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.
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In a year that has already brought both one of the mildest winters on
record to the Midwest while delivering a rash of devastating tornadoes
to portions of the Southwest, findings of a new report suggest the
number of people affected by extreme weather events will likely increase
if more is not done to curb climate change.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Midwest Generation, owner of the Fisk and
Crawford coal-fired power plants on the city’s Southwest Side, have given themselves a February 29 deadline to negotiate a settlement
over the plants, according to Ald. Danny Solis (25th) at a City Hall press conference today.
