EcoWatch Journal August/September 2011 : Page 1

UNITING THE VOICE OF OHIO’S GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT aug. -sept. 2011 05 06 08 12 13 The Last Mountain Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline Understanding ‘Net Energy’ The New Agrarian City Challenging Monsanto www.ecowatchohio.org STATEHOUSE, CONGRESS, WHITE HOUSE SHOULD HEED THE LORAX BY KRISTY MEYER, OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL Water, water everywhere, but hardly an ounce of conser-with bordering states. The House of Representatives ap-small headwater streams. In addition to big rivers like the vation anywhere. proved the bill a week after Independence Day. Without Cuyahoga, Scioto and Miami, the Buckeye State has more That send-up of the familiar children’s rhyme fairly sums a strong federal backstop, states like Ohio may race to the than a quarter-million miles of small headwater streams up legislative battles over how to simultaneously develop bottom for the most industry-friendly state rules. and their tributariefs, and countless swafmps, bogs and otherf and conserve America’s lakes, rivers and wetlands, includ-Other attacks include sops to the coal, agriculture wetlands. ing the Great Lake Erie on Ohio’s North Coast. But a pair of seminal court cases (Rapanos and A full-on congressional attack in Washington is Somewhere, hovering over Washington, D.C. and SWANCC) has clouded the legal status of water-Columbus, the prescient Dr. Seuss is wistfully underway to strip the Environmental Protection ways. And if a waterway is not, legally speaking, a frowning about his cautionary environmental tale waterway, then developers can fill and build atop Agency of its power and funding to keep our The Lorax . Let’s join the good doctor and take a small streams or wetlands with no need to avoid view from atop these respective capitol domes. water clean. Calls are needed to Senator Brown or remediate any impacts. Hello big-box malls, FROM THE POTOMAC RIVER AND Mother Nature. and Senator Portman urging them to vote no on goodbye BEYOND, A FULL-ON ATTACK ON The U.S. Senate is our last hope to stop this dirty water bills that weaken the Clean Water Act. attack on clean water. Calls are needed to Senators CLEAN WATER A full-on congressional attack in Washington Sherrod Brown (D-OH) at 202-224-2315 and is underway to strip the Environmental Protection Agency and homebuilding industries. This trifecta includes legal Rob Portman (R-OH) at 202-224-3353 to urge them to vote (EPA) of its power and funding to keep our water clean. roadblocks to deter inter-agency cooperation on controlling no on these dirty water bills that weaken the Clean Water Act. Reverently referred to as The Clean Water Cooperative mountaintop mining, fblocking the establfishment of nutri -THE GREAT LAKES COMPACT— Federalism Act by its supporters, House Resolution 2018 ent standards to control agricultural runoff and impeding A PROMISE UNFULFILLED would block the EPA’s authority to set minimum water the definition of exactly what constitutes a waterway. In a bold move that left statehouse watchers in quality standards. It also would eliminate a state’s ability The arcane definition of what is a waterway could Columbus dumbfounded, Ohio Govenor John Kasich to control pollutants surging in through waterways shared have profound implications for Ohio’s wetlands and continued on page 9 HOW MANY LIGHT BULBS DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE THE WORLD? BY JENITA MCGOWAN, MAYOR’S OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY In August 2009, Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson convened the first Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit to bring together hundreds of people interested in applying the principles of sustainability to the design of the local economy. The goal: envision a 10-year campaign for “building an economic engine to empower a green city on a blue lake” by 2019, the 50th anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River fire. On Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, the City of Cleveland will host the third annual Sustain-able Cleveland 2019 (SC2019) Summit at Cleveland Public Auditorium, 500 Lakeside Ave. The purpose of the summit is to engage people from all walks of life, to work together to design and develop a thriving and resilient region that leverages its wealth of assets to build economic, social and environmental well-being for all. Every year leading up to 2019, the summit is focusing on a different key area fundamental to a sustainable economy—energy efficiency, local foods, renewable & advanced energy, zero waste, clean water, sustainable mobility, vibrant green space and vital neighborhoods. The focus for the 2011 summit is two-fold—the current year’s celebration topic— The Year of Energy Efficiency—and the upcoming Year of Local Food in 2012. The continued on page 4

