Green Parent Chicago

EarthTalk: What is Environmental Justice?

Dear EarthTalk: What is meant by “environmental justice” and how is it under assault in the new Trump administration? -- Mike Garner, New Orleans, LA

Environmental justice is defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income, with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.” In layperson’s terms, it means making sure specific groups of people don’t bear a disproportionate burden from potential and existing environmental threats.

Traditionally, we think of situations like the siting and construction of a pollution-spewing factory in or near a low-income minority community as an example of an environmental injustice. Some recent examples ripped from the headlines include the lead contamination of the water supply of predominantly African-American Flint, Michigan, and the siting of the potentially hazardous Dakota Access Pipeline adjacent to sacred and ecologically sensitive Standing Rock Sioux tribal land.

“The federal government has recognized for decades that air and water quality are especially poor in low-income areas and communities of color, and some of that imbalance stems directly from government permitting decisions, such as where to allow the dumping of toxic materials,” reports the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a leading environmental advocacy non-profit.

Environmental justice has been a hot topic lately as it relates to who bears the brunt of climate change impacts. According to EPA research, city dwellers and the poor are among the Americans most likely to suffer from climate change. NRDC points out that 24 to 27 percent of urban African-Americans, Latinos and indigenous people in the U.S. are now living below the poverty line, compared with only 13 percent of urban whites—meaning that minority groups are at the greatest risk from the heat waves, bad air, stronger storms and other negative consequences of a warming climate.

The federal government has been working on environmental justice issues since at least 1992 when then-President George H.W. Bush created a White House office dedicated to “environmental equity.” Bill Clinton took up the mantle when he assumed the presidency in 1994 and issued Executive Order #12898 calling for the federal government to identify and address “disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies and activities on minority populations and low-income populations.” Clinton’s order created the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice to coordinate and oversee implementation of the rule across different federal agencies, and spawned the Environmental Justice Small Grants Program, which has awarded upwards of $24 million since then in funding to more than 1,400 community-based and tribal organizations working in communities facing environmental justice problems.

But that all is likely to change now that Donald Trump has proposed slashing the EPA’s overall budget by $2 billion and cutting funding for environmental justice programs specifically by 78 percent, from $6.7 million to just $1.5 million. “These cuts are a direct attack on low-income communities and communities of color everywhere who are on the front lines of toxic pollution,” says NRDC’s environmental justice head Al Huang.

CONTACTS: EPA Environmental Justice, www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice; NRDC, www.nrdc.org.

EarthTalk® is produced by Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of the nonprofit Earth Action Network. To donate, visit www.earthtalk.org. Send questions to: question@earthtalk.org.

Letter Shows Sanders Led Early Warning to Clinton on Keystone Pipeline XL

Nearly five years ago, a letter from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Patrick Leahy, and Sen. Ron Wyden, to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned the State Department of a conflict of interest in the selection of Cardno Entrix, a private consulting firm, in conducting an environmental review of the safety of the controversial Keystone Pipeline XL project.

Danielle Droitsch, Canada Project Director with the National Resources Defense Council, was first to report on the letter in her policy blog.

However, mainstream news coverage of the initial contact between the 3 senators and Sec. Clinton was limited. The firm was permitted by the State Department, under Sec. Hillary Clinton, to conduct an environmental impact review (EIS) of the tar sands pipeline, although they had previously listed TransCanada Corp., the owner of the Keystone Pipeline as a "major client."

Obama rejected the Keystone XL expansion project this past November, citing environmental concerns. The White House worried the project would have a significant impact on the supply of clean water in the U.S. across the Great Plains States. According to a Washington Post story from November 2011:

"White House officials became concerned about the political repercussions of approving the pipeline, and in November 2011 the administration said it would review alternatives to the proposed route, which crossed the Ogallala Aquifer that stretches across Nebraska and other Great Plains states. The aquifer is one of the world's largest underground sources of fresh water and supplies drinking water to millions of people in the Plains. That review effectively delayed the decision until after Obama's reelection."

