About Mike Johnson

As Senior Analyst, Mike generates technical intelligence to support Greenpeace’s efforts to retire dirty coal plants and shift investments to renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Tidings of Clean Energy Success and a Cleaner New Year

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Mike Johnson

Across the world, holidays of all traditions are celebrating light and hope. Against a backdrop of these holiday times that bring 2012 to a close and give birth to 2013, we naturally reflect on the year that has been and the coming year that can be. Many of you reading this article played a role in making 2012 a great one for clean energy, health and a livable climate. For that we are thankful and wish many happy returns and look forward to continued collaboration. First, let’s celebrate what we accomplished. Continue reading →

Choosing people power

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Mike Johnson

A wind farm in Iowa that provides energy for 75,000 homes

History took place in Chicago on November 6th as voters paved the way for the largest city-led people power initiative in the country. By pooling together demand for electricity and leveraging the city’s buying power, Chicago residents could see both emissions reductions and cost savings within months. This relatively new concept, known as community choice aggregation, has caught on quickly. Chicago joins hundreds of communities across Illinois, California and Ohio who are saving money while supporting renewable energy and proving that ‘Cleaner is Cheaper.’

This victory follows another historic victory for clean air in Chicago: the October closure of Chicago’s two coal plants, Fisk and Crawford and Cincinnati’s choice of a cleaner alternative to Duke Energy. This aggregation paves the way for a clean energy future to replace these plants. Mayor Emanuel’s administration has rightly incorporated efficiency, renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions and nuclear waste considerations when considering suppliers. To secure the promise of clean power, you can encourage the Mayor’s Office to make the most of renewables and efficiency by leaving a public comment.

Greenpeace, Dow Jones agree: Duke not a global leader in sustainability

Comment

A.E. Bates airship calls out Duke's dirty energy rate hike.

In perhaps the most public rebuke of Duke’s overstuffed environmental rhetoric to date, Dow Jones booted Duke from its list of greenest companies in the world today. As least as far as Dow Jones is concerned, Duke can no longer claim the mantle of ‘global leader’ in sustainability. When it comes to toxic pollution and climate change, Rogers and Duke Energy need to get out of denial and into action on behalf of the more than 7 million households they serve. Continue reading →

Preventing a toxic legacy

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Mike Johnson

As Ted Craver and Edison International convene their Annual General Meeting today, community residents in Chicago consider the future use of the sites of Fisk and Crawford, the city’s two coal plants. Edison agreed to close the plants in response to overwhelming grassroots support months ago. Solutions for how to deal with potential contamination have been more elusive. Community activists are well represented in a process to discuss these solutions and things are moving forward. Representatives from LVEJO, PERRO and Pilsen Alliance have been taking solutions right to Mayor Emmanuel. While this is encouraging, Edison has been hesitant to assume clean-up responsibilities at the plants. If Edison is not held accountable, Chicago taxpayers could end picking up the clean-up tab. Calling on those who have suffered from decades of pollution to clean the plants up when it is Edison who has profited from their operation is simply unjust. Let’s turn Fisk & Crawford into bright spots, not blight spots in the Pilsen and Little Village communities. Join us in calling on Ted Craver and Edison International to avert a toxic legacy and clean up the Fisk and Crawford sites once and for all.

Edison, GenOn clean up acts; Duke, GE embrace a dirty past

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Mike Johnson

What has happened this week is nothing short of amazing and the story only keeps getting better. This week, power producers Edison International and GenOn announced the pending closure of almost 4,000MW of coal plants across Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In Chicago, more than decade of activism came to fruition as Edison International announced the closure of Fisk Generating Station by the end of this year and Crawford Generating Station by the end of 2014. The unparalleled speed of these closures largely stems from a broad-based coalition determined not to accept false solutions like natural gas as a next-worst alternative to coal power. Continue reading →