People Power vs. Bp

Earlier this summer, a state agency gave a refinery permission to increase pollution in
the Great Lakes. Commentator Cameron Davis takes a look at lessons learned and
what they mean for the future of the nation’s waterways:

Transcript

Earlier this summer, a state agency gave a refinery permission to increase pollution in
the Great Lakes. Commentator Cameron Davis takes a look at lessons learned and
what they mean for the future of the nation’s waterways:


When the Indiana Department of Environmental Management gave approval for BP’s
refinery to pollute more in Lake Michigan, who would have guessed that within weeks
more than 100,000 people would sign petitions against the proposal?


The people of the region seemed to instinctively know that more pollution had to be
stopped. After all, millions of us rely on Lake Michigan for drinking water and recreation.


Of course, coverage of the pollution proposal took off, with the Chicago Sun-
Times
calling for a boycott of BP gasoline. The New York Times and CBS
Evening News ran national pieces about the pollution increases. A bi-partisan coalition
of politicians from neighboring states cried foul, including Chicago Mayor Richard Daley,
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama, Representatives Rahm Emanuel, Mark Kirk, Jan
Schakowsky, Vern Ehlers and the entire Michigan Congressional delegation, among
others.


But while the media, elected officials, and even those of us in the conservation
community talked about the permit, the real story wasn’t about the permit. It wasn’t
about its allowance for 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more suspended
solids from treated sludge to be discharged.


It wasn’t even an argument about jobs versus the environment. That debate was discounted long
ago by the many businesses that decided or were mandated to pollute less and then
still prospered.


The real story was what you, the public, said and what you are saying now: how we
treat the Great Lakes is emblematic of how we treat our waterways all around the
country. You’re saying that you want a new standard of care for the nation’s waters. You
don’t want the standard to be “to keep things from getting worse.” You don’t want the
status quo. You want our waters to be proactively restored. You want it better.


Like those of us who used to be in the cub scouts, inspired to leave our campsites
better than the way we found them, you want the standard for our waters to be: leave
things better for the next generation.


HOST TAG: Cameron Davis is the president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

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Bark Beetle Forest Fire Risks

  • The bark beetle (pictured) is native to forests in the Rockies. (Photo courtesy of the Colorado State Forest Service)

In much of the West populations of the bark beetle have exploded. Trees
are dying, and the risk of forest fires is huge. Some ecologists are
saying that global warming is responsible, but forests will survive.
Steve Zelaznik reports the risk of fire is forcing communities to balance fire
prevention, and ecological preservation:

Transcript

In much of the West populations of the bark beetle have exploded. Trees
are dying, and the risk of forest fires is huge. Some ecologists are
saying that global warming is responsible, but forests will survive.
Steve Zelaznik reports the risk of fire is forcing communities to balance fire
prevention, and ecological preservation:


(Sound of trail)


We’re surrounded by forest, mostly lodge pole pines. The bark beetle is native to forests in the Rockies. The landscape is a patchwork of green and red. The red trees have been
killed by the bark beetle. Jan Hackett with the Colorado State Forest
Service says many of the green trees are also infected:


“Well I’m just pointing to the pitch tubes, and those are fresh hits
from this year’s beetles. The beetles are flying right now. This is a
result of this year’s flight, a successful hit. This tree will be red
next year.”


This means the tree will be dead. Dominick Kulakowski is a biology professor at
Clark University. He says climate change has caused warmer temperatures so the beetle can survive the winter and spread, but he says insect outbreaks like these are normal, and
the forest will recover:


“There have been very extensive, very severe outbreaks of bark beetles
in Colorado long before Colorado was even a state. Large disturbances
are a normal function of the ecosystems of the Colorado Rocky
Mountains. So while we may look out on this and be concerned by the
amount of mortality, what we need to remember is this may be
unprecedented based on what we’ve seen over the past hundred years, but
that’s partly a function of our relatively short temporal perspective.”


