Thursday, May 3, 2012
Midwest Generation announced Wednesday that both the Fisk and Crawford coal plants will be closed in September 2012. The Chicago Tribune broke the news, which was announced during a Q1 shareholder’s call.
Earlier this year, the company agreed to retire the Chicago coal plants in response to a 10 year grassroots campaign by a coalition of community, health, and environmental organizations. According to agreements signed by Midwest Generation, the Clean Power Coalition, and the City of Chicago, the Fisk coal plant must shut down in 2012 and the Crawford coal plant by 2014.
Read the story
The Chicago Clean Power Coalition released the following statement in response to the news.
For Immediate Release
May 2, 2012
Chicago’s Fisk and Crawford Coal Plants to Close in September
Midwest Generation is accelerating the closure of two of the nation’s oldest and dirtiest coal plants, saying both the Fisk plant in Pilsen and the Crawford plant in Little Village will close in September 2012.
On today’s first quarter investor call, Ted Craver, CEO of parent-company Edison International, announced that the Fisk and Crawford coal plants in Chicago will shut ahead of schedule.
Earlier this year, Edison International agreed to retire the Chicago coal plants in response to a 10 year grassroots campaign by a coalition of community, health, and environmental organizations. According to agreements signed by Midwest Generation, the Clean Power Coalition, and the City of Chicago, the Fisk coal plant must shut down in 2012 and the Crawford coal plant by 2014.
Today’s announcement confirms that economic pressures and grassroots opposition present a real challenge to the long term viability of Edison’s coal fleet. Energy producers are recognizing the need to move towards cleaner, more cost effective energy sources
In response to today’s decision, members of the Chicago Clean Power Coalition said:
“We welcome the news that both plants will close earlier than expected. Midwest Generation made this decision independently based on an economic analysis. Coal is not just harmful to public health and air quality; it’s no longer a working business model. Clean energy is where the jobs are now.” – Faith Bugel, senior attorney with Environmental Law & Policy Center.
“There’s no future in coal. Edison International executives can protect Illinois families and their own investors by retiring the remaining Midwest Generation coal plants and committing future investments to renewable energy,” – Kelly Mitchell, Greenpeace Coal Campaigner
“It’s amazing to see the economic times finally catch up with what our communities have known all along – coal is a dirty investment. We are excited to hear that our communities will not have to wait until 2014 for a breath of clean air. In our hearts, we know that Midwest Generation will do right by its employees and invest in them like they have invested in clean energy.” Kimberly Wasserman, Executive Director, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
“In the neighborhoods surrounding the plants tonight, tiny and older lungs especially will breathe a little easier knowing that 100% of the deadly coal pollution generated in Chicago will end in just 4 short months. This news couldn’t be better and will inspire residents as they work together to gather and construct proposals for how future uses of the sites can benefit the community.” – Jerry Mead-Lucero, local resident and organizer for PERRO, the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization.
“Midwest Generation is doing what it needs to do by shutting the plants early. Now we need to move forward toward clean air and a worthy replacement for the plants.” – Nelson Soza, Pilsen Alliance
“Chicago still has a long term air pollution problem and finally closing the last several ancient, inefficient and dirty coal power plants in the Chicago area would improve the health of all area residents by reducing asthma attacks, heart attacks, hospitalizations and deaths.” – Brian Urbaszewski, Director of Environmental Health for Respiratory health Association of Metropolitan Chicago.
“Today we won two more years of cleaner, safer air for the children of Little Village, culminating the many years of hard work by local families and concerned residents. We are now calling on Midwest Generation to protect their employees and asking for investments in energy efficiency that will create new jobs to assist the workers and community with a smooth transition to a clean energy future. We we look forward to continuing our work with the Chicago Clean Power Coalition and Mayor Emanuel to ensure new productive uses of these sites and a cleaner future our city.” -Jack Darin, Sierra Club Illinois Chapter Director
Monday, April 30, 2012
ELPC’s Chicago headquarters received a “tier 1” ranking — the highest available — in the Chicago Green Office Challenge. The Challenge is a friendly competition that acknowledges participants for their achievements in greening their office spaces and operations. It involves a points system with categories in energy savings, outreach, property management, transportation, and waste/recycling.