In a letter to the State Department in August 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency was also concerned "about the risk of oil spills that could affect drinking water and sensitive ecosystems, as well as the effect of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline."

But just recently at Sunday's debate in Flint, MI, Clinton, touted her commitment to clean water availability and the environment.

Joe Romm, reporting for ClimateProgress in 2011, declared that the environmental review process by Cardno Entrix should have been invalidated, once the conflict of interest was plainly made known. The Los Angeles Times broke the story in the mainstream press in July of 2011 about the flawed environmental review:

"The State Department has completed two environmental impact statements on the pipeline with the help of Cardno Entrix, a private environmental consulting firm that has said its biggest clients include TransCanada Corp., the owner of the Keystone pipeline system, whose current routes extend from Hardisty, Alberta, to Oklahoma and Illinois. Cardno Entrix gained national attention last year as the environmental consultant for BP after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The Environmental Protection Agency has criticized the resulting assessments as fundamentally flawed. "What we've seen from the State Department recently are sloppy reports, inadequate investigations and a total disregard for the dozen accidents that occurred" in the existing Keystone I pipeline, said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. "If the president doesn't stand up, all signs point to an agency that is simply going through the motions before giving its approval."

Sanders' letter from October 4, 2011 to Sec. Clinton at the State Department reads:

"We write to express our serious concern with recent reports that the Department of State allowed a contractor with a financial relationship with TransCanada, which seeks to build the Keystone XL pipeline, to conduct the Department's environmental review mandated under federal law as pan of its consideration of TransCanada's proposed pipeline. " "We find it inappropriate that a contractor with financial ties to TransCanada, which publicly promotes itself by identifying TransCanada as a "major client", was selected to conduct what is intended to be an objective government review." "This is a critically important issue for our environment and the energy future of our county. At a time when all credible scientific evidence and opinion indicate that we are losing the battle against global warming, it is imperative that we have objective environmental assessments of major carbon-dependent energy projects. An entity with a financial stake in the success or failure of a developer's project proposal is not in a position to provide such an assessment. It is our strong opinion that the only satisfactory remedy is for the Department to conduct a new, objective, and comprehensive environmental review, either directly or through a contractor with no financial ties to TransCanada."

A Mother Jones exclusive by Andy Kroll from March 21, 2013, notes that beyond ignoring the conflict of interest inherent in the environmental impact study, the State Department further attempted to minimize the risks of the controversial Keystone Pipeline XL project:

"State released documents in conjunction with the Keystone report in which these experts' work histories were redacted so that anyone reading the documents wouldn't know who'd previously hired them. Yet unredacted versions of these documents obtained by Mother Jones confirm that three experts working for an outside contractor had done consulting work for TransCanada and other oil companies with a stake in the Keystone's approval." "The State Department has faced heaps of criticism for potential conflicts of interests involving TransCanada and Keystone XL. ...Emails obtained by Friends of the Earth, an environmental group that opposes the Keystone pipeline, revealed a cozy relationship between TransCanada lobbyist Paul Elliott and Marja Verloop, an official at the US Embassy in Canada whose portfolio covers the Keystone project. Before he lobbied for TransCanada, Elliott worked as deputy campaign manager on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid. Clinton served as secretary of state until recently."

Brendan DeMelle at Desmogblog has detailed the extensive relationship between Clinton and and the State Department and lobbyists for TransCanada. Sanders continued the pressure on the Keystone Pipeline XL issue later on in 2011 with an editorial in The Guardian:

"Picture this: a large, multibillion dollar Canadian corporation comes to the president of the United States and wants to build a 1,700-mile oil pipeline from Canada all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. After reviewing the project, it becomes clear that instead of reducing America's reliance on oil from overseas, this pipeline would carry oil across America, risking spills on our land and waters, just to export the oil to other countries. In addition, the pipeline would increase gasoline prices in America, add to our air pollution, and most importantly, be a major setback in the fight to reverse global warming."

-Christine S. Escobar

Bernie Sanders for President

Aled Lewis (aledlewis)

 

Hillary Clinton is banking on the hope that you are stupid. Bernie Sanders knows you aren’t. So ask yourself:

Who would speak for you?