From an ecological perspective, Kulakowski just isn’t worried about the
beetles. But the dead trees increase the risk of fire. And with homes
nearby, the forest can’t be left to burn.


Driving up a winding road to a nearby subdivision, I’m in the car with Barry
Smith. He’s the emergency manager for the adjacent Eagle County. He says
roads like these make his job difficult:


“This is one of those subdivisions like many of our mountain
subdivisions that, from a fire safety perspective, this is the only road
to get into our out of this subdivision, so if we have a large fire
here, you’re trying to get fire equipment in and get homeowners out at
the same time and that’s going to create a lot of problems.”


So government is forced to protect nearby homes from fire, and also
preserve the health of the forest.


Increasingly, governments are addressing the problem by clearing dead
trees. State and federal governments have thinned eighteen thousand
acres in Colorado. This compares to the seven hundred thousand acres
infected.


Rob Davis is the president of Forest Energy Colorado. His company
takes dead trees, and makes wood pellets to heat homes. He says an
opportunity exists to improve the health of the forest and make a
profit:


“This is an extremely valuable resource,
do we want to use it? You know if this goes into energy and displaces
fossil fuels, it helps global warming. It helps climate change that is
one of the problems that we have with these forests. So are we going
to keep the narrow point of view that says ‘Oh! It’s got to stay
exactly like it was historically,’ or do we want to open our mind and
say ‘We can actually use this to help global warming, we can use this
in cases as long as remember that first thing is the health of the
forest…’ we can use it.”


But removing dead trees may have ecological costs. A 2002 study by the
University of Colorado concluded that harvesting forests leads to soil
erosion, loss of nutrients, and warmer ground temperatures. Professor
Kolikowski says the effects of harvesting might be worse than the initial
disturbance.


“That’s not to say that harvesting or salvaging is inappropriate, we
just need to be clear about what it is we want to do and why.”


And local governments may not have the money to do it all… to curb the
population of bark beetles, protect homes from fires, and preserve the
ecology. Tom Fry with the conservation group the Wilderness Society
remembers work he did on the Front Range. In the ten-county area, it
would have cost fifteen million a year for forty years to do risk
reduction and forest restoration:


“I think one of the messages here is we won’t have that money. We’ll
never have that money. So we as a community, and that community
includes all of us, need to be hyper strategic and surgical in where we
look to apply what resources we have.”


For the time being, governments are choosing to use their resources to
thin the forests to reduce the risk of fire from the beetle.


The U.S. Forest Service (White River National Forest) just auctioned
the right for timber contractors to remove dead trees from another
thirteen hundred acres. The work will begin by the end of the summer.


For the Environment Report, I’m Steve Zelaznik.

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Harnessing the Power of Permaculture

  • Jan Spencer (pictured) removed his driveway to make room for more landscaping features. This is part of the concept behind "permaculture," the practice of using resources on-site to fulfill as many needs as possible. (Photo by Ann Dornfeld)

The word “suburbia” conjures up sprawling developments, huge lawns and
long commutes. It’s not the most eco-friendly arrangement. Jan
Spencer lives in the suburbs and he wants to change their reputation. His
version of home improvement is making his quarter-acre property as
energy-independent as possible. As Ann
Dornfeld reports, Spencer calls the process “suburban renewal:”

Transcript

The word “suburbia” conjures up sprawling developments, huge lawns and
long commutes. It’s not the most eco-friendly arrangement. Jan
Spencer lives in the suburbs and he wants to change their reputation. His
version of home improvement is making his quarter-acre property as
energy-independent as possible. As Ann
Dornfeld reports, Spencer calls the process “suburban renewal:”


When you get to Benjamin Street, you don’t need to look at house
numbers to find Jan Spencer’s place. His is the one with a jungle of berry
vines instead of a yard. Oh, and if you drove here, you’ll need to park on
the street:


“I removed my driveway early on when I moved here because I didn’t
need space to park five cars. So I took my driveway out and I kept a lot of
my driveway to make landscaping features!”