Statehouse, Congress, White House Should Heed The Lorax

Kristy Meyer

Water, water everywhere, but hardly an ounce of conservation anywhere. That send-up of the familiar children’s rhyme fairly sums up legislative battles over how to simultaneously develop and conserve America’s lakes, rivers and wetlands, including the Great Lake Erie on Ohio’s North Coast. Somewhere, hovering over Washington, D.C. and Columbus, the prescient Dr. Seuss is wistfully frowning about his cautionary environmental tale The Lorax. Let’s join the good doctor and take a view from atop these respective capitol domes. FROM THE POTOMAC RIVER AND BEYOND, A FULL-ON ATTACK ON CLEAN WATER A full-on congressional attack in Washington is underway to strip the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its power and funding to keep our water clean. Reverently referred to as The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act by its supporters, House Resolution 2018 would block the EPA’s authority to set minimum water quality standards. It also would eliminate a state’s ability to control pollutants surging in through waterways shared With bordering states. The House of Representatives approved the bill a week after Independence Day. Without a strong federal backstop, states like Ohio may race to the bottom for the most industry-friendly state rules. Other attacks include sops to the coal, agriculture And homebuilding industries. This trifecta includes legal roadblocks to deter inter-agency cooperation on controlling mountaintop mining, iblocking the establiishment of nutr-i ent standards to control agricultural runoff and impeding the definition of exactly what constitutes a waterway. The arcane definition of what is a waterway could have profound implications for Ohio’s wetlands and Small headwater streams. In addition to big rivers like the Cuyahoga, Scioto and Miami, the Buckeye State has more than a quarter-million miles of small headwater streams and their tributarieis, and countless swaimps, bogs and otheri wetlands. But a pair of seminal court cases (Rapanos and SWANCC) has clouded the legal status of waterways. And if a waterway is not, legally speaking, a waterway, then developers can fill and build atop small streams or wetlands with no need to avoid or remediate any impacts. Hello big-box malls, goodbye Mother Nature. The U.S. Senate is our last hope to stop this attack on clean water. Calls are needed to Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) at 202-224-2315 and Rob Portman (R-OH) at 202-224-3353 to urge them to vote no on these dirty water bills that weaken the Clean Water Act. THE GREAT LAKES COMPACT— A PROMISE UNFULFILLED In a bold move that left statehouse watchers in Columbus dumbfounded, Ohio Govenor John Kasich Unexpectedly vetoed the Ohio House and Ohio Senate’s pitiful attempt to control massive water withdrawals from Lake Erie. One might think that the shallowest, smallest, most biologically productive, and most vulnerable of the Great Lakes—Lake Erie—deserves the strongest protections of any of the five Great Lakes. But not the Ohio General Assembly. The debate swirls around on how Ohio should comply with the Great Lakes Compact—a federally-approved agreement amongst the eight Great Lakes states for conservation of lake water and the inland lakes, streams and groundwater that drain to the Lakes. In their rush to hang an “Open for Business, at Any Cost” sign over Ohio, the Republican-controlled legislature and a handful of Democrats voted to exempt from government oversight any factory, power plant, bottler or other industrial ioperation that wisheis to withdraw up to five million gallons per day (GPD) from Lake Erie, two million GPD from a river or groundwater aquifer, or 300,000 GPD from a high-quality stream. Even before Kasich vetoed the bill, this radical proposal drew fire from scientists and legal experts, as well as top elected officials from across the region and the political spectrum, including Governors Rick Snyder (R-MI) and Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), former Ohio Governors Bob Taft (R-Cincinnati) and George Voinovich (R-Cleveland), and former Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Directors Sam Speck, Fran Buchholzer and Joe Sommer, and former Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Chris Jones. In an almost unheard of event, Taft testified before a Statehouse committee in oipposition to the bilil, warning senators i that the bill was so unbalanced that it risked lowered water flows and concentrated pollutants which could place recreation, tourism and wildlife at risk. In his veto message, Kasich acknowledged the concerns, writing that “Ohio’s legislation lacks clear standards for conservation and withdrawals and does not allow for sufficient evaluation and monitoring of withdrawals or usage.” Environmental-conservation groups are pushing a pair of bills introduced by Rep. Dennis Murray (D-Sandusky-HB 257) and Sen. Mike Skindell (D-Lakewood-SB 186) that strive to balance the needs of intensive users, including manufacturers, farmers and bottlers with the needs of public drinking water systems, travel and tourism, and wildlife. The Murray-Skindell legislation would: • ensure that any program developed to manage water is based on sound scienice; • apply to Great Lakes water as well as the streams, rivers, lakes, connecting channels and other bodies of water that drain to the Great Lakes, including tributary groundwater; • ensure that any water withdrawals must be judged on how one or more withdrawals from a single watershed may individually or collectively impact the whole Lake Erie basin, as well as the local source watershed from which the withdrawail was taken; • judge impacts on a particular stream segment by looking at a number of considerations, including economic development, social development and environmental protection needs, and • give the ODNR the tools to collect and analyze data using science-based processes to determine if a particular watershed is facing critical low water levels. The bills further give ODNR the tools needed to mitigate against any further reduction of water supplies while ensuring access to the waters. Additionally, the bills set thresholds for when a water user must get a perimit for water withdriawals at 2.5 m-il lion GPD from Lake Erie and 500,000 gallons per day from groundwater. The bills further set a range of thresholds for rivers depending on each river’s size and water quality status. The river thresholds are based on more than 20 years of scientific data on the rates of flow of streams that feed Lake Erie. While the battle of Lake Erie is far from over, Kasich deserves our thanks for standing up against the Republican legislature’s attempted giveaway to industry. You can thank Kasich at www.governor.ohio. gov or by calling 614-466-3555. Around the globe, clean water is an ever precious resource. But like the trees in the tale of The Lorax, clean water is not without limit. Lake Erie and our inland lakes, rivers and wetlands cannot thrive in the face of continuous assault. We need water. For work, yes. But first for life. And for play. It’s not too late to save our water. Its fate is in all of our hands. Who will speak up to the Lorax? Who will speak up for Mother Nature? If not you, then who? For more information, visit www.theoec.org.

