Clean Power spotlight on Solis after Munoz signs on

Activism, Coal power, Energy, Little Village, Politics No Responses »
Aug 132010

An grassroots campaign to win aldermanic support for the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance had its first victory yesterday when Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) signed on as a co-sponsor.  Meanwhile the other alderman representing a ward containing a coal plant, Ald. Danny Solis (25th), faces a protest outside a fundraising dinner tonight.

Solis has not endorsed the clean power ordinance, which would raise standards for emissions of carbon dioxide and particulates.

A press conference at 6:30 p.m. (Wednesday, August 4) and a “people’s dinner” outside Alhambra Palace Restaurant, 1240 W. Randolph, will highlight the group’s charge that Solis is “more concerned about his campaign donors than the health of neighborhood residents,” said Jerry Mead of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization.

He said that Midwest Generation has been a major contributor to Solis’s campaigns. Continue reading »

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WARNING!!! You May Be Living Near One Or More Coal-Fired Power Plants

Activism, Air quality, Coal power, Community Events, Energy, Environment, Illinois, Little Village, Pilsen No Responses »
Jun 302010

In order to spread awareness local activists groups have been going around the city hanging city signs that alert people to the proximity of the surrounding coal power plants. RAN Chicago along with a group of local artists headed this awareness campaign in order to bring attention to the hazards that come with so many people leaving near and around these two pollution contributors known as Fisk and Crawford.

Check out the full story along with video here

Warning Signs: Awareness Campaign Targets Coal Burning Power Plants in Chicago

Posted June 16, 2010 by nicolas_lampert in Environment

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The Dirtiest Plant in Chicago

Activism, Air quality, Coal power, Community Events, Energy, Little Village, Pilsen, Politics No Responses »
Apr 172010

Just off the highway in Little Village, Chicago’s most densely-populated Latino neighborhood, there’s an ever-present burning smell.

It’s the Crawford Generating Station, a coal-fired plant that pumps so much soot into the air that the children who live beneath its chimney call it “the cloud factory.”

Crawford and its sister station, the Fisk Generating Plant in nearby Pilsen — a decidedly Mexican neighborhood — date back to the 1920s, making them the “oldest, dirtiest plants located in any urban neighborhood” in America, according to the Chicago Environmental Law and Policy Center.

The plants are so toxic that the Alivio Medical Center, a non-profit clinic, practically specializes in treating children for asthma. A Harvard School of Public Health study found they cause 41 premature deaths, 550 emergency room visits and 2,800 asthma attacks every year.

The Chicago City Council is finally attempting to force Crawford and Fisk to install scrubbers or shut down. Continue reading »

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Chicago advocates call for what would be among nation's toughest coal-plant regulations

Activism, Air quality, Coal power, Energy, Illinois, Politics No Responses »
Apr 172010

By Associated Press  |  3:33 PM CDT, April 13, 2010

CHICAGO (AP) — The owner of Chicago’s two main coal power plants has criticized a proposed city ordinance that would impose tougher environmental regulations.

Environmentalists say the Crawford and Fisk plants spew tons of soot and greenhouse gases each year. The proposed ordinance would, among other things, require the decades-old plants to install modern pollution controls.

But a spokesman for the owner of the plants, Chicago-based Midwest Generation, says they already face among the toughest rules in the nation. Douglas McFarlan adds the company has already worked hard to slash many emissions.

McFarlan says the proposed ordinance is “unnecessary and misguided” and could lead to the closure of the plants. He also accuses proponents of the ordinance of using “scare tactics” to win support.

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