Spencer stacked pieces of the broken driveway to line two ponds. He
collects rainwater in a huge tank out back and fills the ponds with it:


“But that’s a habitat! There’s pollywogs in there, there’s fish in there, there’s
little water skimmers.”


This is more than just funky, utopian landscaping. It’s permaculture. That’s
the practice of using natural resources found on-site to fulfill as many
needs as possible. Permaculture takes the trend of “buying local” up a
notch. You don’t just eat organic asparagus grown 20 miles away, or heat
your home with wind energy from across the state. You produce those
things yourself, at home.


Even in a vinyl-sided tract house in the suburbs, Spencer says, there are still
plenty of natural resources available:


“Soil… sunshine… and rainwater.”


And, he says, multi-purposing can make the most of the space available.
For instance, Spencer converted his carport into living quarters for
roommates. That creates a higher-density living arrangement. Next, he
plans to grow watermelon or squash on the roof.


“When you really start looking around a location with a set of
permaculture eyes, ‘How can I use this space most effectively?’ even
familiar places take on a really different kind of an appearance.”


Spencer knows not many people are willing to tear out their driveways to
have more room for raspberries, but he says there are plenty of simple
ways to harness a suburban home’s energy potential. Solar panels on his
roof heat his water for the warm half the year. Low-tech systems work, too,
like composting and watering the garden with a can instead of soaking it
with a hose or sprinkler.


To see which of Spencer’s suburban renewal methods might work for the
average family, we go next door to visit the Finneys. Dan is a firefighter.
Eden stays home with their young daughters, Peyton and Madison. The
girls like to raid Spencer’s berry patch. But the Finneys are pretty fond of
their grass lawn. Their minivan and RV are parked in the intact driveway.


Eden says the couple does want to make their home more energy-
efficient, but for different reasons.


“For him, definitely it’s cost. But for me, the environment plays a big part in
it.”


The Finneys already grow fruits, vegetables and herbs in raised beds out
back. And they installed energy-efficient windows:


“It knocked our bill down considerably this last winter. That was a good
thing to do for us.”


Spencer and I wander out to the Finneys’ covered back porch. Spencer
says the Finneys could close it in with removable clear panels to lower
their heating bill even further:


“The solar orientation here is perfect. So part of the year it’d be totally
open like this, and part of the year this place could actually be helping to
heat the house.”


“Huh. Didn’t even think about that!”


Spencer says the trick is to look at under-utilized spaces, like the
boundaries of the Finneys’ property:


“And having some kind of grapes, kiwi fruit, some type of edible vine
growing along the front of that fence.”


“We talked about doin’ that and we will do that. We’re gonna build a trellis
there. I just haven’t got around to it. As you can see, this is the project
house. And we do want to grow some kiwi. And they can grow really fast.”


Spencer’s ideas are going over pretty well, so he decides to go out on a
limb.


“Okay, I’ll just suggest something. What would you think of the idea of
having a 1600-gallon water tank up on blocks there to help water your
garden?”


“No.”


“No.”


“Maybe one behind the shop, and do the same kinda thing back there
where it wouldn’t be in the middle of our yard.”


“Ah, okay, so it’s the idea of where something like that would be.”


“Probably. Yes.”


“Yeah!”


Spencer needs this kind of feedback as he gets ready to take his
suburban renewal philosophy on a speaking tour. He’ll be talking to
longtime permaculture activists as well as more mainstream suburban
residents who just want to make a dent in their utility bills.


For the Environment Report, I’m Ann Dornfeld.

