Lee Ziesche, lee.ziesche@sierraclub.org
ST. LOUIS, MO - A vibrant parade of costumed community members with puppets, windsocks, and signs headed from Layette Park to Ameren Headquarters today with a powerful Earth Month message for the monopoly utility: ditch coal and go renewable.
Instead of moving swiftly to cleaner and more affordable renewables, Ameren has proposed to keep its super-polluting Labadie coal-burning power plant open until 2042 and its Sioux plant open an additional four years.
Labadie is the second-largest coal plant in the country to operate without industry-standard pollution reduction measures, and it is, based on its particulate emissions, the second-deadliest power plant in the country, contributing to 4,000 deaths between 1999 and 2020.
“I live about four miles from the Labadie power plant. I look at those stacks every day and unfortunately that plant is killing people,’ said Patricia Schuba with Labadie Environmental Organization. “Friends of mine, colleagues of mine, have died. They die of cancer, lung disease, heart disease. Ameren can’t contest this any longer. They can’t say their plants aren’t hurting people and that we don’t deserve a better future. Energy can be clean, it can be affordable, it can be equitable, and I’ll tell you what, it’s renewable! ”
Patricia Schuba with Labadie Environmental Organization holds up the inhaler she now has to use outside of Ameren Missouri Headquarters (St. Louis)
On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized four separate standards that will slash air, water, and carbon pollution from power plants. Ameren knew these federal rules were coming and took a large risk ignoring them in its latest Integrated Resource Plan.
“By dragging its feet on coal, Ameren continues to make financially risky business decisions that harm the health and safety of our communities and the climate,” said Jenn DeRose, Senior Field Organizer for the Sierra Club Missouri Beyond Coal Campaign. “No more slow-walking the buildout of renewable energy. Ameren’s customers are out in force today to demand it come clean in its long term planning.”
“Our organization cares about closing Ameren’s power plant simply because it continues to negatively impact our communities,” said Kristian Blackmon, Executive Director of Homes for All St. Louis. “It’s no surprise that low income and communities of color disproportionately feel this impact the most. Air pollutants from coal plants can cause asthma, upper respiratory issues, cancer, and even brain damage. Ameren needs to stop dragging its feet and close its Labadie plant now.”
“Coal-fired power plants have no place in today’s world, and as a young citizen of Earth, I have made it my mission to take down fossil fuels,” said Aidan Lewis, President of Green Action WashU.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.