Hundreds of Chicago Residents
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On Friday, December 2nd, supporters of the Chicago Clean Power Coalition delivered an eight foot-tall wall filled with 800 photos of Chicago citizens an end to pollution from Edison International’s Fisk and Crawford coal plants. They commended Mayor Emanuel for his commitment to clean up air pollution in Chicago but urged him to work with the coalition and Edison International to set retirement dates for the coal plants by the end of this year. Many of the photographs pictured children, families and individuals from across Chicago holding signs that said “I have the right to breathe clean air.”
“Right now, residents of Bridgeport, Little Village, and Pilsen are unsafe. They are lacking sanctuary, even inside our churches we are breathing toxic air. Residents of our neighborhoods are suffering so that Edison International can make a profit. That isn’t right,” said Rev. Thomas R. Gaulke, Pastor at First Lutheran Church of the Trinity in Bridgeport.
He continued “We will fight to shut down both Fisk and Crawford coal-fired power plants until our neighbors are truly free of the emissions from the plants. We hope our Mayor will make the closing of these plants his priority. It is definitely ours.”
Numerous studies have shown that the pollution from coal plants like Fisk and Crawford contributes to higher numbers of asthma attacks, especially in children, as well as more heart attacks, hospitalizations and early deaths. For over a decade, community groups from Chicago have been calling on Edison International and its subsidiary, Midwest Generation, to retire the coal plants.
“Pilsen is a vibrant, working class, immigrant community, but we are plagued by the damaging health effects of the Fisk coal plant. It is time for the plant to go,” said Pilsen resident Jerry Mead-Lucero.
Last week, the US EPA found that the air in a section of Pilsen contains unsafe levels brain-damaging lead. An air pollution monitor on a local elementary school showed lead pollution from the Fisk and Crawford coal plants and other industrial sources was dangerously high. Pilsen is one of only five new “non-attainment areas” for lead in the entire country.
“Pilsen has a lead emergency and can’t wait,” Pilsen resident Ruben Franco said. “We hope the mayor flexes his muscles and helps us solve the crisis.”
The delivery event also coincides with the International Day of Climate Action and the United Nation Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa. In addition to the toxic pollution, coal fired power plants are the biggest single source of global warming pollution in the United States, which will cause sea level rise and extreme weather, as well as droughts and lower crop yields. Together, Fisk and Crawford generate about 18 times the emissions of O’Hare airport’s ground operations and equal two-thirds of the CO2 emissions generated by all modes of ground transportation in Chicago.
For more information contact:
Edyta Sitko, Greenpeace Senior Field Organizer, 812.219.4644
Claire Orphan, Sierra Club Press Officer, 312.251.1680 x146