Illinois To See Significant Public Health Benefits in a 100% Carbon-Free Future Tom Shockey/Flickr Jessica Collingsworth, Energy policy analyst | May 12, 2021, 12:40 pm EDT Special thanks to Brian Urbaszewski, Director of Environmental Health Programs at , for contributing to this post and the development of the University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW) Analysis. In Illinois, the economic competitiveness of our aging and inefficient coal-fired power plants is in decline. Coal’s share of in-state generation dropped to 27% of generation in 2019. Last month, Vistra announced plans to retire the Joppa Power Plant by September 1, 2022, three years earlier than previously expected. These types of decisions not only make sense from an economic standpoint, but there are also health benefits realized as well since burning less fossil fuel for energy means healthier air for all of us to breathe. The negative health impacts of Illinois’ coal plants are well documented, including in the 2018 UCS Soot to Solar Analysis. In 2016 alone, air pollution from Illinois coal plants led to an estimated 2,300 asthma attacks and more than 350 premature deaths.