How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take To Change The World?

Jenita Mcgowan

In August 2009, Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson convened the first Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit to bring together hundreds of people interested in applying the principles of sustainability to the design of the local economy. The goal: envision a 10-year campaign for “building an economic engine to empower a green city on a blue lake” by 2019, the 50th anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River fire. On Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, the City of Cleveland will host the third annual Sustainable Cleveland 2019 (SC2019) Summit at Cleveland Public Auditorium, 500 Lakeside Ave. The purpose of the summit is to engage people from all walks of life, to work together to design and develop a thriving and resilient region that leverages its wealth of assets to build economic, social and environmental well-being for all. Every year leading up to 2019, the summit is focusing on a different key area fundamental to a sustainable economy—energy efficiency, local foods, renewable & advanced energy, zero waste, clean water, sustainable mobility, vibrant green space and vital neighborhoods. The focus for the 2011 summit is two-fold—the current year’s celebration topic— The Year of Energy Efficiency—and the upcoming Year of Local Food in 2012. The Summit will highlight local and regional accomplishments relating to energy efficiency and will accelerate momentum for current initiatives. Additionally, participants will create goals and action steps for the Year of Local Food. Andrew Watterson, chief of sustainability at the City of Cleveland, said “The community is continuiing to align and sup-i port our collective effort to transform into a bright green city on a blue lake. At this year’s summit we will celebrate our progress in the realm of energy efficiency, refocus our efforts and start to shape 2012, the year of local food.” Since 2009, working groups comprised of community volunteers, organizations and individuals have engaged in a variety of sustainable economic initiatives toward this goal. The working groups and other stakeholders will also be invited to share their progress since the 2010 Summit. Jon J. Reidy and his wife moved to Cleveland in late 2010. Reidy is an architect with a keen interest in responsible building practices because of thei high demand the buiilt environment places on natural resources. “Upon arrival in Cleveland I was greeted by a profoundly struggling job market, and I used my involuntary sabbatical as an opportunity to reflect on how sustainability relates to my personal and professional goals,” he said. “After a bit of research I was quite surprised to learn about Sustainable Cleveland 2019.” Reidy found working groups which were already hard at work in his interest areas, net zero energy buildings and green building retrofit. There has been great progress in Many aspects of sustaiinability since last i year’s summit and notable action around the Energy Efficiency working group in particular. In January, 500 people attended the Cleveland Conserves Energy Efficiency Fair hosted by the City of Cleveland as a kick-off event for the Year of Energy Efficiency. In March, the Energy Efficiency Celebration Committee organized a CSU Levin College Forum, How Many Light Bulbs Does it Take to Change the World, to introduce the public to the Northeast Ohio Energy Alliance, the Energy $aver Pilot program and the Advanced Energy and Energy Efficiency Special Improvement District. Each of these new initiatives is re-shaping the way we think about energy efficiency. The Green Building Retrofit working group will be collecting case studies to detail and identify building performance efforts that not only offer sustainable and environmental benefits but also present compelling return-on-investment and economic success stories. This resource will be a public access portal that will highlight local success storiesi and data that infoirms the market on best practices of our region. The Vital Neighborhoods working group is planning to launch a residential contest to boost household participation in energy efficiency beginning in September and concluding before the end of 2011. There have been numerous institutions and corporations that have taken an initiative to employ conservation and efficiency in the Year of Energy Efficiency. Council of Smaller Enterprises was awarded two grants from the Ohio Department of Development to provide energy efficiency assistance to small businesses throughout Ohio. To date, 67 businesses have received grants for energy assessmentis, and 25 of these businesses secured additional grants worth $3,000 each to finaince energy efficienti upgrades. The Cleveland Clinic received Energy Star partner of the year award from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency for reducing its energy consumption by more than 20 percent over the last three years. Finally RPM, Building Solutions Group completed renovations of its headquarters in Beachwood which is achieving more than 40 percent energy efficiency savings in its operations. This is just a sampling of activities and achievements in implementing energy efficiency in the region. Cleveland has created tremendous momentum around the local food movement. Since last year’s summit, the Northeast Ohio Local Food Assessment was released showing the impact on the regional economy if it were to buy 25 percent of its food locally. With more than 20 farmers’ markets, 150 community gardens, and dozens of urban farms and market gardens, Northeast Ohio is well positioned to bring national attention to its Year of Local Food. Cleveland will also celebrate the centennial of the West Side Market as it hosts the 2012 International Public Markets Conference. During the summit, participants will honor the individuals who have worked in local food and urban gardening for decades in Cleveland and learn how they paved the way for the recent surge in interest and action around local foods. Summit participants will take part in creating the goals and action steps fori the local food ecoinomy in 2012 and beyond. Participation in the SC2019 Summit is by application only. To be considered for a summit appointKment, fill out the online applicatioKn located at www.summit2011app.eventbrite.com. Summit appointments are based on the stakeholder mix needed to represent accurately the Greater Cleveland community.

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