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The Value of Water

November 19, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution , Living Sustainably

Tags:
asiancarp, atrazine, charlesduhigg, chicago, chicagoriver, chicagotribune, greatlakes, illinois, invasivespecies, lakemichigan, newyorktimes, pollution, privatizedwater, waterpollution

We have been awash with an array of unhappy water stories in this region of late. On the surface they are unrelated ... scary fish ... E. coli contamination ... improperly regulated pesticides ... intentionally poisoned waterways .... But if...continued

BP Slapdown: EPA really is back on the job!

October 22, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution

Tags:
bp, britishpetroleum, chicago, epa, illinois, indiana, lisajackson, northwestindiana, tarsands, usepa

This week EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson told NPR that the "EPA is back on the job.” And here in the greater Chicago region, EPA is back on the job in a big way! In a long-awaited move, the United...continued

Blue-Green Olympics: Chicago can still go for the gold standard

October 2, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution

Tags:
chicago, illinois, olympics

My... What disappointing news out of Copenhagen today as the International Olympics Committee voted down Chicago's bid to host the 2016 games in the first ballot.   Yeah: "first ballot"---ouch! Stunning for a city that generally knows how to...continued

Water, Democracy and Citizen Engagement: New York Times reinforces why citizen participation is essential for the public health, safety and wellbeing

September 17, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution

Tags:
charlesduhigg, EPA, illinois, indiana, michigan, newyorktimes, ohio, waterpollution

Not long ago, I spoke with an attorney in Ohio who was surprised by my concern that state authorities had issued a water pollution permit for a facility containing provisions that had not been properly published for citizen review and...continued

Fish Fence is a Shocking Failure: Is it time to zip up the Great Lakes?

September 7, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
asiancarp, greatlakes, illinois, illinoisriver, invasivespecies, lakemichigan, mississippiriver

The story of the slow-motion effort to prevent invasive giant Asian carp from infiltrating and destroying the Great Lakes ecosystem is, frankly, embarrassing and pitiful. We’ve known for years that these giant voracious fish were released into the Mississippi...continued

You’re Not the King of Me: Midwest Gen Runs Afoul of the Clean Air Act

August 28, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution

Tags:
chicago, cleanairact, cleanwateract, coal, EPA, fiskgeneratingstation, illinois, midwestgeneratingllc

I am really proud to work for the organization that largely wrote the Clean Air Act. It stands as a fantastically important, valuable, and genius bit of legislation more than 30 years later. And this week, we saw how some...continued

Coal Clunkers: The Post Looks at Chicago's Aging Coal Plants

August 19, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution

Tags:
airpollution, chicago, coal, coalplant, crawfordgeneratingstation, fiskgeneratingstation, illinois, midwestgeneratingllc, pollution, washingtonpost

Coal clunkers. That's how the Washington Post and clean air advocates described the two antiquated coal plants operating in the midst of Chicago. The Post's article focused on the Fisk and Crawford generating stations and a fight to clean or...continued

Dangerous, Dirty, and Done for: Suits Should Help the Sun Set on Dirty Coal Plants in Chicago

July 28, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution

Tags:
chicago, coal, coalplant, crawfordgeneratingstation, fiskgeneratingstation, illinois, midwest, midwestgeneratingllc, pollution, pollutioncontrols, saminsull

Have you ever driven on the Stevenson Expressway in Chicago? If so, you’ve probably passed two of the city's more antiquated relics... They are easy to ignore if you don’t know what you are looking at---we aren’t talking about...continued

Chicago River: From open sewer to crown jewel?

July 2, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution

Tags:
blairkamin, chicago, chicagodailynewsbuilding, chicagoriver, chicagotribune, civicoperahouse, danielburnham, illinois, illinoisEPA, metropolitanwaterreclamationdistrict, MWRD

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Daniel Burnham’s iconic Plan of Chicago.  The Plan re-imagined the American industrial city, identifying and prioritizing open space, cultivation of natural areas, and public access to water resources as keystones for the...continued

EPA Report Brings Pollution Dangers Home…Literally

June 30, 2009

Posted by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution

Tags:
airpollution, cancer, cookcounty, epa, granitecity, illinois, madisoncounty, missouri, pollution, st.louis, stlouispostdispatch

In the demanding push to pass legislation that will deal with CO2 and climate change, it is easy to lose sight of more traditional air pollution problem we have in the Midwest. I got a very personal reminder of the...continued

Henry Henderson
Henry Henderson
Director, Midwest Program NRDC
Chicago, Illinois
I was born in Granite City, Illinois, a steel town where the coke plant sits...
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