Neighbor News
Moving from Coal Plants to Cleaner Energy
Waukegan's coal plant has negative impacts on human health and the environment
In the past decade, there has been a decline in coal plants, with at least 270 coal plants within the United States closing since 2010 (Sierra Club). Yet, despite this decline, Waukegan, IL continues to run one of the oldest coal plants in the United States.
Although coal plants are thought to have economic benefits due to the jobs that they provide, their negative health and environmental impacts outweigh the benefits that they may bring. The coal plants’ emissions of various pollutants including carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and particulate matter, such as soot, contribute to the health problems of the community members within the area, increasing the risk of respiratory problems, such as asthma, and heart-related problems.
Along with this, many of the pollutants released by coal plants are greenhouse gases, therefore, they also contribute to global climate change. This in turn, can negatively affect ecosystems by altering the habitats to which organisms are adapted to.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forest-Lake Blufffor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Given Waukegan’s proximity to Lake Michigan, it is also very easy for the pollutants of the coal plant, like mercury, to contaminate the lake. The contamination of the water ultimately harms the fish within the lake, and makes them unsafe to eat.
Given the variety of options that we now have to replace coal plants with renewable and clean energy, it seems unreasonable that we still have a coal plant within Waukegan, and other communities within the United States. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “...the U.S. can generate most of its electricity from renewable energy by 2050.”
Find out what's happening in Lake Forest-Lake Blufffor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The switch from a coal plant to renewable energy in Waukegan, and in other communities, can reduce the negative health and environmental impacts caused by coal plants, while also providing economic benefits, which is why we should start this switch now.
Sources:
http://elpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/WaukeganCoalPlantHealthCostsFinal11.11.pdf
https://content.sierraclub.org/coal/victories
https://content.sierraclub.org/coal/illinois/midwest-generation/waukegan-generating-station
https://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/smart-energy-solutions/increase-renewables/renewable-energy-80-percent-us-electricity.html#.XAclSxNKiu5
