“We want to make the strongest statement possible that we are resisting dirty coal plants in our city, and that we are willing to risk arrest for that."

 

--Debra Michaud, Rainforest Action Network Chicago, speaking in behalf of the eight clean-energy advocates at their time of arrest outside the Fisk coal-fired power station, Chicago –

 

 

“What we know, what scientists have been telling us is that we have to get our carbon down to 350.  And the reason that we picked this location is to talk about the fact that these coal power plants in Chicago and cities and nations across the world are dealing with dirty, dirty coal power plants.  And we want to send a message to Obama when he goes to Copenhagen in December, to make sure that he gets to 350, to make sure that he moves legislation forward that is going to improve the quality of air, clean up our communities, and get us the jobs that we need, and save us and save our planet. 

 

“So, 350 is the number that we’re aiming for.  For us on a local level we’re here because we have been demanding for eight years, and we’re going to continue to demand that these coal plants get shut down. We’re talking about supporting our brothers and sisters in the coal mining states, Appalachia, and other places where their homes are being destroyed, and the environment is being destroyed; we need to call out to them, and say, ‘We support you! We are here united with you!” because we know that they support us here in Chicago.”

 

--Kim Wasserman, Coordinator, LVEJO, Chicago –

 

 

“They’ve been asking this question in Appalachia for years when it comes to coal, and that is:  ‘Which side are YOU on?’  No different is coal that we’re burning and pouring on the children of Little Village and Pilsen than the water that we’re poisoning via mountain top removal in West Virginia.”

 

--Parson Brown, Topless America, Chicago –

 

 

“If we are truly to be the ‘Green City’ that we claim ourselves to be, we simply cannot allow these power plants to continue to operate any longer.  They must be shut down, and they must be shut down as soon as possible.”

 

--Ald. Joe Moore, 49^th Ward, City of Chicago --

 

 

 

*  Statement text courtesy of audio segment of:  YouTube: Topless America: Chicago 350 Climate Action - 10/24/2009       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL2f8vv5l4o