Breathing Free-er

Long a symbol of environmental injustice, Pacific Gas and Electric's power planet in San Francisco's Hunter's Point district has finally shut down operations. Built in 1929, the plant was among the oldest, dirtiest and least efficient in California. Studies have shown that Hunter's Point residents -- predominantly lower-income and non-white -- suffer from a disproportionate number of asthma and cancer cases. Grassroots opposition to the outdated plant began 25 years ago. As is so often the case with environmental justice campaigns, the movement was led by mothers who grew angry at having to watch their children suffer.