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| Sign from LVEJO Demonstration found here |
Rafael Hurtado, a Hispanic-American living in the Chicago area, and an organizer for the group Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, received exciting news when he learned that two local coal-fired plants near his neighborhood will be shut down earlier than expected. The two plants were originally set to be closed by 2018, but now will be closed by the end of 2014. These plants, which were built in the early 1900s, left soot on the surrounding neighborhoods and affected the health of those who lived near the plants--neighborhoods consisting of mainly low-income Hispanic people.
The problems with these Chicago-area plants are seen worldwide (especially in places like China): many power plants that are operating today were built before more stringent guidelines were put in place, so they are not held to the same standard as more modern plants, and for these plants to meet modern criteria for emissions, it requires a substantial amount of money. Chicago is on the forefront of the environmental justice movement's battle against environmental racism due to cases such as this one; low-income, minority groups are faced with a disproportionate amount of pollution and environmental hazards.
The work of Rafael Hurtado and the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization illustrates the kind of local effort that will be required to cause national and worldwide change. Often, people think that the only way to significantly change the rate of environmental degradation and environmental racism is to change national policy, but this bottom-up approach taken by Hurtado shows that this is not necessarily the case. Local effort creates change that can be seen immediately, and the collective effort of all local groups can lead to nationwide and worldwide change.
Little Village Environmental Organization Website
News Article This Story Was Taken From: : "Deal to shut Chicago’s 2 coal-fired plants reached"
by Chris Graham
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