese interference, were somehow fixed in time for the 2024 election. Of course, all of this is nonsense. It’s just another in a long line of instances where Trump has put his own interests — whether it be his ego, finances or vendettas — above those of the country. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to start considering the facts.
Jeffrey Meyer, Roscoe Village
AI can help track unclaimed-property dollars
Illinois law requires some excess money from its Unclaimed Property Trust Fund to be transferred to the State Pensions Fund. Beginning July 1, 2027, those deposits are scheduled to be divided among five state retirement systems to reduce their unfunded liabilities.
The owners can still claim their money later, and Illinois remains obligated to pay valid claims. But the arrangement creates an unavoidable conflict. The state is supposed to find the owners. It also benefits when they remain lost.
Illinois is holding more than $5 billion in unclaimed property. Treasurer Michael Frerichs deserves credit for improving the state’s I-Cash program. His office says it has returned more than $2.5 billion to over 2.5 million people, businesses and nonprofits since 2015.
Illinois also operates Enhanced Money Match, which compares unclaimed-property records with information held by other state agencies. When it verifies a straightforward match, the state sends the owner a check automatically.
Since 2018, the program has returned more than $130 million to more than 870,000 people.
That proves Illinois does not have to wait for people to search. It can find them.
But the program generally covers simple cash claims involving one owner. Joint property, stocks, bonds, business accounts, safe deposit box contents and estate claims often remain outside the automatic system.
The easy money goes out. Much of the $5 billion stays.
A conventional search box waits for someone to enter the right name, spelling and state. People miss records under maiden names, initials, old addresses, former employers, business names and deceased relatives. They search once, find nothing and never return.
Artificial intelligence could reverse that process.
AI could start with a property record, compare names, addresses, employers, businesses, relatives and reporting companies, then score the strength of a likely match. The state would still verify ownership and approve payments. AI would not touch the money or bypass fraud controls. It would simply help locate people.
Illinois could build a stronger system than any private company because it has the records and government data, subject to strict legal and privacy limits.
Frerichs should expand Enhanced Money Match using AI and verified government records, then report each year how much Illinois receives, returns and transfers to pension systems.
The goal should not be managing a $5 billion pile more efficiently. It should be shrinking it.
Now that Illinois is using excess unclaimed-property money to fill pension holes, it should use every available tool to find the people whose money is filling them.
Mark Lewyn, founder, UnclaimedMoneyGuy.com
Legislation will help children worldwide
Our earliest years are often the ones that shape the rest of our lives, and yet millions of children around the world still grow up without the nutrition, healthcare, safety and early stimulation needed to develop safely and fully. Horrible as that is, this is not only a humanitarian concern. This unaddressed cycle of global poverty affects global stability, education standards, world economic growth and the quality of life all children everywhere will inherit.
Congress has a practical and bipartisan way to help. The proposed Global Child Thrive Reauthorization Act would continue U.S. support for international early childhood development programs through 2030 and mandate the secretary of state to appoint a special adviser for orphans and vulnerable children. These actions alone will help integrate basic, proven interventions such as nutritional supplementation, childcare support and early learning aid into our country’s existing foreign policy.
As an intern with the Borgen Project, I’ve learned how important some seemingly small but focused foreign policy decisions can be. We must urge Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., to support the Global Child Thrive Reauthorization Act if we want to keep early childhood development a priority in U.S. foreign assistance. When children are given a stronger start, the cycle of poverty loses its deepest root.
Gabriel Smithdahl, Syracuse University student, Irving Park
Taxi drivers run circles around the amateurs
After reading the recent Sun-Times article on Chicago cabdrivers, I can say I have had more white-knuckle rides in Ubers and Lyfts than I ever had in a taxi.
I had an Uber driver who sideswiped a car on a side street and just continued driving without any comment about the incident. Another Uber driver seemed terrified of driving on the Eisenhower Expressway and only drove about 40 mph. Luckily, we weren’t rear-ended.
I now only take cabs and have never had a problem. You can tell the difference between a professional driver and the “average citizen” Uber or Lyft driver.
Michael Shawgo, Edgewater
Medical sharps letter and blunt observations
As much as I appreciated Irina Butler’s well-intentioned warnings in her recent letter about medical sharps disposal, my follow-up on her advice created more frustration than assurance.
A quick search on her listed myoldmeds.com offered a half dozen disposal sites near me that accepted meds but not sharps.
Additionally, I wondered if the same sites accepted other such sharps as hobbyists’ used razor blades, X-Acto blades, scissors, etc. They are all equally dangerous in the disposal stream as medical sharps.
A more thorough discussion would have been helpful.
Dennis Allen, Wilmette
Don’t discount youths’ hope, curiosity
I am encouraged, but not shocked by Sean Murphy’s recent op-ed on young people and their thoughtful poems. I have been doing Holocaust presentations in mostly middle and high schools for four years now. I consistently leave my talks with the feeling that young people are underrated, smarter than we think and not totally buried in their phones.
They ask great questions, meaning they listened/heard, and critical thinking is not gone. It is nice to hear their hope is in their heads, hearts and poetry.
Marty Zak, Glenview
That bully got lucky
I’m wondering if the Cub fan who went viral for slapping a younger man for not standing up for our national anthem would hit a woman or another older man if they did the same.
Chester Pojack, Glendale Heights