“Activists complain they contribute to high rates of asthma and other health problems.” Show us.
The Associated Press reports:
Chicago’s two coal-fired power plants will shut down early under a deal between the operator, city officials and environmental groups.
The Chicago Clean Power Coalition says Midwest Generation signed an agreement on Wednesday to close its Fisk power plant by the end of the year and its Crawford plant by the end of 2014.
The company already planned to close both plants by the end of 2018. But environmentalists and city officials pushed to close them earlier.
Both are located in mostly Hispanic neighborhoods on the city’s southwest side, and activists complain they contribute to high rates of asthma and other health problems.
Chicago is the only large U.S. city with coal-fired power plants operating within its borders.
Midwest officials weren’t immediately available for comment.
The “evidence” activists have is nugatory. The most commonly cited study by the main activist group (Little Village Environmental Justice Organization) is a 2010 study by Chicago based Environmental Law & Policy Center. Link: http://elpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/1/MidwestGenerationsUnpaidHealthBillsFormattedFinal.pdf
This is a classic example of junk science – a study devoid of actual air quality, toxicology, or medical diagnosis information (among other methodological flaws) that purports up to $1 billion in “public health damages” are attributable to Midwest Generation’s Fisk and Crawford power plants within Chicago city limits.
The activists are ideologically motivated. I’m sure they are rejoicing over the closure over another Chicagoland coal fired generating plant, Dominon Resources’ State Line facility in Hammond, Indiana (my hometown), toward the end of March 2012.
Johnaffleck, do you live in one of these neighborhoods?
Can we put the 50Megawatt Windmill in the front yard of the Clean Power Coalition? No? I didn’t think so. Boy, indoctrinated and un-educated people are really dangerous.