Have you ever had to juggle expenses to pay down your medical bills? Did you have to walk away from your family home during the foreclosure crisis? Do you have enough money saved up to pay for your child’s college tuition? Are you still repaying student loans while trying to save for retirement, but getting nowhere?

Who would speak for you?

Do you wonder if you’ll have enough money for groceries until the next payday, even though you work full time? Do you worry that your teenage son or daughter will be a victim of police brutality or racial profiling? Are you a long time environmental activist hoping to see your country finally make a major investment in clean energy and break from outdated technologies that destroy our waterways and mountaintops?

Who would speak for you?

Are you chronically ill or self-employed and unable to manage the cost of healthcare premiums, prescription drugs, co-pays and annual deductibles that increasingly eat away at your income? Has the cost of healthcare ever kept you from seeing a doctor or specialist? Mandatory health insurance coverage is not the same as equal healthcare benefits for all.

Who would speak for you?

Are you a young college grad unable to find a decent paying job that values your education and intelligence? Are you struggling to pay down your massive student debt balance? Are you a two income family working harder and longer only to realize less and less financial stability as each year passes? Do you wonder how you will ever be able to afford to send your children to college?

Who would speak for you?

You’ve heard the claim that Clinton is a champion of women and all Americans. But how could her fighting spirit not push for a $15 minimum wage for all American workers, including the millions of hardworking American women, many of whom are not being paid what men in the same positions doing the same jobs are? As Julie Kashen, senior policy advisor of the Make it Work campaign fighting for working women's rights, recently wrote:

“...since two-thirds of the people who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage are women, higher minimum wages would help close the gender gap in pay.”

Who would speak for you?

The cold hard reality is nowhere more plain to see than in the numbers: Sanders has a personal net worth of $330,506. Clinton’s is ‍‍‍$21.5 million. To take a page from Bill Clinton, that looks like good old “arithmetic” to me. Clinton is the candidate of the privileged class and a type of feminism that isn’t concerned with poor women.

Who would speak for you?

Clinton’s message has reinvented itself time and again to fit the seemingly most advantageous political path. Sanders has been saying the same goddamn thing for the past 30 plus years and has the voting record and career campaign finance record to prove it. With the sales and royalties of her multiple published books alone, Clinton could still currently earn a handsome salary. Instead, she chose to accept enormous sums of money from the very corporations she claims she will rail against if elected. Clinton Foundation donors include those who have specifically benefited from offshore tax havens. It takes a special kind of delusion to turn a blind eye to this duality.

What’s wrong with being rich, some ask? Everything, if it keeps you from understanding the anger of the very people whose lives are being destroyed by the greed of a few. The top richest possess a gilded future and the laws and rules of taxation governing this future look extremely different those than those that apply to the ordinary American, whose wealth lies not in trusts and shadow companies and capital gains or offshore, but instead in ordinary checking and savings accounts.

Lobbyists who have pushed for the Keystone Pipeline, and accepted money from Lehman Brothers, are, as you read this, currently heading Clinton’s 2016 campaign. Her top campaign finance bundlers have worked for the fossil fuel industry. By saying she is going after the same lobbyists who run her campaign, the moneyed elite that donate to both her campaign and her family’s Clinton Foundation, it's clear Clinton’s recent adoption of populist language on the eve of the Iowa caucuses amounts to nothing more than posturing for votes.

Last week as voters in Iowa listened to Sanders explain his proposals, Clinton was scheduled to fly to the East Coast to attend a finance industry fundraiser for her campaign. It has now been postponed until mid February. But for the few privileged enough to drop anywhere from $2,700 individually or raise $27,000 for the one dinner, my guess is that the subject matter of these two events will be drastically different. She is banking on this, and hoping you won’t notice at all.

Who would speak for you?

Pundits wonder why Clinton’s brand of politics is no longer resonating with younger voters? Here's my guess: They’re hungry for more and will no longer be satisfied with mere crumbs tossed their way. As Gen X parents screwed by the system installed in large part by Clinton’s husband now raise their own children and young adults, they have instilled much of their anti-establishment skepticism upon them.

