ROGERS PARK — Gov. Pat Quinn praised Loyola University Tuesday for its rooftop gardens, farmers market, biodiesel lab, aquaponics systems and "high-performing green buildings."
"This is a place that understands how important sustainability is," said the governor at a symposium on the university's lakeshore campus.
He lauded the university's state-of-the-art buildings and the school's Institute of Environmental Sustainability.
Citing environmental issues as the "challenge of our lifetime," Quinn also declared April "Earth Month" in Illinois.
He said, as a keynote speaker for Loyola's 2013 Sustainable Schools Symposium, that Illinois is committed to high-speed rail and preserving clean water.
"We want Chicago to be the epicenter" of the country's high-speed rail lines, the governor said.
The symposium is part of the governor's agenda to make Illinois a national leader in sustainability, according to a release from his office.
"Loyola, you're really showing the way for all of us," Quinn said.