Army Corps of Engineers Promises Accelerated Study On Preventing Carp Invasion of Lake Michigan

As Asian Carp continue to threaten to invade the Great Lakes, the plethora of legal and technological maneuvers to prevent that invasion have intensified.  With pressure mounting, the Army Corps of Engineers this month promised to speed up its study on how to keep the carp out of Lake Michigan.

The agency said it will provide Congress a range of options to block the migration of unwanted species between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins by next year, well before its previous target of 2015.

The two basins were naturally separated until the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal opened in 1900. An electric fish barrier on the canal is now the only thing blocking the giant carp from swimming into Lake Michigan; in 2007, Congress ordered the Army Corps to look at a more permanent solution.

“This 2013 report will provide us with an assessment of the best options for keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, as Congress requested,” John Goss, Asian carp director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in a news release. “This new step will result in a more focused path forward that could mean faster implementation of a permanent solution for protecting our Great Lakes from Asian carp.”

Conservation groups were underwhelmed by the announcement, noting that Congress has already asked the Army Corps to devise a permanent solution to the problem, but the Army Corps opted to look at a range of options, some of which, they say, stopped short of completely blocking species migrations.

The problem of invasive species touches on much of Roosevelt University’s Sustainability Studies curriculum, including SUST 210 The Sustainable Future, SUST 220 Water, SUST 330 Biodiversity, and SUST 340 Policy, Law, and Ethics. If you are interested in learning more about the program, investigate our degree options and our course listings.  For more information, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

Public Meeting on the Future of Wolf Point May 29 at 5:30pm

Wolf Point is one of the most historically significant parts of the Chicago area, as  Roosevelt Professor Mike Bryson can tell you in his fall offering of SUST 220 Water.  It is also the subject of fierce debate over potential development, and developers will face the public at a community meeting starting at 5:30pm May 29 in the Wolf Point Ballroom of the Holiday Inn, 350 W. Mart Center Drive (the Holiday Inn just behind Wolf Point).

With battle lines forming over a planned three-tower development at the historic but underutilized Wolf Point site along the Chicago River, Ald. Brendan Reilly announced Tuesday that he has told the project’s developers to present their plans at a May 29 community meeting.

Those plans–prepared by New Haven, Conn. architect Cesar Pelli for the owners of the site, the Kennedy family, and their developer, Hines–call for a 525-foot-tall residential tower and two mixed-use high-rises, according to Reilly. One would be 900 feet tall, the other 750 feet tall.

A group that calls itself Friends of Wolf Point already has met with the alderman and expressed fear that the project will lead to a dramatic increase in traffic congestion. The high-rises are also likely to block views of the RiverBend condo tower at 333 N. Canal St….

“Given the prominence of this property and the number of inquiries my office has received about the future development of this site, I have directed Hines Development Corporation and their team to start our community review process early, even before they take the initial step of filing a formal application with the City of Chicago,” Reilly wrote in the email….

In the 1830s, Wolf Point was a focal point of pioneer Chicago, home to taverns, trading posts and a hotel. Currently, however, the site consists of a surface parking lot with a narrow riverwalk.

“Everyone was anticipating that that would be the center of the city,” said Tim Samuelson, Chicago’s cultural historian. But “it turned out that not much happened on that site when you consider its prominence.”

Reilly’s email offered new details about plans for the four-acre site at 350 N. Orleans St.:

–The 525-foot-tall residential tower, to be located on the site’s western portion, would contain 510 units and 200 parking spaces.

–The 900-foot-tall mixed-use tower, which would rise on the southern part of the site, would contain 600 units and 885 parking spaces. Reilly’s email did not specify whether the units would be residential.

–The 750-foot-tall mixed-use tower, planned for the eastern side of the site, would contain 200 parking spots. A number of units was not specified.

Professor Bryson will offer SUST 220 Water as a hybrid course online, in Schaumburg, and with select field experiences.  For information on enrolling in future semesters of this or any other of our courses, visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

Chicago a “Gold Mine” for Wind Energy

While Chicago earned its nickname of “the Windy City” from its long-winded politicians, the city does not lack for actual wind. Hyde Park resident Beth Thomas (who won an honorable mention in a Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce contest on cutting Chicago Transit Authority costs when she proposed installing solar panels on train roofs) wants to harness that wind into energy.

Energy-renewal innovator Beth Thomas is passionate about the possibilities of expanding “green” energy in urban environments, and she sees Chicago as a gold mine.

“We have been treating our environment like a trash can since the Industrial Revolution,” said the Hyde Park resident. “The only way to correct that mistake is to show that renewable energy can make money and be easily incorporated into people’s day-to-day environment.”[....]

