In February, 2002 Chicago Ald. Ed Burke for the 14th ward proposed the 'Chicago Clean Power Ordinance.’ This legislation has languished for a year without a hearing in Mayor Daley’s department of Environment while community, health and environmental groups have been pressing for its passage. If passed, this legislation would make Chicago one of the cleanest cities for coal power generation in the nation. The current emissions affect all Chicagoans: in a comprehensive 2001 study researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that 40 premature deaths occur every year due to the emissions from Chicago’s coal plants alone, along with 550 emergency room visits and 2,800 asthma attacks.