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Fight for the Chicago Clean Power ordinance reaches critical stage...

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The fight for the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance maybe decided in the next several weeks. The ordinance will be heard in a joint hearing with the Environmental and Health Committees on Thursday, April 21st. If the ordinace is approved at that hearing it will be voted on by the full City Council in early May.

Next Tuesday, April 19th, Sierra Club, LVEJO and PERRO will hold a press confrenece with Congressman Luis Gutierrez about how pollution from power plants has a major health impact in Latino communities like Pilsen and Little Village.

Here is the media advisory for that press conference...

For Immediate Release: April 15, 2011

Contact: Jerry Mead-Lucero, PERRO, 312-502-7867, jerrymeadlucero@gmail.com
Kim Wasserman-Nieto, LVEJO, 773-656-5099, info@lvejo.org
Christine Nannicelli, Sierra Club, 508-740-9202, Christine.nannicelli@sierraclub.org
Congressman Gutierrez calls on City of Chicago to support Clean Power Ordinance as coal continues to haunt Latinos in Chicago
Press Conference with Latino Leaders to call on Mayor Daley and City Council to stand with people, not polluters

In the midst of Mayor Daley’s departure from City Hall, national and local Latino leaders are rallying to demand all politicians stand with people not polluters. For years, the Pilsen and Little Village communities have lived in the shadow of the Fisk and Crawford coal power plants. With Congress' lack of action on a climate bill, local communities are demanding city government take action to protect their health and environment. A city ordinance has been introduced to mandate a cleanup of the plants in the next four years. The ordinance will be heard in a joint hearing with the Environmental and Health Committee, Thursday; April 21st. Community members will be joining Congressman Gutierrez in support of his recent decision to support the ordinance. Speakers include Alderman Daniel Solis and Leslie Fields, National Environmental Justice Director for the Sierra Club, and number of local Latino community organizations including Centro Sin Fronteras, FEDECMI, Durango Unido and the March 10th Committee as well as community residents. Thirty-nine percent of the Latino population lives within 30 miles of a power plant – the distance within which the maximum effects of fine particle soot from the smokestack plume are expected to occur. Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO), the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Sierra Club of Chicago and many other organizations have been working with community members all around Chicago to get this ordinance heard and passed. As Mayor Daley prepares to leave his legacy as Mayor of the City of Chicago we join the Congressman in calling on him to see this ordinance pass for the health of our communities and the City of Chicago.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 19th – 12:30 pm

WHERE: Dvorak Park, 1119 West Cermak

For more information, please contact…
Jerry Mead-Lucero, PERRO, 312-502-7867, jerrymeadlucero@gmail.com
Kim Wasserman-Nieto, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, 773-656-5099, info@lvejo.org

Little Village Environmental Justice Organization work with families and neighbors to improve the environment and lives of people in Little Village and throughout Chicago through democracy in action
For more info: http://lvejo.org

PERRO is an environmental justice organization based in the Pilsen neighborhood. For more info: pilsenperro.org

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 18, 2011 at 7:53 PM

    What about Ald. Munoz and Jesus Garcia?
    They seem to be getting a pass.

    Borja

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jerry Mead-LuceroApril 18, 2011 at 11:14 PM

    Munoz was invited but is out of town. We had considered inviting Jesus Garcia, but as the speakers list was getting long and as County Commissioner, his position is less direct in regards to the ordinance, we never did invite him. However, I have extend multiple invitations in the past to Garcia and would love to get him on board.

    ReplyDelete

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