Introduction
Coal-burning power plants pose a great threat to human health, and there are two of them nearby—one in Pilsen and one in Little Village—both owned by Midwest Generation and used to generate electricity for ComEd. The Fisk plant is located at 1111 W. Cermak, and the Crawford plant is located at 3501 S. Pulaski. Coal-burning power plants are older plants, many of which are exempt from upgrading their facilities and reducing their pollution because they were established long before the Clean Air Act of 1977 created standards and limits to air pollution. (Romero, 1999)
Power plants emit 37 percent of the carbon dioxide, 33 percent of the mercury, 23 percent of the nitrogen oxides, and 67 percent of the sulfur dioxide pollution produced in the United States according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data. A National Academy of Sciences report from June 2000 said that power plants, especially coal-fired ones, are the country’s single largest source of mercury pollution. The U.S. electric industry is responsible for almost 10 percent of human-made carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, according to a March 2002 study by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies.
Effects of coal burning plants
Hispanic families suffer serious health effects caused by air pollution. Studies show that the very air breathed by Hispanic Americans is likely to be harmful to their health. (U.S. Census, 2000.) Latino children and adults living in polluted areas are more likely to suffer adverse health effects, such as asthma attacks.
For many, the situation is worsened by a lack of health insurance and by language barriers. Air pollution from power plant smokestacks, cars and trucks, construction equipment, and other sources includes fine particle “soot” pollution, ozone smog and dangerous air toxics such as mercury. The health effects of these pollutants include breathing.......