Not content to be merely placated by brand loyalty and reality television, a massive number of younger voters are looking for the alternative to a status quo that has left them and their parents future out to dry.

It’s time to end legalized tax evasion in America. If hoarding extreme wealth could be defined as a mental disorder, isn’t it time that we wrest control of this country from the grip of the unhinged 1 percent?

In early 1972, a book called “A Populist Manifesto” The Making of A New Majority was published. Authored by Jack Newfield and Jeff Greenfield, this book outlined a progressive populist “political alignment” among the many political interests of the day (civil rights, the ecology movement, women’s rights, low and moderate income citizens being short-changed by the mutating liberal agenda of the day moving away from the social democrat ideals of Roosevelt and Johnson). The book’s preface begins with 3 facts, the first of which states:

“Wealth and power are unequally and unfairly distributed in America today.”

That was 44 years ago. Enough is enough. Our time is now. Our candidate is Bernie Sanders. Intersectionality is at the heart of the Sanders campaign and the reason his campaign messages resonate with such a wide cross section of Americans. We see through Clinton, the candidate who fiercely opposed gay marriage, supported the Iraq War, called the TPP the “gold standard”, received funds from the private prison industry, opposes the Glass-Steagall act, advocated for fracking, and profited from promoting the Keystone Pipeline.

We the people of the United States of America deserve more and we are not stupid.

Who would speak for you?

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World's Largest Rooftop Farm Opens in Pullman neighborhood of Chicago

Brooklyn-based Gotham Greens has announced the opening of their fourth greenhouse, a new facility located on Chicago's South Side in the historic Pullman neighborhood.

 

The rooftop of the Method Products manufacturing facility is the site of the new 75,000 square foot Chicago greenhouse, powered by 100% renewable energy. The greenhouse employs over 50 workers, including many from the Pullman community.

 

Gotham Greens, is a producer of pesticide-free produce grown through urban agriculture. The company's growing method is said to yield up to 30 times more crop per acre than field production, enabling the Pullman greenhouse to produce yields equivalent to over 50 acres of conventional field production.

 

The company also recycles 100% of its irrigation water, and aims for a lighter environmental footprint by growing locally.

 

-Christine

 

 

Chicago Farmers Markets Open For The Season

Kick-off will take place at the Daley Plaza Farmers Market Thursday May 14 at 11:30 a.m. The Daley Plaza market is the longest running Farmers Market in Chicago.

See the complete schedule of Chicago Farmers Markets in neighborhoods all over the city with details on which markets accept the LINK card here.

photo credit: flickr, Cindy Kurman, Kurman Communications, Inc

Swapadventure Makes Trading Hand-me-downs Simple

Two women from Mount Prospect have started a popular new way for parents to recycle gently used children's clothing and equipment and adult clothing and accessories, while helping families find items they need for free.

Swapadventure, now celebrating its 1st anniversary, is the creation of Angelika Babich and Maggie Pawelko. Each is a mom to three children under the age of 10. The pair organize free swapping events at Chicago area businesses twice a month. The only admission to each event is one shopping bag of items no longer needed to be added to the items for swapping. There is no swapping limit and attendess may take as much as they need.

Surplus swap items are donated to local organizations

Items left over at the events are donated directly to shelters and orphanages.

Swapadventure does not resell any of the items donated and ensures that the organizations  receiving the remaining items do not resell them.

Babich and Pawelko say there is no membership fee to attend a Swapadventure event and never will be one. They created Swapadventure "simply to help others" and realized that many parents have items remaining in storage that could go to those in need.

In addition, they felt parents could benefit from swapping in a family friendly public place from trusted sources, rather than online through sources like Craigslist or Freecycle, while bringing their kids along.

Each event provides not only free items for kids and adults, but generally provides free admission for kids to the swap venue and recognition of local businesses in the community.

The only items not accepted are undergarments, clothing with stains or holes, and clothing with animal hair on it.

Attendance at each Swapadventure event ranges from 50 to 200.

