via RAN
Cross-posted from the Understory
This morning six local activists from Chicago climbed over a fence at the Crawford coal plant, scaled a mountain of coal, and unfurled a huge 7′ x 30′ banner reading “Close Chicago’s Toxic Coal Plants.” The toxic Crawford plant operates in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago and is surrounded on all sides by homes, shops, restaurants and schools.
Activists representing Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), Rising Tide North America, Rainforest Action Network, and the Backbone Campaign are demanding that the City of Chicago close both the Crawford plant as well as the nearby Fisk Street plant in Pilsen. Both plants are owned by Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of Edison International.
The action today is part of an ongoing campaign led by LVEJO and other local organizations demanding that Chicago replace their dirty, polluting coal plants with green energy alternatives. As a part of this campaign, LVEJO is also hosting an extraction fair in the afternoon as a part of the Day of Action Against Extraction, educating community members about the destructive impacts that extractive industries have on people living in Little Village and beyond.
Isn’t the occupation of a power plant or high any high-security area by unauthorized personnel considered an act of terrorism under The Patriot Act?
MIDWEST RISING!