Exhaust fans in the old Chicago Post Office building that help with
ventilation in adjacent Union Station have to be operated around the
clock, according to a federal court order.
The National Latino Coalition on Climate Change (NLCCC) is calling on President Barack Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address air pollution and the health hazards associated with it.
The group sent a letter to the President and the EPA asking for stronger carbon emission standards for coal-fired power plants. The coalition noted that the Latino community is especially vulnerable to such emissions since half of its U.S. population lives in counties where there are violations in clean air standards.
In 2006, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich heralded
a major environmental compromise with Ameren for which the St. Louis
energy company would spend $1.6 billion to reduce mercury, sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen oxide in their Illinois coal-fired power plants.
Today, environmentalists fear that deal is in jeopardy after the Illinois Pollution Control Board granted Ameren a five-year extension
Thursday for meeting new sulfur dioxide pollution standards. The
company now has until 2020, instead of 2015, to meet the standards
through installing pollution control equipment at their 1,186-megawatt
plant in Newton.
Ameren contended that the double whammy of the
economic downturn and lower electricity rates caused by the rise in
natural gas competitors forced a delay in compliance. Read more »
Education and health professionals joined environmental
advocates this week to call on state officials to deny a request from
downstate power provider Ameren to delay compliance with more stringent
pollution-control regulation of its coal-fired power plants.
In a letter addressed to members of the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB),
96 physicians, researchers and healthcare professionals urged the body
to uphold standards that would require coal-fired plants to
significantly reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by January 1, 2015.
With ties to Occupy Chicago about a dozen protesters covered
themselves in fake oil and performed a symbolic death in front of the
Canadian Consulate in downtown Chicago Thursday evening.
Those who “died” were joined by more than 100 supporters in protesting Canada’s extracting of crude oil from the Alberta Tar Sands, which is the world’s third-largest deposit of oil. The protesters pointed to a recent report
which said the oil derived from the tar sands could emit 10 to 12 times
more greenhouse gases than conventional crude oils, and the Chicago Tribune recently reported that the increased level of emissions could be as high as 22 percent. Read more »
The closing date for the Fisk and Crawford coal-fired power plants was pushed forward to this September, which provides a sense of urgency for Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. The Crawford plant in Little Village was initially slated to close in December 2014, as set by a February agreement between Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and plant owner Midwest Generation.
“It’s a lot sooner than expected and it has me on my toes,” says Rafeal Hurtado, an organizer at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, or LVEJO. “People are taking it more personal now, thinking, ‘Okay, this is really happening.’” Read more »
The following was written by Jack Darin, director of the Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter.
Two dozen health, faith, farm, and environmental advocates joined with us this week to urge the Illinois House to reject a proposal to force Illinois ratepayers to subsidize the coal plant proposed by the Tenaska corporation. Twenty-five organizations signed the letter to Illinois lawmakers, a sign of new and growing opposition due to concerns about pollution from Tenaska’s plant and its very high cost.
“Creating a new electric plant that requires us to mine and burn more Illinois coal in communities already suffering from the effects of mining, while it places a long-term surcharge on the electricity costs for low-income people is not only poor policy, it is unjust,” said Rev. Dr. Clare Butterfield, Executive Director, Faith in Place and the Illinois Interfaith Power & Light Campaign, among the faith leaders joining opposition to Tenaska’s legislation.
Some progress is expected today when it comes to cleaning up air quality in the Chicagoland area. The Chicago City Council is expected to consider Ald. Danny Solis' (25th Ward) revised ordinance that was approved by the Committee on Health and Environmental Protection earlier this week.
"We were not happy with the lack of community process in drafting this ordinance and think it could have been stronger, but we recognize it is a step in the right direction," said Jerry Mead-Lucero, a member of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO), who testified in front of the committee on behalf of the organization in support of Solis' lead ordinance. "This is a good first step, but we hope that Alderman Solis will agree to work more closely with residents and organizations like PERRO and others in the future to ensure we are really doing everything we can to reduce the pollution in our community."
The National Latino Coalition on Climate Change (NLCCC) is calling on President Barack Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address air pollution and the health hazards associated with it.
In 2006, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich 
With ties to Occupy Chicago about a dozen protesters covered
themselves in fake oil and performed a symbolic death in front of the
Canadian Consulate in downtown Chicago Thursday evening. 
The closing date for the Fisk and Crawford coal-fired power plants was pushed forward to this September, which provides a sense of urgency for Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. The Crawford plant in Little Village was initially slated to close in December 2014, as set by a February 
The following was written by Jack Darin, director of the Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter.
Some progress is expected today when it comes to cleaning up air quality in the Chicagoland area. The Chicago City Council is expected to consider Ald. Danny Solis' (25th Ward) revised ordinance that was approved by the Committee on Health and Environmental Protection earlier this week.