ELPC is working to make green building practices the norm. Our new LEED Platinum eco-office puts our values into practice, combining innovative technology and forward-thinking design to create a workspace that protects the environment, is healthier for our staff and makes economic sense.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2012
Contact:
David Jakubiak
(312) 795-3713
DJakubiak@elpc.org
ELPC Commends Senate Agriculture Committee Support of Homegrown Energy
WASHINGTON – The Senate Agriculture Committee took an important step to support America’s farmers, renewable homegrown energy, rural development and national security by funding core energy programs through a Farm Bill amendment passed today.
“We commend Chairwoman Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and the bipartisan group of 11 Senators who supported a bipartisan amendment supporting mandatory funding for programs that reduce dependence on polluting fossil fuels and help farmers cut energy costs and produce innovative renewable energy for America,” said Andy Olsen, Senior Policy Advocate with the Environmental Law & Policy Center.
“The state of the economy and our continuing energy challenges underscore the need for programs like the REAP (Rural Energy for America Program) and BCAP (Biomass Crop Assistance Program) which generate rural development and provide a safety net to farmers,” Olsen said.
“We thank the energy title supporters, Senators Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) for their support of an Energy Title amendment that provides mandatory funding of these core energy programs,” Olsen added.
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The Environmental Law & Policy Center is the Midwest’s leading environmental legal advocacy and eco-business innovation organization.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Jay Greene of Crain’s Detroit Business blogs about the recent letter to Congress from Michigan Scientists.
Some 117 scientists and researchers from 11 universities and colleges in Michigan have penned a letter to the state’s 17-member congressional delegation urging them to prevent proposed legislation that could reverse tough new regulations on mercury emissions and other air toxins adopted last December by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standard will help “protect and clean the air we breathe, assure that local fish are safer to eat, and protect and preserve the wildlife and natural spaces we love from harmful pollution originating in Michigan and elsewhere,” said the April 5 letter signed by the Michigan university professors and researchers. To read, click here.
Read the blog.
Friday, April 20, 2012
An Earth Day editorial by ELPC Executive Director Howard A. Learner appears in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Today, the growing green economy is helping to drive the Midwest’s and our nation’s economic recovery. Energy-efficient equipment and appliances; wind and solar energy development; cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars; and modern high-performance rail development are good for job creation, good for economic growth and good for the environment.
Read Howard’s full editorial.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Supporters of wind and solar energy see Iowa as a leading candidate to usher in an era of clean, sustainable energy that creates economic growth and energy independence.
The Gazette in Cedar Rapids examines this potential and speaks with the Environmental Law & Policy Center’s Steve Falck.
” One way to help would be for the state to lead in the use of solar and wind energy, said Steve Falck, a former northeast Iowa legislator who’s now with the Iowa Environmental Law and Policy Center. “
Read the story.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) is now accepting applications for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) Project Areas. Proposals will be accepted until April 23, 2012.
“BCAP is an important and unique program that develops new biomass energy crops that can boost farmer income while providing a new energy source for the nation. It has potential across the country,” said Steve Falck, Senior Policy Advocate for the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC).
The USDA will review the proposals and select producers or biomass facilities for the BCAP Project Areas. The growers will qualify for establishment or annual payments.
BCAP was first created in the 2008 Farm Bill. In FY2011, USDA selected nine project areas, approving more than 860 grower contracts for camelina, hybrid poplar, warm season grasses and giant miscanthus on almost 50,000 acres. The total investment in those projects is estimated to be $55 million.
In November 2011, Congress passed appropriations for 2012 limiting the total amount of BCAP funding to $17 million, reducing the potential number of projects and investments.
The Request for Proposal and additional information can be found at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/bcap.
