As our examples for local environmental racism, we chose to report on XCel Energy. This should catch the attention of many UW-L students, as we receive our energy from an XCel facility, located on French Island, which has been at the center of controversy in its own right. This portion of the website will be utilizing criticism levied on XCel by numerous environmental and social justice organizations. Sources will be provided to further aid education concerning XCel, their history, and their current practices.
It’s quite difficult to highlight cases surrounding XCel, as they all deserve to be explored. However, we will be concentrating on two cases in relatively close proximity to La Crosse. They are the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant and the Manitoba Hydro Hydroelectric Dam.

“XCel has a strong tradition of environmental stewardship-protecting the delicate balance between the need for reliable energy and minimizing environmental impact from energy production and distribution.”

Reading the above statement, one would be led to believe XCel is a responsible corporate citizen. However, if we examine their track record, we come to find a history quite to the contrary.

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