Health or Wealth: Poor Minorities Face Tough Choice in Chicago

For Ellen Rendulich, environmental activism isn't a hobby — it's a matter of life and death. A Midwest Generation coal plant beside her Chicago home has been billowing black smoke for over a decade, and she blames it for the death of her sister-in-law from lung cancer. Her husband's asthma has gotten so bad that he needs two separate inhalers. In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency instructed Rendulich and her neighbors to close the windows and stay inside — the smoke was just too dangerous.

Midwest Generation owns some of the filthiest coal plants in America, as evidenced by the telling nickname given to the Crawford Generation Station by local children: "the cloud factory." In fact, the Chicago Environmental Law and Policy center has named Crawford Generation and its sister station, the Fisk Generating Plant, the "oldest, dirtiest plants located in any urban neighborhood” in the entire nation. The damage extends beyond the environment; a recent Harvard study found that area residents face an extra "41 premature deaths, 550 emergency room visits and 2,800 asthma attacks every year."

Little Village and Pilsen, the two neighborhoods that house the Crawford and Fisk plants, are historically populated by low-income Latinos, who don't exactly represent a powerful political constituency (except for, of course, during election season, when every vote counts). This isn't coincidence; it's environmental racism.

Locals like Rendulich have repeatedly demanded that Midwest Generation's plants shape up or shut down, staging massive protests and even launching a lawsuit against the company last year. Finally, their efforts are paying off. On Tuesday, April 13, the Chicago City Council introduced the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, which gives the Crawford and Fisk plants just "two years to reduce their output of particulate matter and three years to reduce carbon dioxide emissions."

City council members deserve recognition for their new ordinance, but what's taken them so long? These lethal plants have been harming the health of local residents since the 1920s. What's so special about the year 2010 that Chicago legislators finally feel the pressing need to fight against dirty coal?

Gentrification, that's what.

An influx of white, affluent families and businesses has certainly attracted political attention. They've also brought with them a slew of problems for long-time Latino residents: property tax increases from 50 to 150 percent, thousands of foreclosures, skyrocketing rent and utility bills, and privatized education. If an influx of white residents is truly the cause of Chicago's crackdown on Midwest Generation, then gentrification is, interestingly enough, serving as both a blessing and a curse to Little Village and Pilsen residents.

Of course, gentrification is hardly a necessary requirement for pollution-hit neighborhoods to attract political attention. All they really need are elected officials who truly care about their constituents, regardless of race and income level. For corrupt cities like Chicago, however, where white skin and big bank accounts equate to political will, poor minorities are left with an awful choice: keep your health or keep your (limited) wealth.

Photo credit: Alex E. Proimos