To apply for a BCAP grant:
1. Go to www.grants.gov.
2. On the left side of the page, click on “Apply for Grants.”
3. Click on “Download a Grant Application Package.”
4. Type “10.087” in the box with the heading “CFDA Number” and click on “Download Package.”
Thursday, April 5, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2012
Contact:
Andy Olsen
(608) 334-1456
AOlsen@elpc.org
Broad Support for Homegrown Clean Energy Shown in National Letter
110 Groups Join Call for Farm Bill Energy Renewal
WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than 100 diverse groups representing agriculture, energy, rural development and conservation called on Congress today to renew and fund core energy programs in the Farm Bill that push forward clean, homegrown energy. These programs advance energy efficiency, wind, solar, new energy crops, biomass energy and biobased products.
In a joint letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, signers noted, “These important and growing industries all benefit agriculture and forestry and are poised to make huge contributions to our economic, environmental and national security in the coming years, provided that we maintain stable policies that support clean energy.”
The energy programs are administered by the USDA and have made a number of accomplishments since the first Energy Title was created in the 2002 Farm Bill:
* The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) has supported nearly 8,000 energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across the nation in varying agricultural sectors.
* The Biomass Crop Assistance Program has assisted farmers in developing homegrown energy crops that support farms and supply needed energy sources
* Biofuel advancements have accelerated through support from the Biorefinery Assistance Program.
“This letter arrives at the Agriculture Committees as rising gasoline prices remind America that our long-term energy challenges to our nation’s well-being require long-term commitment,” said Andy Olsen, ELPC Senior Policy Advocate. “Polls show the American people believe the Farm Bill should support clean energy and we know Congress can pass a Farm Bill that reflects the will of the American people.”
Download the Letter
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The Environmental Law & Policy Center is the Midwest’s leading environmental legal advocacy and eco-business innovation organization
Thursday, April 5, 2012
An Iowa Judge has tossed out a case challenging clean water standards intended to stop pollution from entering the state’s unpolluted waterways. In their story about the case, the Associated Press caught up with Josh Mandelbaum, Staff Attorney in ELPC’s Des Moines office.
”‘It’s a major victory for water quality in Iowa,” said Josh Mandelbaum, an attorney for the Environmental Law and Policy Center, an environmental advocacy group. “These rules are designed to protect public health and to protect our waterways and the uses of those waterways whether it’s making them safe for outdoor recreation or safe for drinking water.’”
Read the full story.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
For Immediate Release
April 5, 2012
CONTACT: STEPHANIE CEPAK (517) 333-1606
Michigan Scientists Urge Congress to Support Clean Air
117 college scientists, researchers back E.P.A.’s mercury rule
ANN ARBOR – University and college scientists and researchers have signed a letter calling on Michigan’s congressional delegation to support the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) recently filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The scientists and researchers, 117 in total, represent a broad range of academic backgrounds and work at private and public colleges across Michigan.
“Humans and wildlife that eat fish can be exposed to hazardous levels of methyl mercury. Because residents of Michigan and the rest of the country are exposed to this pollutant, there needs to be a federal control on the emissions of mercury,” said Joel Blum, John D MacArthur Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan.
The future of Michigan’s own mercury emissions rule is unclear because a state advisory committee recommended rescinding it once a federal rule is filed. The scientists support the Michigan rule, but know it doesn’t go far enough to protect the health and well-being of residents.
“As part of a team of researchers, I have found mercury remains a major pollutant of concern in the Great Lakes,” said Nil Basu, Assistant Professor in U-M’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health. “All of us have detectable levels of mercury in our body.”
Much of the mercury deposited in Michigan comes from coal-fired power plants in other states, which is why a federal standard is even more crucial to protecting the public health of Michigan families. For every
$1 spent on reducing toxic emissions by upgrading power plants, the EPA estimates there is $6 to $9 in economic benefits, mostly related to lowered health care costs.
“State fish advisories like Michigan’s promote a policy that allows significant mercury contamination to remain in place while relying on the vulnerable populations to change their fish-consumption behavior,”
said Jerome Nriagu, Professor in U-M’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health. “The regulators are helping to perpetuate an unequal burden of mercury exposure in communities of the Great Lakes.”
