A coalition of health and environmental advocates wants cleaner air for Chicago’s Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods.

The campaign is taking aim at two local power plants.

People here have a high incidence of asthma, and many believe there’s a culprit:
soot from the nearby Fisk and Crawford power plants.

Residents and activists now want Chicago to curb the plant’s emissions.

Several aldermen tried that a few years ago, but they failed.

Now, the American Lung Association’s Joel Africk hopes to revive it.

He says health advocates fought, and won, a similar fight for a city-wide smoking ban.

“The lesson of Smoke-Free Chicago is, that when community speaks to its elected officials, they will listen and they will take action. So, are we emboldened by that? You’re damn right,” Africk says.

The Lung Association claims forty people in Chicago die each year from the emissions at both plants.

Midwest Generation owns the Fisk and Crawford stations.

The company says it’s reduced soot and other pollutants.