The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), in particular, is a success story. It crosses agricultural sectors and provides value in every state. REAP’s competitive cost-share grants have helped support a broad range of 8,000 wind, solar, biogas and energy efficiency projects in rural communities. Since the 2008 Farm Bill, REAP grants have leveraged more than $1 billion in private investments, creating jobs during a historic economic crisis.

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Wind and solar development create manufacturing and technical jobs, rural economic development and pollution-free energy. The Environmental Law & Policy Center’sSolar and Wind Energy Supply Chain report shows that Michigan is home to 241 clean energy technology supply chain businesses and 10,000 related jobs.

Michigan is a solar business leader with companies including Patriot Solar Group (Albion), which manufactures trackers for solar panel installations, and Hemlock Semiconductor(Hemlock), one of the world’s largest manufacturers of polycrystalline silicon for solar cells and modules. Some of Michigan’s old-line manufacturing companies like Dowding Industries – Astraeus Wind Energy (Eaton Rapids) are re-tooling to supply growing markets for clean energy equipment.

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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.

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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

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.

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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. “

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 ”‘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.’”

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“Dexter and other critics say there’s no reason to spend another 17 years digging reservoirs when Chicago’s stormwater management challenges are growing more daunting by the year. If [the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP)] is to be the first line of defense against sewer overflows, the argument goes, it should be deployed much faster.

‘We need to finish what we started in 1972, and do it as quickly as we can,’ Dexter said.”

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” Madeleine Weil, a senior policy advocate with the ELPC, says currently solar projects in Chicago require a lot of phone calls and trips to City Hall. Costs range between $3,000 and $8,000 with anywhere from a 45 to 75 day wait.

‘Obviously there’s a really big range in both of those numbers, which is an indicator that it’s not particularly consistent,’ says Weil.”

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Howard A. Learner speaks to E&ETV about the EPA's proposed power plant pollution standard

As news spread Tuesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection was proposing the first-ever carbon dioxide limits on power plants, Howard A. Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center, sat down with E&ETV.

“EPA’s action today is obviously a huge step forward and it tracks the Clean Air Act and the Supreme Court’s 2007 decision Massachusetts v. EPA.,” he said. “It’s also a fairly measured action by EPA. The administrators made clear that it isn’t applying to existing power plants and there’s, in effect, a phase-in, in terms of when it applies to future power plants. So it’s a big action, but it’s been a very measured approach and, in the short term, we don’t think it will have very significant impacts on the way the market is functioning this year or next year and probably the year after.”

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Howard A. Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center spoke with Teresa Auch Schultz of The Post-Tribune.

“Dominion has the responsibility to clean the site up,” Learner said. “Not just simply put a lock on the fence and leave it for our communities to deal with in the future.”

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