Chicago’s two coal plants are shutting down after more than a decade-long battle by the Chicago Clean Power Coalition.
Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of giant Edison International will shut down one plant this year and other in 2014, when Chicago will be “coal free.”
Called notoriously decrepit and toxic Model-T-era coal plants, they are among the dirtiest and oldest in the US.
“For over ten years our communities have been fighting for the right to breathe clean air, clean land and clean water. Today we are ending over 100 years of pollution for profits and showing the power of community,” says Kimberly Wasserman of LVEJO, one of the groups that participated in the coalition. “Hopefully, this is the first of many victories in Illinois, as citizens and politicians come together to hold corporate polluters accountable and usher in a clean energy future.”
In December, the EPA released long-awaited Mercury and Air Toxics Regulations that would force plants like these to either retrofit or close. Naturally, they’re being fought by industry and the GOP.
The rules have already led to announcements of closures of the dirtiest coal plants.