Her latest effort is to see wind turbines built throughout the city, at schools, libraries, Navy Pier, the Tinley Park Metra station and McCormick Place Convention Center, to prevent transporting over an outdated electrical grid energy from far-off wind farms. She has posted graphically enhanced renderings of her visions at http://www.greenenergy-greenmoney.com/.

One example of a communal financing model for smaller turbines is the city of Toronto, where a co-operative sold five shares, at $100 per share, to each downtown resident who chose to become a co-op member to pay to build a turbine, according to media reports. The turbine overlooks the harbor front at Exhibition Place, Canada’s largest trade fair site.

Thomas sent her proposal detailing how wind turbines would save money by replacing electricity expenses to local elected and civic leaders, aiming to inspire them that now is the time for Chicago to take up its mantle as urban history-maker and create local jobs and products. The average ComEd residential customer pays 13.18 cents per kilowatt.

Chicago-based Illinois Wind Energy Coalition Director Kevin Borgia believes the city could purchase the most cost-effective wind power from wind farms operating in open fields in rural Illinois communities.

“Wind turbines already installed throughout Illinois generate 2,742 megawatts of wind power,” Borgia said, noting that another 3,800 megawatts of wind generation are permitted but not yet built statewide.

“These wind projects can be built and create jobs in the near term,” he said.

How to best revamp and reform our energy consumption and production is a subject explored in several Roosevelt seminarsm including SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, and Planning and SUST 310 Energy and Climate Change. For more information on these or any other of our courses, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

Registration for Fall 2012 Sustainability Studies Classes Is Open!

Registration is now open for Fall 2012 semester here at Roosevelt University.  Here are the Sustainability Studies offerings for the fall:

We have three sections of SUST 210 The Sustainable Future, one downtown Monday evenings, one in Schaumburg Tuesday evenings, and one online.

Professor Mike Bryson will teach SUST 220 Water as a hybrid class meeting downtown on five Saturdays and online the rest of the semester.  Many significant developments are happening to waterways and wetlands in the region, and this seminar is an excellent place to learn both present changes and past context.

SUST 230 Food will be offered at our Schaumburg campus on Thursday evenings.

We are scheduled to offer two sections of SUST 240 Waste, one downtown Thursday afternoons at 3pm and one online.  These sections will run after the City of Chicago concludes its managed competition recycling program, and students will have an opportunity to evaluate local waste reduction and diversion efforts.

We will also offer a Thursday evening section of SUST 310 Energy and Climate Change downtown, on the heels of the announcement that the Fisk and Crawford power plants will soon close.

Professor Brad Hunt will teach a hybrid version of SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, and Planning meeting five select Saturdays in Schaumburg and online the rest of the semester.  This hybrid seminar is scheduled in such a way that students may take it and the hybrid SUST 220 Water seminar without worry about meeting times conflicting.

We are also offering an online section of SUST 330 Biodiversity, and a downtown section of SUST 340 Policy Law and Ethics that will meet Wednesday evenings.

More information about instructors and individual courses will be made available in the weeks ahead.  Visit our faculty page to learn more about these teachers. If you are a currently-enrolled Roosevelt University student interested in taking one or more Sustainability Studies courses, please get in touch with your academic advisor.  (As this autumn’s courses filled up quickly, we encourage you to register sooner rather than later.)  If you are not currently a Roosevelt University student, we encourage you to investigate our degree options, and our course listings. For more information, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, our Facebook site, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

On Heels of Chicago’s “Managed Competition” Recycling Program, New York City Gets Recycling “Czar”

The City of Chicago is currently using  a “managed competition” program to expand and improve Chicago’s recycling (in which the city is divided into six zones, with Waste Management collecting from three, Midwest Metals Management collecting from one, and city workers collecting from two). As Chicago tries to improve its recycling rate, so are comparable large cities across the United States.  Recently, New York City hired the former head of Philadelphia’s RecycleBank to become deputy commissioner for recycling and sustainability.

Hot on the tail of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s promise to dramatically expand residential curbside pickup services in his recycling-impaired city, the Bloomberg administration has just made a big move in its sluggish but ongoing efforts to elevate New York City’s lagging-behind recycling operations from its “after-school clarinet program” status and double the city’s current recycling rate of 15 percent by the year 2017.

Late last week, it was announced that Birdie Ron Gonen, the 37-year-old co-founder and erstwhile CEO of Philadelphia-launched recycling rewards program RecycleBank, has been appointed as the NYC’s first recycling czar. The official title of the newly created position? It’s a big name for a big job: Deputy commissioner for recycling and sustainability.