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Highway Debate Dividing Communities

  • Landowners who are opposed to the beltway say no matter which route it follows, it'll be cutting through prime farmland. Proponents of the beltway say the highway is needed to support the already fast-growing suburbs. (Photo by Rebecca Williams)

As suburbs grow, politicians and city planners often promote new highways as a way to ease congestion and encourage more economic growth. Rebecca Williams reports on the struggle between local officials who want to encourage that growth and people who worry a new highway will fuel more sprawl:

Transcript

As suburbs grow, politicians and city planners often promote new highways as
a way to ease congestion and encourage more economic growth. Rebecca
Williams reports on the struggle between local officials who want to
encourage that growth and people who worry a new highway will fuel more
sprawl:


The Census Bureau says commutes to work are getting longer in the nation’s
biggest cities. Demographers say that’s because people are moving
out farther and farther from their jobs in search of more house for the
money or a quieter way of life. More people moving out to the fringes of the suburbs
means more pressure on two-lane roads and more congestion.


New highways are one of the tools local officials reach for when traffic
gets worse. People living in the fast-growing suburbs west of Chicago have
been debating a proposed new highway nicknamed the Prairie Parkway. The
four-lane beltway would connect these outer suburbs.


Jan Carlson is the Transportation Commissioner for Kane County, about 40
miles from downtown Chicago. He’s been looking forward to the beltway since
plans were unveiled five years ago:


“If you listen to the complaints, as I do, of people stuck in traffic and if
you consider the many economic advantages that moving that traffic brings to
us, it appears to me that the greater good is to move forward with the
project.”


Carlson says he knows new highways can rapidly speed up development in an
area, but he points to census data that show his county and others nearby
are already among the fastest-growing in the nation without a new highway:


“I am not one of those who subscribes to the theory that if you don’t build
it, they will not come.”


Jan Carlson says the new highway will make the local economy stronger,
bringing in much needed jobs to the suburbs, but many people are strongly opposed to the
beltway. Marvel Davis lives on a farm that’s been in her family for 170 years. Some of
her farmland lies within a corridor that the state has set aside for the proposed beltway.


“I tell people that’s the way sprawl happens. You think, well I’ve lost
that field to the farm, so the first guy that comes along and offers you
$50,000 an acre, your temptation is going to be pretty great, isn’t it?”


Davis says even though construction on the beltway isn’t expected to begin
until 2009, she’s seen a lot of new buildings spring up. She says it’s true
the area’s already growing, but she thinks the prospect of a new highway
might be encouraging more growth:


“So which comes first, the chicken or the egg? If word goes forth this
road’s going to happen and you come in with all kinds of developers, it’s
almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”


And urban planners agree it really is a chicken and egg relationship. It’s
hard to say which comes first. Highways speed up the pace of growth. And
growth causes a need for more highways.


Bill Klein is the director of research with the American Planning
Association. He says new highways do ease traffic congestion, but only for
a short time, before those highways get packed with people driving out to
their new homes in the suburbs.


“It’s very difficult to build your way out of sprawl. The more highways you
build, the more sprawl you get. Intellectually we’ve known this stuff for a
good long time but sometimes the political will to do anything about it is
the bigger problem.”


In the case of the Prairie Parkway, there is a political heavyweight in the
parkway’s corner. US House Speaker Dennis Hastert has been promoting the
concept of an outer beltway in his district since he went to Congress in the
late 1980’s. Just last year, Speaker Hastert earmarked 207 million dollars
for the beltway in the federal transportation bill.


Landowner Marvel Davis suspects the beltway might not go forward if it
weren’t for the Speaker’s support. She says if someone could show her the
beltway was in the country’s best interest, she’d support it.


“But if I’m going to lose my farm and my community to make a few people
multimillionaires then I’m not willing to do it.”


Marvel Davis says she knows she could make a lot of money if she sold her
land to developers, and she did actually sell more than 100 acres recently.
But she sold it to her county’s forest preserve for half of what she could
get from a developer.


Even though it’s years away, the promise of a new highway is sharply
dividing these communities. Whether or not they see growth as a good thing,
almost everyone agrees a new highway will speed up the pace of that growth.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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