John Lippert

John Lippert is a freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune covering data centers, electricity grids, freight, air pollution and environmental justice. He spent 22 years as a senior writer and bureau chief at Bloomberg. He was the Detroit Free Press labor writer. Before that, he spent eight years on the assembly line at five General Motors factories in Michigan and Ohio.

Natalie Ammons watches her great-grandchildren including Alivia, 4, play outside her home near the U.S. Steel Gary Works plant in Gary on May 26, 2026. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Gary residents say US Steel is jeopardizing their jobs and air quality by failing to install modern furnaces

June 28, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Direct reduction furnaces operate at lower temperatures and burn natural gas. U.S. Steel is building one of these facilities in Arkansas but says it is too costly for Gary.

The LaSalle Clean Energy Center near Marseilles, Illinois, on Feb. 23, 2026. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Central and southern Illinois residents could face high electricity rates again this summer

May 8, 2026 at 3:50 p.m.

How much Ameren customers will pay this summer partly depends on whether region experiences another heat wave.

The Lincoln Generating Facility, a peaker power plant run by Earthrise, sits idle as it does most days, on April 6, 2026, in south suburban Manhattan. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Inside an Earthrise peaker plant, a key to connecting Will County solar farms to the grid

April 14, 2026 at 7:49 a.m.

As Earthrise Energy looks to fire up solar farms across Illinois, the key to making them useful is directly linked to the five natural gas power plants it’s spent the...

Will County Board members Judy Ogalla, left, and Raquel Mitchell react during a Will County Land Use and Development Committee meeting at the Renaissance Center in Joliet, April 2, 2026. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)

Committee divided on advancing Will County solar farm following contentious hearings

April 2, 2026 at 8:41 p.m.

Residents worry about being surrounded by solar panels and officials criticize state law they say essentially ties their hands.

Alan Mundt said he was stunned when the Earthrise solar company offered him $3 million to run a power line through his Manhattan farm. He said no. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

A sprawling solar farm in Will County: Some residents cashing in; others fear being surrounded

March 29, 2026 at 12:35 p.m.

Local officials say state law ties their hands to push back as planning commission poised to vote Monday on Earthrise Energy's 6,100-acre project.

Ralph Papesh, 65, and his wife, Terri Papesh, 63, sit in their living room at their home in Elwood on March 5, 2026. The couple are worried about pollution and the risk to the community water supply if a data center is built near their property. Terri lives with medical issues that already limit her abilities as diesel truck traffic increases in the area. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)

In Will County, a deluge of data centers, warehouses and solar farms: ‘All around us, all at once’

March 15, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

On Monday, the Joliet City Council will vote on the largest data center in the state. Residents say development is too much, too fast.

The sun rises on a Joliet water tower on March 14, 2025. The city hopes to tap into Lake Michigan for drinking water and is working to build water towers and pump station facilities in the city. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

More details emerge about proposed Joliet data center as final approval nears

March 5, 2026 at 8:46 a.m.

Massive project has alarmed residents, but rapid advances in technology and water from Lake Michigan could make it viable.

Laura Evans' neighborhood, along Shetland Lane, is about a block away from the CyrusOne data center, as seen on Feb. 2, 2026, in Aurora. Evans and her family moved into the neighborhood 30 years ago. Construction on the data center began 17 years ago. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Amid chaotic data center debates, industry warns Illinois will miss out unless privacy law weakened

February 8, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Residents already have demands about jobs and the environment. Now data center operators want Illinois to reduce its biometric protections.

A train approaches the hump at the Belt Railway Co. Clearing Yard on Dec. 11, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Critics warn rail merger would give Union Pacific unprecedented role in Chicago and more control of industry

January 21, 2026 at 11:44 a.m.

If Union Pacific's merger is approved, it could gain control of train operators who’ve been hauling freight across Chicago for more than a century.

A Union Pacific freight train crosses over I-290 on Dec. 8, 2025. Union Pacific plans to double the number of trains on a 2-mile stretch of track on Chicago’s West Side. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Union Pacific’s plan to add trains in the Chicago area raises alarms

December 22, 2025 at 3:25 p.m.

In a merger application, the railroad plans to double the number of trains on a 2-mile stretch of track on Chicago’s West Side.

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