As concern over climate change grows, so does interest in clean energy sources like wind power. Currently, windmills generate less than one percent of America’s electricity. But that’s slowly beginning to change. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports:
Author: Steve Frenkel
Calumet Heritage Area
Most Americans think of national parks as majestic areas like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon. But in recent years, a greater variety of landscapes have been deemed by the federal government to be worth protecting. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports on an effort to designate a largely industrial area near Chicago as a national heritage area:
Energy Efficiency and Utility Deregulation
States around the nation are beginning to embrace electricity deregulation. Last November, the Illinois’ State Legislature passed its own deregulation bill. But environmentalists complained that it did little to promote clean and efficient energy use. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports on a new proposal to improve Illinois’ deregulation law:
Energy Efficieny and Business – Part 1
There’s growing evidence that pollution from the burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming. In response, governments and private industries are looking for new ways to reduce pollution without stifling economic growth. While some industry groups claim that reducing their energy use will be costly, one Chicago steel company is finding that saving energy has its benefits. (In the first part of a series on energy efficiency), the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports:
Energy Efficiency and Business – Part 2
Saving energy has long been touted by environmentalists as one of the best ways to reduce air pollution and save money at the same time. However, while many American businesses and institutions have embraced energy efficiency, others have lagged behind. But in recent years, that’s begun to change as more people discover that saving energy makes good economic sense. (In the second of a two part series on energy efficiency), the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports on three vary different organizations that are becoming more energy efficient:
Emissions Trading Program
At last month’s (December, 1997) global warming conference in Kyoto Japan, delegates recommended emissions trading as one way to reduce global pollution by greenhouse gases. It would allow individual countries to trade or sell the right to pollute to other nations. In Chicago, the city is using its own emissions trading program to boost economic development and improve air quality. But after two years, the program’s results have been mixed. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel has more:
Preserving Chicago’s Calumet Region
The Calumet Region lies just south of Chicago on the southern tip of Lake Michigan. It’s widely known as one of the nation’s most polluted areas. But what’s not widely known is that it’s also home to endangered birds and valuable wetlands. Now residents and environmentalists are hoping that the fifty-square-mile area will soon be designated as a national park. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports:
Club Prophylactive
More and more young people are getting AIDS. The Center for Disease Control estimates that youth between thirteen and twenty-four years old account for more than half of all new HIV infections. By now, most adolescents know that using a condom can protect them from the deadly disease. Yet, many still risk their health and the health of others by practicing unsafe sex. So AIDS prevention experts are now trying to understand why so many young people don’t take the precautions they know they should. One solution involves young people educating each other about safer sex. In Chicago, these “peer educators” are tapping into urban youth culture to carry their message. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports: