IL Dept. of Natural Resources Climate Action Plan
Provided by: Illinois Department of Natural Resources|Published on: May 19, 2025
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Type: Scientific Reports
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Region: Illinois
Languages: English
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- The Illinois Department of Natural Resources provides a detailed, 213-page Climate Action Plan and a 15-page summary of the plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
- This report provides intricate details of where the carbon emissions currently are and the plan to get them to net zero by 2050.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- Illinois-specific strategies to reduce carbon emissions are explained in great detail throughout the report.
- Students can gain an overview of the state of carbon emissions, the projections for emissions in years to come, as well as the strategies that will be used to combat climate change-induced increases in carbon emissions by looking at a variety of graphics throughout the report.
Prerequisites
- This report can be downloaded to a personal device to save paper.
- Students should have an understanding of the relationship between carbon emissions and climate change.
- This is a lengthy report written at a high reading level.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Due to the size of this resource, it would be helpful to break it up into more manageable sections.
- Students can use this resource to learn about and practice annotating and summarizing a report.
- Students with lower reading abilities will need support throughout this report and may benefit more from reading the summary or from the use of a graphic organizer.
- The jigsaw method of teaching can be used to help the students tackle the amount of material in this report. Teachers can assign each group one of the climate strategies addressed: utilities and buildings, sustainable site operations, climate-smart natural areas, equity, and learning and engagement.
- Students can further research the sources of carbon emissions mentioned in the report and make a brochure, presentation, or mock news broadcast on one of the sources mentioned: transportation, electricity, natural gas, propane, water, and waste.
- Math can be incorporated into the use of this resource by looking at one of the sources of carbon emissions and graphing data on the amount of carbon emissions from each source over the last 50-100 years to see the correlation in the rise of carbon emissions and the sources that are making the largest impacts.
- This resource can be used to look at carbon emissions on an individual basis and learn ways to personally decrease carbon emissions.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Climate Action Plan inventories current IDNR carbon emissions before presenting a plan to reach net zero by 2050. The plan is very detailed, though several figures and tables are difficult to understand in isolation and necessitate careful reading of the text. Focused on climate change and featuring a comprehensive glossary and an extensive list of peer-reviewed sources cited, this resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
