If Waukegan’s coal-fired power plant closed tomorrow, all of our lights would stay on—and 143 lives would be saved between 2022 and 2030, according to Soot to Solar: Illinois’ Clean Energy Transition, an analysis released October 24, 2018, by Union of Concerned Scientists.

In fact, the faster Illinois can retire its aging, inefficient coal plants—a critical step in the clean energy transition—the greater the benefits will be for communities across the state, according to the analysis.

Here’s how closing up to nine dirty coal plants will help Illinoisans:

• Reduce CO2 emissions by up to 51%
• Prevent more than 1,100 premature deaths
• Save each consumer household nearly $100 a year on their electricity bills

Celeste Flores, Lake County Outreach Director for Faith in Place and co-chair of Clean Power Lake County, and Jessica Collingsworth, Lead Midwest Energy Policy Analyst/Advocate at Union of Concerned Scientists) discussed the energy and health benefits of a just transition to renewable energy report on WBEZ’s Worldview on November 13, 2018. Listen to the WBEZ program here.

Want more info?

• Soot to Solar: Illinois’ Clean Energy Transition
• Soot to Solar: Waukegan Case Study
• Unmasking the Waukegan Coal Plant Reliability Myth