Green Scales

Ann Arbor's Bryant Neighborhood, Part One

Susan Baskett, a community organizer in Ann Arbor, lives in the Bryant neighborhood, one of the most affordable communities  in the Ann Arbor area. I interviewed her about her neighborhood on March 22, 2009.

First, I asked her what she thought environmental justice was. Click on the file below to hear her answer.

Download SusanBaskettWhatIsEJ

She's proud of her neighborhood, but also very concerned about it. I asked Susan to explain why she and her neighbors are worried about their community.

Download BaskettBryantNeighborhood

Over a number of years, those who have bought into the neighborhood because of its affordability have discovered that it was built both on a dump and on a former wetlands area. They have discovered this after struggling with their foundations, poor drainage, and other problems.

The neighborhood borders on I-94, sits near another city dump, and even has struggled in the past with neighboring pig farms. Residents are struggling with sound pollution, ground pollution, and air pollution.

Baskett notes that "there was no keeper of the information" for the neighborhood of 260 homes; no one passed on the knowledge of the dump and wetlands. She pointed out that there is specific local knowledge that would have helped neighborhood members best live in the area without worsening conditions, but because no one was there to inform them, this knowledge served no one.

High incidences of asthma in children and mold in houses have made neighbors wonder if these and other problems are connected to the waste that sits under the neighborhood, but they aren't sure. It's not unreasonable for them to wonder about the health effects of the trash beneath them; in fact, other people in other communities have asked the same types of questions. The organization People Investigating Toxic Sites is just one place where people have started to gather their suspicions, as well as scientific information, about the hazards of dumps. Here's just one of their studies that considers cancer rates at sites near waste dumps (click on the link to download).  Download Health and Waste Dumps

I talked to Susan for quite a while about her neighborhood, and there's more to share. But I wanted to stop here to ask readers: is this something you've seen near you-- a neighborhood or community where folks suspect that pollution or unwise environmental practices are causing widespread hardship, but they can't quite prove it?

Can Lansing Do Better?

 The Lansing Board of Water and Light has proposed a new coal fired power plant right here in Lansing.

If another coal plant were built here, how would it affect the people living closest to the plant?

This is an issue too large to cover in one post, but here is a sampling of the different types of health and regulatory problems that are discussed in the context of coal-fired power plants.

• The Sierra Club The Sierra Club looks at the health effects of coal fired power plants.
  
• Science Daily on Children's Brain Development and Coal Fired Power Cognitive development in children improves when coal fired plants are closed.
  
• Coal Combustion Waste from High Country News  Coal plants produce not only air pollution, but also solid waste, called CCWs. Folks in New Mexico don't like CCWs.
• MSNBC on health risks associated with coal plant emissions.  The article opens by claiming that "Health problems linked to aging coal-fired power plants shorten nearly 24,000 lives a year."
• City Pulse on DEQ and EPA regulations about coal plants.  Lansing City Pulse's Lawrence Consentino looks at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality regulations may prevent approval of the plant.
• Observer: Coal Fired Power Plants are Death Factories. Close them. James Hansen, noted climate expert, says coal plants are death factories, and that there is no such thing as "clean coal. He also says that the fight against coal in the US will require "a political will yet to be demonstrated."

A group called Lansing Can Do Better claims that yes, we can do better than building another coal plant here.  The group is responding to a 2008 Board of Water and Light proposal for a new coal-fired power plant to be built in Lansing.

Lansing Can Do Better has three plans that they say would each be better than immediately building a new plant. Their three suggestions are:

1. Wait 24 months before making a decision on new base-load generation

No one can predict exactly what the future population of a city like Lansing will be. LCBD explains further:

Energy demand is decreasing throughout the state. The BWL's IRP suggest in its IRP that energy demand from its costumers will increase at a rate of 1.4% a year (1.6% for peak load). This is, however, contrary to the decrease in energy demand that utilities are experiencing throughout the state. Michigan's two largest utilities, "DTE and CMS reported electricity sales down about 4 percent from the same quarter a year ago." The current economic climate in the state has subsequently lead to Michigan "using less electricity than we were in 2000, when our needs were being met adequately."

2. Pursue aggressive weatherization and energy efficiency programs

Along similar lines, if the city first looks at increasing energy efficiency, we may find that energy demands change for the better, in that citizens have lower energy bills. I live in a nice brick home that has been around for a number of years, but the amount of heated and cooled air that escapes through cracks and thin windows shocks me. There is little incentive for weatherizing or making more efficient rental properties, but there are models out there that demonstrate that with incentive programs, we can make rentals as well as homeowner-occupied homes more efficient. I know I'd support it!

3. Deploying renewable and distributed energy resources

Michigan has great potential for wind power. Nationally, we're seeing exploration of a number of alternative ways of producing energy.

I want to hear from you: What do you think? Is coal the only way to go? Are you worried that if we don't have coal power we're more at risk? Would it be ok with yo if the plant was built within walking distance of your house? Post questions to the comment section, and the next post about this issue will attempt to address some reader questions.

Climate Change and Justice: Who's Speaking Up?

I have asked several times on this blog if people are talking about environmental justice as much as they should be. While I think it is important to look to the history of the EJ movement, I think it's also crucial that we know what's going on now. Just in writing here, I've found out a lot more about the various groups around the world working for environmental justice. Here's a short introduction to one of them.

The Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative is doing everything they can to get people thinking, talking, and even acting about environmental injustice.

Importantly, one of the things this group does is make the connection between global warming/ climate change, and environmental justice.

Not surprisingly, the effects of global warming will not hit us all equally. There will be geographical differences, but also differences depending on socioeconomic status.

The group has set out ten principles for "Just Climate Change Policies in the U.S," which you can read by clicking on the title.

One of the principles that seem particularly difficult to me:

1. Require Community Participation
   At all levels and in all realms, people must have a say in the decisions that affect their lives. Decision-makers must include communities in the policy process. U.S. federal and state governments, recognizing their government-to-government relationship, must work with tribes as well.

How can we force people to participate? Maybe the goal isn't coercion, but instead making dialogue and the policy making process more accessible. As we've seen with things like public comment periods, depending on who runs participatory decision making groups, they can be very successful or just as oppressive as their precedents. How do we ensure that people are able and comfortable in contributing to the decision making process? Is that an issue of leadership? Of community building?

If you're interested in learning more about the intersection between climate change and issues of equity, this seems to be one good resource for that search. Their tools page is particularly helpful in providing more information about a wide range of climate and justice issues. I think a lot of justice work needs to be done at the community level (hence my attempts to look at Michigan EJ issues in my next post) but it's also nice to have umbrella organizations that connect all these groups.