Yesterday, eight Greenpeace activists climbed the 450 foot smokestack at the Fisk power plant in Chicago.
From the stack, they demanded the owners shut down the dirty, dangerous Fisk and Crawford coal plants, and throughout the day painted the message “Quit Coal” on the stack.
As we end our occupation of this dirty and deadly plant, I want to thank groups like PERRO and LVEJO for standing up to Edison International over the years.
It is the hard work and incredible fortitude and persistence of grassroots activists across the country that inspired me to take a stand against the company. Together, we will ensure that Edison is no longer able poison communities for profit.
Residents of Pilsen held a candlelight vigil to stand in solidarity with the activists on top of the Fisk coal plant. Meanwhile Chicagoans inundated Mayor Emmanuel’s office with phone calls to shut down the Fisk and Crawford plants and tens of thousands of people all across the country sent emails to Edison International with the same message: shut down these dirty old coal plants!
After these two days, we have ramped up the awareness of the serious risk that Fisk and Crawford pose to Chicago. We’re coming down, but we’re not done fighting to shut down these plants. Chicago’s children deserve to grow up without facing the specter of asthma, heart disease, and other perils of coal. We deserve clean energy. Our lives depend on it.
