Cleaning up existing power plants
The Upper Midwest is experiencing a rush of newly proposed Coal-Fired Power Plants, many of them using old dirty technologies.
The largest victim of this MIDWEST COAL RUSH is Illinois with 14 new coal fired power plants being proposed thats almost double the number of proposals of any state in the US. Approval of these new dirty power plants will lock us into at least 50 more years of air pollution ILLINOIS CAN DO BETTER!
Chicago area residents are breathing polluted air that violates federal health standards. A significant part of this pollution comes from existing coal plants in and around Chicago.
As the Chicago Tribune recently reported, with over 500,000 asthmatics and a skyrocketing asthma death rate, the Chicago area is the Nation’s asthma capital.
Here’s what we’re doing to defend and clean up Chicagoland air quality ...
We’re fighting two companies planning to introduce new threats to our air quality. The Indeck Energy Corporation and the Peabody Coal Company both seeks permits to build dirty coal-burning power plants that would emit even more pollution, including dangerous Mercury know to cause brain damage, particularly in young children.
We’re also are working to clean up old, dirty, coal-fired power plants that emit up to five times more pollution than their more modern counterparts.
Plus, we’re working to clean up medical waste incinerators, a leading source of highly toxic dioxin, mercury, lead and other dangerous air pollutants. Eighty exist nationwide, 12 in Illinois.
Clean air is a basic right for all of us. Join the Illinois Sierra Club Clean Air Campaign in our efforts to protect the basic right of clean air for all Chicagoans and surrounding counties. Take action today.