Chicago Public Buildings Go Coal-Free

Sierra Club Statement on Coal-Free Agreement for Chicago Municipal Buildings CHICAGO – Today, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a new contract with Constellation New Energy to provide energy for the city of Chicago’s municipal buildings with coal-free energy. This agreement will deliver a 2 percent discount on the City’s energy bill. This announcement builds on the…

Illinois Pollution Control Board Denies Delay in Coal Plant Cleanup

SPRINGFIELD, Ill – Today, the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) denied a request by Ameren to transfer the company’s pollution variance request to Dynegy, a Texas-based company that recently purchased Ameren’s five Illinois merchant coal-fired power plants for no cash. IPCB found that Dynegy failed to demonstrate that following the current law would cause the…

Coal Ash Chronicles

This December will be the 4-year anniversary of the tragic coal ash waste impoundment failure at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee when a billion gallons of toxic coal ash flooded the surrounding residential area and water bodies with extremely dangerous levels of arsenic, mercury, and other toxins. In May of 2010 the U.S.…

Pollution Control Board Finds Industry Mine in Violation of Water Permit

For eight years, between 2004 and 2011, Springfield Coal Company’s 5,651-acre Industry Mine in McDonough and Schuyler Counties violated its water permit 624 times. Pollutants including sulfates, iron, manganese, pH and total suspended and settled solids were released at 16 of 17 outflow points into tributaries of Grindstone Creek. Grindstone Creek flows into the LaMoine…

Quinn Vetoes Leucadia’s Rate Hike – The End of Springfield’s Coal Plant Bailouts?

Friday, August 10th Governor Quinn took bold action to protect Illinois ratepayers from a gas rate hike to subsidize the coal-to-gas plant proposed by New York-based Leucadia National Corporation. The proposal has come under fire from community residents concerned about the millions of pounds of air pollution Leucadia could add to Illinois’ air. Strong opposition…

Southeast Side to Quinn: Veto Leucadia

My community of Altgelt Gardens is widely known as the “toxic doughnut.” We are surrounded by a ring of toxicity, including 50 documented landfills and 382 industrial facilities. Nearly two dozen of the region’s top polluters are within 8 miles of Altgeld Gardens and other neighborhoods on the Southeast side. Yet, there is legislation sitting on…

Key Illinois River Valley Wildlife Corridor Saved from Coal Strip Mining

In a big win for Illinois citizens over corporate mining interests, more than 600 acres of predominantly Illinois River floodplain have been saved from becoming a coal strip mine. On July 19th, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) denied a surface mining permit for the proposed Banner coal mine, which was slated for land…

Illinois’ Coal Education Program Fails to Make the Grade

Illinois grade school teachers are gathered this week, June 19-22, at the Rend Lake Resort near Mt. Vernon, Illinois for the 15th Annual Coal Education Conference sponsored by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Each year, IDCEO spends up to $70,000 for this all-expense-paid teachers’ retreat. While our children’s teachers deserve to be…

Broad Coalition Urges Illinois House to Reject Tenaska’s Sweetheart Deal

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…

Emanuel Delivers on Promise of Clean Energy For Chicago

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has taken two more big steps toward a clean energy future for Chicago. While many leaders talk about the urgency of transitioning to clean energy, Emanuel is acting, and making major changes that will deliver cleaner air and new jobs for Chicago in the near future. First, Emanuel made a major…