A new coalition aiming to facilitate the closure of the Bay State's last remaining coal-fired power plants announced its presence on Wednesday morning.

Coal Free Massachusetts - an alliance of about 50 environmental groups statewide - held kick-off events at the locations of the state's last three functioning coal plants in Salem, Holyoke and Somerset.

At the Blaney Street Pier in Salem - with the Salem Harbor Power Station looming just blocks away, representatives from a handful of major environmental advocacy groups based on the North Shore outlined their cause. The coalition's top objective is to entirely end the use of coal to harvest power in Massachusetts by 2020.

SALEM — With the aging smokestacks of Salem Harbor Station as a backdrop, local and state environmental leaders announced the formation of a new statewide coalition yesterday, with the aim of shutting down the last coal power plants in the state.

The Salem plant is already slated to close by 2014. The new group, called Coal Free Massachusetts, wants to close similar plants in Somerset and Holyoke by 2020.

They look innocuous enough: a kid's ring with a colorful, cartoony owl; a pair of beaded bracelets, one reading "Best," the other "Friends," to be shared by devoted BFFs.

But the jewelry, and many similar pieces made for children, are anything but harmless, according to a new study released by two environmental groups. When researchers tested that cute owl for the presence of toxic chemicals, they found high levels of bromine—which has been linked to fertility and learning issues, among other problems, and is commonly used in flame-retardant materials—as well as four other toxic chemicals: chlorine, lead, arsenic and mercury.