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.
There could finally be a resolution in the battle over the decades-long air pollution
problem in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods that often left residents wondering if government would ever respond to the dangerous, even deadly, levels of both greenhouse gas and soot emissions at the plants.
Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey has resigned from her position as head of the system after 18 years in the role. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has already announced her replacement, tapping Brian Bannon, Chief Information Officer at the San Francisco Public Library.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to expand the library, engage new users and build new services beyond the four walls,” said Bannon in a press release. “The Chicago Public Library is already a national leader in educational media for teens and I look forward to working with the Library staff to build on that great foundation.”
Chicago's Environmental Law and Policy Center projects that after years of protests, "hearings," and damning scientific studies, there are finally enough votes in Chicago's City Council to pass the Clean Power Ordinance. The bill would require the Crawford and Fisk coal-fired power plants in the city's Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods, respectively, to undergo major
modifications to upgrade their pollution controls. Emissions from the two plants cause 41 premature deaths and 550 emergency room
visits annually for ailments like asthma, heart disease, and cancer.
After supporting their opponents in the first round of voting, the SEIU State Council, which sponsors this site, announced it will endorse Ald. Daniel Solis (25th Ward) and John Arena, who is running in the 45th Ward, in the run-off election.
Ald. Daniel Solis (25th Ward), a longtime opponent of the Clean Power Ordinance, legislation that seeks to force two Southwest Side coal-fired power plants to curb their emissions, now says he will support the measure if re-elected to City Council. Solis faces Cuahutemoc Morfin, who has repeatedly criticized Solis for his failure to get behind the bill, in the 25th Ward run-off election.
In an interview with the Chicago News Cooperative, Solis said (subscription required) he would introduce the measure in the new council. He decided to switch his position after a meeting with SEIU, the News Cooperative reports, which backed one of Solis' opponents in the first round of voting in February and sent out mailings blasting him for failing to support the measure (the SEIU State Council sponsors this website). Solis previously called the Clean Power Ordinance "redundant" and argued coal plant emissions was an issue that should be left to the federal government. Morfin points to the $50,000 in campaign donations Solis received from Midwest Generation, which operates the Fisk coal-fired plant, which is in Solis' ward.
Solis has been a target of environmentalists, who see him as an important symbolic roadblock to the ordinance's chances of passage. The day before the February 22 election, the Chicago Tribunereported that Midwest Generation was taking as much time as possible before fixing the pollution, which stood in contrast to the company's past comments that their plants' environmental hazards were a top priority. The Tribune report added that the plants are the area's "biggest sources of smog- and soot-forming sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides" and are "some of the top sources of toxic mercury that
contaminates fish in the Great Lakes and other waterways."
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.
Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey has resigned from her position as head of the system after 18 years in the role. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has already announced her replacement, tapping Brian Bannon, Chief Information Officer at the San Francisco Public Library.
Chicago's Environmental Law and Policy Center projects that after years of protests, "
Ald. Daniel Solis (25th Ward), a longtime opponent of the Clean Power Ordinance, legislation that seeks to force two Southwest Side coal-fired power plants to curb their emissions, now says he will support the measure if re-elected to City Council. Solis faces Cuahutemoc Morfin, who has repeatedly criticized Solis for his failure to get behind the bill, in the 25th Ward run-off election.