How can local businesses help sponsor a Swapadventure event?

Businesses interested in sponsoring an event may contact Babich or Pawelka through the Swapadventure website.

The pair said they welcome products, giveaways, advertising with Swapadventure, and goodie bags for their attendees from local businesses.

Raffles are held and 2 costumed princesses appear at each event to meet and greet children and take photos with them.

Find out more information and register for the next Swapadventure event here: 

https://www.swapadventure.com/upcoming-events.html

-Christine

 

 

 

 

 

Green Homes for Everyone: Talking Passive Homes with Evolutionary Home Builders' Brandon Weiss

 

The availability and affordability of green housing is a concern for many eco-conscioius home buyers in the U.S. today. As green building technology continues to improve, more and more home buyers are realizing the long term benefits of building green.

A recent study by the National Association of Home Builders, reports that the majority of green homeowners would purchase another green home and recommend purchasing a green home to friends. 

This weekend, the U.S. Green Building Council-Illinois is organizing the 2014 Green Built Home Tour. All homes on the Green Built Home Tour were third-party verified (or pending verification) to ensure they were built (or being built) to national standards, earning certification through programs such as: ENERGY STAR for Homes, LEED for Homes, the National Green Building Standard, DOE Challenge Home, Illinois GreenStar, and Passive House.

Brandon Weiss, founder and principal of Evolutionary Home Builders in Geneva, IL will present his firm's Uber Haus, a Passive House, that showcases a uniquely extreme approach to energy efficiency at the tour. Green Parent Chicago recently spoke with Weiss of about his firm's Passive House technology and why this method of building can bring more adaptibility and affordability to the market for green home ownership.

According to Weiss, a passive house meets the world's strictest energy efficiency and building science certification. It is also designed and specified to be one of the healthiest homes in the country. The Uber Haus is the 28th home to be built to these stringent standards thus far. Evolutionary Home Builders is seeking Living Building Challenge and LEEDv4 Platinum certifications for the Uber Haus. If acheived, it would be the first such home in Illinois to achieve these certifications.

"Passive is definitely something that makes a ton of sense financially and environmentally," explains Weiss.

The technology behind passive homes optimizes gains and minimizes losses of the home's energy. It is a virtually air-tight building primarily heated by passive solar gain and internal gains from people, electrical equipment, lighting, etc.

Passive home technology reduces the heating and cooling demand on the house by 90 percent. In addition, the special design and construction of the house keeps out moisture which can lead to deterioration and degradation, as well as conductive heat loss. By not having air leaks in the house, drafts are kept out.

"Typically air leaks are the number one source of energy loss in a home," according to Weiss. "Passive house makes sense financially. It's quality construction, better air quality, your getting a higher quality home, lower utilities cost."

The passive house building concept was developed in Urbana, IL by a German architect in the 1970’s. According to The Passive House Institute US, a passive house building can realize net zero energy consumption without applying potentially expensive "active" technologies like photovoltaics or solar thermal hot water systems. Although these can certainly be added to a passive house design. Passive houses do not need a traditional furnace or air conditioning system.

"LEED homes are great for the holistic green approach, but the energy side of that isn’t as great as passive homes," says Weiss. “The absolute easiest way to get [net zero] is a passive home.”

In terms of health and air quality, a passive house has a "balanced ventilation system" and continuous exchanges of air to allow moisture from the kitchen and bathrooms to be exchange for fresh air that is filtered.

Because a passive house is "performance based" Weiss says it is a technology standard that can be applied to various types of construction and sizes of home.

"We don’t concentrate on a certain aesthetics or price," he says. "Passive house can be (very adaptive). Whatever method you can use to get [to passive house certification]. It's open ended, it allows for creativity, it's not just putting points together."

Tour the Uber Haus and 17 other green built homes at the Green Built Home tour, this Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Tickets, map and info, available at the link)

-photo credit: Green Built Home Tour

-Christine

 

 

Creative Eco Gift Ideas for Everyone On Your List

Still have a few specials things to buy on your holiday gift list? Concerned about making your purchases count toward helping the planet? Not looking to spend on something unnecessary or impractical? Here are my favorite picks to help you check off those last few "to do's" on your list, while being a more mindful consumer.