Altogether, signers included nearly 60 scientists and researchers from the University of Michigan and more than a dozen from Michigan State University. Signers also included scientists and researchers from Wayne State University, Hope College, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, Eastern Michigan University, Calvin College, Michigan Technological University, Grand Valley State University, and Ferris State University.
Blum, Basu and Nriagu participated in a statewide telephone news conference Thursday discussing the letter, along with Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
The letter was delivered this week to Michigan’s two U.S. Senators and 15 U.S. Representatives. The letter is below.
Our Letter to Michigan’s Congressional Delegation Dear Michigan Senators and Representatives:
As university and college scientists and educators living and working in the great state of Michigan, we commend the standards adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency imposing limits on mercury emissions and other hazardous air toxics. The federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) will help protect and clean the air we breathe, assure that local fish are safer to eat, and protect and preserve the wildlife and natural spaces we love from harmful pollution originating in Michigan and elsewhere. Scientific studies clearly demonstrate that mercury and other air toxic emissions are hazardous to human health. We are concerned that some Members of Congress are seeking to overturn, weaken or delay these vitally needed standards. We urge you to vote against any action diminishing the U.S. EPA’s MATS.
Mercury and other air toxics covered by MATS are potent neurotoxins that impact the health of humans, wildlife and ecosystems (e.g. services, provisioning, etc.). Our children are most vulnerable to these impacts, with fetal exposures to mercury resulting in deleterious impacts to language, memory, visual-motor skills, and attention. In adults, exposure to mercury can damage the nervous system, with newer research showing possible impacts on the immune and cardiovascular systems. Most of mercury’s harms to human health come from consuming contaminated fish. Once deposited on the surface waters of our state, mercury is converted to methylmercury where it is consumed and biomagnified up the food chain.
Ecologically-relevant and sub-lethal concentrations of methylmercury can affect the growth, survival and reproduction of fish, birds, and other animals. Large predatory fish, particularly those found in Michigan’s inland waters such as walleye, northern pike and largemouth bass, are most vulnerable to these effects. Recreational anglers and their families, including tribal groups and others consuming these fish, can accumulate harmful amounts of methylmercury. There is also increasing and compelling evidence that mercury deposition can impact the terrestrial ecosystem, namely songbirds, bats, and other insectivores.
Michiganders have long understood the harms to public health caused by mercury and other air toxics. Reflecting the findings of scientists, the Michigan state government has taken some helpful actions. The Michigan Department of Community Health, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Michigan Department of Natural Resources have collaborated in issuing statewide fish advisories for every lake in Michigan.
Moreover, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality adopted rules going into effect in 2015 to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants in our state. We commend the state’s actions and urge the Michigan Congressional Delegation to understand the need for federal standards to reduce mercury and air toxics pollution from power plants nationwide.
These efforts in our state fall short of addressing sources of mercury and other air toxics from other states that also harm Michigan’s people and animals. Most (greater than 50%) of the mercury deposited in our state comes from coal-fired power plant emissions, with a substantial amount coming from coal-fired power plants in other states. The U.S.
EPA’s MATS provides an important path to protecting the air and water in our state by limiting the emissions from these coal-fired power plants in Michigan and beyond. Also, the federal standards address a wider range of toxic emissions and facilities in Michigan than the state standards. The U.S. EPA estimates that annually MATS will prevent hundreds of deaths in our state and result in over one billion dollars of health benefits to Michiganders.
We, Michigan university and college scientists, urge you to support U.S.
EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in the interests of improving public health, protecting wildlife, preserving natural beauty, and supporting the economy of the state we call home.
Sincerely,
Joel Blum, Professor- UM Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Nil Basu, Assistant Professor- UM School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Timothy Dvonch, Assistant Professor- UM School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Howard Hu, Professor – UM School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Epidemiology and Internal Medicine
Jerome Nriagu, Professor- UM School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences
