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This Month
Across the Midwest
July 2025 Newsletter
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[[link removed]] ELPC & Partners Challenge Michigan Coal Plant Extension [[link removed]] [[link removed]]
Last month, ELPC joined ten public interest groups challenging the Trump Administration’s illegal extension of the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan. Consumers Energy announced the plant’s retirement in 2021 after a thorough review process that confirmed it was not necessary for grid reliability. ELPC was working with the utility and local communities on site redevelopment plans including park space and renewable energy through our Powerplants to Parklands initiative. Instead, keeping the plant online for even 90 days is a missed opportunity for the community and could cost close to $100 million. As the federal order includes no funding, those costs may be passed on to Midwest consumers.
To prevent this unjust tax on Midwest families, ELPC also led a group of 16 public interest groups in asking the federal government to find an alternative way to fund its coal-first agenda. As ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner said, “ Families and businesses in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and other Midwest states should not be forced to pay higher electricity bills for a coal plant that is not needed to operate and is not otherwise economic.”
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[[link removed]] Wild & Natural Places [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Protecting Nature in Michigan [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] From the U.P. to the tip of the mitten, ELPC is working to protect Michigan’s special places and diverse wildlife. This month we had a great win to protect the Kirtland’s warbler, a rare bird that breeds only in the Great Lakes region. We also filed an objection to protect the Trap Hills in Ottawa National Forest from selection-cut and clear-cut logging.
[[link removed]] Clean Air [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] ELPC Sues Trump Admin Over Allowing Coal Plants to Ignore Clean Air Act [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] ELPC joined 11 health and environmental groups in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for unlawful exemptions allowing 68 coal plants to postpone complying with the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). The Midwest will foot the bill for this - hitting hardest in Illinois and North Dakota, home to nine of the thirteen Midwest coal plants that received exemptions.
Indiana Fails to Hold Steel Mill to Standards Needed to Cut Air Pollution [[link removed]]
ELPC, residents, and advocates in East Chicago submitted a petition calling on the U.S. EPA to reject Indiana’s recent air permit for a major polluter. The permit would let the Cleveland Cliffs Indiana Harbor steel mills off the hook for basic monitoring, testing, and recordkeeping needed to assure compliance with Clean Air Act requirements.
[[link removed]] Clean Water [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Going to the Beach this Summer? Look Before You Dive In! [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Across the Great Lakes, beach closures due to bacterial contamination are all too common. In 2024, 256 Great Lakes beaches across Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were either closed or issued contamination advisories due to E. coli contamination, totaling 2988 days. Fortunately, ELPC is fighting for clean water everywhere. Read our blog for resources to check the water quality at your local beach.
[[link removed]] News Roundup [[link removed]]
* Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – EPA Administrator Zeldin Tours Milwaukee’s Komatsu Campus, Pushes for ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ [[link removed]]
* IndyStar – IDEM Seeks Public Input on Eliminating ‘Overly Burdensome’ Environmental Regulations [[link removed]]
* Great Lakes Now – This Wetland Fight Could Go to the Supreme Court [[link removed]]
* Crain’s Chicago Business – AI Gold Rush Fuels ComEd Crackdown on Data Center Speculators [[link removed]]
* WSIU Public Broadcasting – EPA Proposed Rollbacks on Pollution Rules Could Come at High Cost [[link removed]]
* Des Moines Register – Report: Iowans Face Higher Costs Under House Budget’s Cuts to Clean Energy Incentives [[link removed]]
* CBS News – Experts Say EPA Plan to Roll Back Limits on Power Plant Emissions will Harm Chicago Air Quality [[link removed]]
* ELPC Blog – Nitrate Pollution: [[link removed]] A Growing Challenge for Communities of All Stripes [[link removed]] [[link removed]]
* Canary Media – How Sensors, Software, and Other Tech Could Help Ohio’s Aging Power Grid [[link removed]]
* ELPC Blog – ELPC 2025 Gala – A Night to Remember [[link removed]]
* The Washington Post – Trump is Forcing this Dirty, Costly Coal Plant to Stay Open [[link removed]]
* ELPC Blog – How “Renewable” is Renewable Natural Gas? [[link removed]]
* Utility Dive – PJM Fast-Tracks 11.8 GW, Mainly Gas, to Bolster Power Supplies [[link removed]]
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We're all in to protect the Midwest environment
Founded in 1993, the Environmental Law & Policy Center is the Midwest's leading environmental legal advocacy organization. We advocate, innovate, and litigate to protect the Midwest's environment from the Great Lakes to the Great Plains.
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ELPC
35 E Wacker Dr 1600
Chicago, IL 60601
United States
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