With reports of dirty-old coal-fired power plants being modernized in other cities (www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2005/jan/jan11c_05.html or
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2005/2005-03-18-05.asp or
www.cincypost.com/2005/03/11/air031105.html or
www.planetsave.com/index.php),
nothing of the kind is found for Chicago-based Midwest Generation's plants. In synch with dirty-power, Mayor Daley evades joining with mayors from around the country fighting global warming (The following list www.ci.seattle.wa.us/mayor/climate/quotes.htm includes the names of 141 mayors from 36 states and counting as of today, no Daley to be found).

While Mayor Daley looks the other way from the daily degradation of public health and the environment in his backyard, Governor Blagojevich keeps the enforcement of stricter state controls buried on the bottom of the agenda at the Midwest Governor's Association with nothing to show for it (www.midwestgovernors.org/issues/chair_agenda.asp). In synch with dirty-power, Governor Blagojevich's plans for erecting more coal-fired power plants advances (www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2005/05/07/top/102883.txt).

In synch with the dirty pol's sticking it to Chicago, ComEd is pushing for nearly a 20% hike in electricity rates, fueling its recent stock-price appreciation chicagobusiness.com/mag/ ComEd Hike Up for Grabs).

While the Clean Air Act continues to be assaulted by Republicans in Washington,(www.commondreams.org/news2005/0414-13.htm), while loopholes remain in the Act for Chicago's two and Illinois' 23 dirty coal-fired power plants to escape modernization, Midwest Generation, wholly owned by Mission Energy, the profitable unit of California-based Edison International, (Edison Intl 1Q Net Soars On Strong Unit Results
aolsvc.news.aol.com/business/article.adp) is hiring help to consider the finances and weigh the benefits of buying pollution credits instead of smokestack-scrubbers for the profit of its shareholders (accounting.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx) rather than seek a more sustainable energy future (clean energy creates jobs www.consciouschoice.com/2005/cc1805/choicenews1805.html).

A few miles from the dirty plants and pol's, when Meigs Field for the elite was suddenly ripped asunder under the guise of homeland security (borrowing a frequently used excuse for shit from another prominent son of a politician working in his daddy's old office), Mayor Daley promised a public park would cover Northerly Island. For a while it was home to a bike path and a Patti Blagojevich Native Wildflower garden www.illinois.gov/firstlady/faq.cfm. That and the idea of a public park has been replaced this year with a new profit-center for Texas-based media-behemoth Clear Channel, already owner of among other things all the billboards and 7 radio stations in Chicago (www.clearchannelsucks.org/). There will probably be more news about that this year than advances to clean the air. Without a change in vision of corpolitic leadership, dirty-power will continue to profit at the expense of the public welfare.