Monday, September 19, 2011

Bridgeport Wants to Retire Crawford and Fisk coal plants

A note from our friends at Sierra Club:

As you read this, Chicago is at an energy crossroads. Our community remains dependent on dirty energy sources like coal that contribute to asthma, lung disease, cancer and other serious health and environmental problems. Here in Bridgeport, that Crawford and Fisk coal plants just across the river are contributing to cancer and respiratory disease, as well as causing asthma attacks especially in children.


The good news is that we have solutions. There is a bright future in transitioning to clean energy, but change will not come unless we demand it. That’s why we here in Bridgeport are building a campaign to pass a strong clean energy plan through this fall that will limit dangerous health pollution from coal and create clean energy jobs for Chicago workers.

We can make this happen this fall, but we need YOUR help. The best way to learn more and get involved is to come to our Community Action Meeting to Move Beyond Coal Wednesday night here in Bridgeport. RSVP right away and bring a friend to:

Community Action Meeting to Move Beyond Coal

Wednesday September 28th 7:00-8:00pm

Benton House

3052 South Gratten St, Bridgeport

(Refreshments Provided)

All are welcome, please bring your friends!


We have a unique opportunity this fall to push Edison International to stop burning coal and bring in clean, healthy jobs. We need investment in the health and wellbeing of Bridgeport, not more of the same.

So please join us on Wednesday Sept 28th at 7:00pm. We will have special guest speakers attending, as well as lots of your neighbors. You can expect to find out how you can make a real difference to support the campaign and bring an end to unhealthy coal pollution. It’s time to tell Edison International that enough is enough, and that we’re ready for clean energy now!


RSVP here to let us know you can make it, and bring a friend! Bring a neighbor! Bring anyone interested in cleaner air and a healthier Bridgeport!

Best,

Emma Greenbaum

Sierra Club Field Organizer

Clean Power Coalition Campaign

Bridgeport, Chicago, IL

520-275-4812

emma@greencorps.org

September 24th is Chicago's Roll Beyond Coal Day

Form our friends trying to make The Fisk Power plant (across the river) change to clean energy:


The coal plants in the city of Chicago have been polluting our air for decades. Our campaign to transition these plants is a defining moment in the Sierra Club's national Coal to Clean Energy Campaign. Coal combustion puts billions of tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.

Here in Chicago, the Fisk and Crawford coal plants are contributing to climate change by emitting 5 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.

At our Roll Beyond Coal event, September 24th, we'll call on Midwest Generation, owner of Chicago's two coal plants, to clean up or retire the plants and support renewable energy projects.

Don't miss out -- sign up to attend the Roll Beyond Coal Event on September 24th!

Here are the details:

WHO: You, your friends, and family!

WHAT: We'll kick off the day with a massive bike ride from Daley Plaza to Dvorak Park in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. We'll gather with community residents and others in front of the Fisk coal plant for a rally and clean energy march.

WHEN: Saturday, September 24th, 11am

WHERE: Bike Ride leaves Daley Plaza at 11 a.m., Rally near Dvorak Park (1119 W. Cullerton St.) in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood starts at 12:30 p.m.

Questions: Christine Nannicelli, christine.nannicelli@sierraclub.org

RSVP: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Calendar?id=156861&view=Detail

Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Christine Nannicelli
Beyond Coal Campaign
Sierra Club

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Property Owner & Manager Workshops

Hey there, in our latest issue that recently came out, we had an article titled, "You might be a slumlord if..." that talked about property maintenance and tenant screening. The information we posted about the workshops at the end of the article was slightly incorrect, we've learned. Here's a link to more information about the 4 upcoming workshops (two in Sept. and two in Nov.): http://www.greenpublicsolutions.com/landlord-resources-training/property-mgmt-training/schedule/

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

"Massage" Parlors Closed




We are super excited by the response we had to our last issue of the BI! Thanks so much for your feedback, your contributions and spreading the word!

We think the last issue had a greater impact than we ever could have imagined. The Bridgeport Red Light District Crossword Puzzle and the Massage Parlor Wordsearch might have caused some controversy and action. Since the last issue came out three "massage" parlors have closed on Archer Avenue.

Wow.

We want to thank our community leaders for shutting down some pretty shady businesses. And we applaud your efforts on making the neighborhood safer for women.


Of Science and Smoke Stacks



By By Melissa Naiman
(From Vol 2 Issue 1 of the BI)

It’s pretty clear that the Fisk and Crawford Generating Stations are bad for the health of Bridgeport residents. Numerous scientific studies have established that exposure to the types of chemicals and particulate matter that the Fisk plant releases negatively impacts our wellbeing. In 2002, the Harvard School of Public Health published a mathematical model that combines information on how weather conditions move emissions from coal plants and how pollutant concentrations damage health to determine how many people get sick or die because of a given plant. When this model was applied to the Fisk and Crawford plants in Chicago, they estimated that each year the plants contributed to 41premature deaths, 550 emergency room visits and 2800 asthma attacks. This equates to between $750 million and $1 billion in health related damages in the Chicagoland area over the last 8 years.

Despite protests and scientific evidence, the Fisk plant won’t be required to reduce its chemical emissions until 2015. Even then, how would we know, as a community, that the upgrades actually improve our situation? Other urban communities situated near industrial areas have successfully partnered with local and state governments to implement technologies necessary to quantify pollutants in their local area and pressure federal authorities to enforce compliance.

Sheffield, England has been monitoring NO2 levels (one of the chemicals released by the Fisk plant) through a network of community volunteers and laboratory analysts. Volunteers place plastic tubes coated with a special chemical that traps NO2 around the city and then submit them to a lab to calculate NO2 concentration. The local government uses this information to guide air quality policies. Similarly, Tonawanda, NY conducted an air monitoring study using special canisters that captured toxic molecules and analyzed them using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. This helped target inspections of two plants suspected as point sources of pollution. After remediation, air monitoring showed a 33-56% reduction of the toxins emitted by these plants. These monitoring efforts are both supported by governmental funds.

The EPA sponsors two grants that could help Bridgeport improve air quality and the environment overall: the “Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Program” and the “Community-Scale Air Toxics Ambient Monitoring Program”. Further details and past announcements can be found at http://www.epa.gov/air/grants_funding.html. If the EPA can’t enforce national standards, we can at least try to take their money to improve our neighborhood.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

New issue of the BI is on the streets



Volume 2 Issue 1 is on the streets of Bridgeport. Find a copy at the Bridgeport Coffee House, Maria's, Pleasant House bakery and other locations near you.

Our next open meeting will take place Tuesday July 26 at 8pm at Maria's Packaged Goods & Community Bar. Stop by and bring an article idea with you!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011