Have You Called
Your Alderman Yet?
It’s easy. It’s important. Just click here for a sample script and a link to help you find your alderman.
Take 45 seconds out of your day to bring clean energy and a heathy environment to Chicago!
It’s YOUR Health…
Did you know that Chicago has one of the highest asthma rates in the country? Or that our asthma hospitalization rate is nearly double the national average! If you are not one of the nearly 25 million Americans, including 10 million children, with asthma, it is possible you are unaware of these facts or the statistics assembled by the Mobile C.A.R.E. Foundation that follow. According to the EPA and experts:
- On average, 1 out of 7 school-aged children has asthma; in a number of Chicago-area neighbors upwards to 1 out of 3 children suffer from asthma.
- 13 million school days are missed each year due to asthma.
- Asthma is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among children under 15 and nearly 2 million emergency department visits each year are asthma related.
- It is estimated that the number of people with asthma will grow by more than 100 million by 2025.
It’s time to clean up emissions from Chicago’s old coal plants which are compromising the health of all who live and work in our city! To learn more about coal’s impact on human health, read Coal’s Assault on Human Health, a new report from Physicians for Social Responsibility.
BREAKING NEWS!
22nd Ward Alderman Rick Munoz announced Tuesday, August 3 that he will co-sponsor the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance!
“Climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our time. But Congress has failed to act. Chicago now must take the lead and use its home rule authority to clean up the Fisk and Crawford coal plants,” stated Ald. Muñoz. “Chicago’s City Council needs to act now to protect our children’s future. This not only will reduce global warming pollution, but also will reduce the soot that comes from these smokestacks. This pollution is what contributes to asthma and other respiratory diseases in my ward and all of Chicago.”
The Crawford coal plant is located in his ward, and ward residents together with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization have been working for eight long years to clean it up or close it down. That’s why today’s news is so important. More….
Please call or email Ald. Munoz and thank him for his decision to become a co-sponsor. Then contact Ald. Solis of the 25th ward (where the Fisk coal plant is located) and ask him to join Ald. Munoz in the growing movement to not only clean up the two aged, polluting power plants, but also to bring a clean energy future to Chicago. A simple phone call or email does make a difference, and takes just a few minutes!
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Chicago’s Growing Clean Power Campaign becomes Ground Zero for National Environmental/
Citizens Groups
Story by Jeff Biggers
On July 15, 2010, Greenpeace and Sierra Club announced their intent to focus their efforts on Chicago’s campaign to clean up emissions from Chicago’s coal plants.
Photo by Sierra Club
Click here for photos and details.