“Ron’s years of work in the recycling and sustainability field perfectly matches the needs that we have at the D.S.N.Y. so that we can meet the mayor’s specific goals,” said New York City sanitation commissioner, John J. Doherty, in a statement announcing the hire.

Some of the initiatives Gonen will try to implement in New York might be models for waste management advances in Chicago, including expanding the number of recycling receptacles on public sidewalks and initiative curbside pickup of organic wastes. Comparing Chicago’s waste management systems with those of other cities will ensure Chicago residents get access to the best possible ways to reduce the amount of waste they dispose of in landfills.

These issues have been examined in several Roosevelt courses, including SUST 240 Waste and SUST 210 The Sustainable Future (offered both online and downtown this fall). For more information on these or any other of our courses, visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

Farmers Markets Coming to Chicago’s West Side

If you’ve been reading our blog, you are aware that Mari Gallagher (who coined the term “food desert” to refer  to locations where it’s harder to find fresh produce and other healthy options than fast food or processed goods in a landmark 2006 study that revealed as many as 650,000 Chicagoans were then living without easy access to healthy food) recently spoke at Roosevelt University about the continuing issue.  Late last month, the City of Chicago announced the addition of more farmers markets to help increase access to healthy foods.

In addition to selling fresh fruits and vegetables, the markets will feature on-site demonstrations on how to eat right, cook healthy meals and plant herbs and gardens. Arts, music and community programming will also be offered.

In a news release announcing the new markets, [Mayor] Emanuel said he is determined to bring “healthy options” to neighborhoods “underserved by traditional” grocery stores.

“It is unacceptable that nearly 400,000 Chicagoans do not have access to healthy, fresh food for their families. … These farmers markets are a piece of a comprehensive plan to take food deserts off the map in our city,” the mayor was quoted as saying.

The five new markets bring the citywide total to more than 20.

They will be held at: Healing Temple Church, 4941 W. Chicago, from 2 to 6 p.m. Sundays June 24 to Oct. 28; Columbus Park at Harrison and Central from 1 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays June 26 to Oct. 30; LaFollette Park at Hirsch and Laramie from 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays June 20 to Oct. 24; Austin Town Center at Lake and Central from 1 to 7 p.m. Thursdays June 28 to Oct. 25 and at Mount Ebenezer Baptist Church, 3555 W. Huron, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays June 30 to Oct. 27.

Local efforts to develop agriculture are both directly aided by and discussed in the seminar SUST 230 Food (offered online this summer). For more information on this or any other of our courses, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

Bikes! The Green Revolution at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum Through Sept. 19

Chicago is in the process of expanding bicycle access across the city, with several miles of protected lanes emerging on city streets over the next couple of years.  As the city looks to the future with its ambitious Bike 2015 Plan, a new exhibit at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park is looking back at Chicago’s bike origins.

Bikes! The Green Revolution looks at the evolution of bikes and biking with a focus on Chicago’s important role in the process. The history lesson is augmented by presentations that explore the city’s current bike-friendly offerings, as well as opportunities that increase biking’s reach as a form of sustainable transportation. Though designed to appeal to younger children, the exhibit proves fascinating for all ages.

Bikes! opens strong, displaying bicycles dating from the late 1800s to the present, complete with explanatory histories on each. Presented chronologically in order of production, the selections offer an interesting, wide-angle view of bicycle development both in terms of construction and public use, from the towering high-mount bike with its exaggerated front wheel that was popular in late 1800s high society to the modern-day everyman street bike. The older bikes dominate, of course, looking as much like antique works of art as they do utilitarian devices.

Revelations about Chicago’s cycling past are fascinating, as well.

By the 1890s, Chicago was a busy bicycle manufacturing hub, with over two thirds of the United States’ bikes being produced within 150 miles of the city. Velodromes for racing stood in Garfield and Humboldt Parks. And from 1895 to 1983, the city was home to Arnold, Schwinn & Company – a company whose advancements would revolutionize the way the world perceived and rode bicycles. Brief, but extensive displays detail all of these developments and more.

Moving into the present and future, Bikes! takes a decidedly kid-focused turn as it runs through current Chicago biking highlights, bike repair and construction and sustainability issues….

Click the link to read more of Phil Morehart’s review of the exhibit. If you are interested in learning more about the role of transit in sustainable urban planning, the Roosevelt seminar SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, and Planning (offered this this fall as a hybrid course meeting in Schaumburg and online) may be of interest. For more information on these or any other of our courses, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.