My favorite cleaning and disinfecting products are those that are safe for children and the environment. Cleanwell products are made from natural ingredients for those times when you really want to do away with the nasties in a non-nasty way. How about a green cleaning basket full? With 30% off it's a great time to try CleanWell cleaning products!  

For the green bookworm, one of my favorite independent publishers is Chelsea Green Publishing - the leading publisher of sustainable living books since 1985. For sustainable living, eco advocacy, environmental politics, homesteading, urban homesteading, gardening and simple living, look no further. For 35% off their entire selection, simply use the code CGS13 at checkout from now until the end of the year.

Chronicle Books is an independent publisher specializing in lifestyle, children's, art, pop culture, and food books. Their selection is so playful, with great titles highlighting the newest trends and showcasing amazing artwork. Whether you're shopping for yourself or others, these books inspire creativity and are just simply fun. These are definitely not just coffee table books! (I especially love their collection of journals for different tastes and interests, like "My Museum" a journal for sketching and collecting your experiences at your favorite museums.) 30% off + FREE shipping at ChronicleBooks.com! Use promo code GETBOOKS

Prefer a one-stop shop for natural and organic products for you and the family? At Abe’s Market, you'll find yummy treats, natural beauty products, gifts for children, gifts for pets, home wares, and fashion. They have a great selection of natural and organic items continually curated by their discerning staff, so you are sure to find something special you might not find anywhere else. Free Shipping on All Purchases over $49 at Abe's Market!

Art supplies you can eat? Yes. Wee Can Too Art Supply makes art products so natural, they're actually edible. What a great idea especially for toddlers! They make paints, crayons, sidewalk chalk, veggie egg paint and more. How cool is that?

How about a little something for yourself or a mama friend? You know being creative is a great way to relieve stress and renew your sense of accomplishment coming into the new year. Craftsy is like a crafty mom's dream: you select a class (cake decorating, knitting, crochet, quilting, digital photography skills, etc.) and you can watch the class whenever you please (hint: when the littles are asleep or occupied) and ask questions of the instructors whenever you need. It truly takes the fear out of beginning new projects and skills.  To get you started with supplies for your next project, check out the Craftsy 80% Off Yarn Flash Sale through 12/16 or the Craftsy 65% Off Fabric Flash Sale through 12/16

Green Kid Crafts makes eco art projects and science discovery projects for kids a breeze with award-winning activity boxes you select for monthly delivery, short term delivery or to purchase individually. Each Discovery Box contains 3 to 4 Creativity Kits, fun extras, extension activities and a 20 plus page themed Green Kid Activity Guide. Shipping is free!

Magic Cabin toys foster imagination and play through drama, art, crafts, outdoor activity and nature. I've been very pleased with the toys we've purchased through them. I have a little nature lover at home, and they have such a great assortment of nature themed items that promote open-ended play. In addition, they have a huge variety of exclusive items for non-plugged in, back to basics, good old-fashioned play. Holiday Savings! $4.99 Shipping on Orders $49+ Use Code: LSMC499

After all the gift giving and receiving is done, let's not forget thank you cards. If you're like me, you sometimes don't manage to send out Christmas or holiday cards on time. But wouldn't it be nice to send an updated photo of the family or kids to say hello and Thank you or Happy New Year to family and friends? I think so.

I've really enjoyed using Simply To Impress for our personalized holiday cards. They offer excellent customer service and their designs are super affordable. So, why not flip through those great candid shots you took this year of the kids and select a few choice ones to show off.  Buy Holiday Cards and Holiday Photo Cards- Save 20% From SimplyToImpress.com!

-Christine

 -This post contains affiliate links for companies that I have partnered with who offer great products that are both useful and ethical. All opinions are my own and I only offer an opinion on products I believe are good for our planet and for people. If you purchase through these links, I receive a small percentage of the sale and this helps me get compensated for my work to bring you Green Parent Chicago on a regular basis. Thank you.

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