Blog post by Nick Dodson, Sierra Club Sangamon Valley Group Executive Committee Member
We have great news to share today. We've been fighting for the past few months to stop a dirty gas plant in Pawnee, Illinois, just outside Springfield. Despite the global effects on climate and our whole state's health, the IL EPA was originally only allowing an in-person option for the plant's public hearing on November 17th. We asked if they were offering a virtual option, like many city councils and other modern governing bodies do and they said they were not. However, we pushed back, reminding the IL EPA of ongoing COVID safety concerns, our desire to make all public spaces equitable and accessible and other activists and advocates joined in opposing this clear impediment to meeting accessibility and we now have the option to attend and comment at the hearing virtually — instead of exclusively in our meat bodies.
This is a clear victory for meeting accessibility and we think it's important to celebrate all victories. Thanks to pressure from people like YOU this happened. I believe if we reach out to friends, family, loved ones and other advocates for the planet we can stop this power plant from being built. If we work together, we can win together.
How to help out-organize a gas plant:
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Submit a public comment to the EPA objecting this power plant permit
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RSVP on Facebook that you’re attending the November 17th Hearing
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Invite & encourage others to submit a comment to the EPA by sharing the comment link
When I was a kid I used to watch a show about a powerful protector of our Planet. It was centered about a group of diverse kids with special abilities that could unite to summon Earth’s strongest defender, Captain Planet. Here I am dressed as the Captain for Halloween 2021 because I know together we can stop the construction of this plant in Sangamon County.
Can you be a member of the team summoning Earth’s protectors today?
Why wait? This is literally the moment you’ve been waiting for. The planet and your community needs you. I am leaving you with a quote from a personal hero of mine as his sentiment reverberates deeply with me.
“My country is Earth, and I am a citizen of the world.” - Eugene V. Debs