April 2003
A Green Report Card
Chicago wants to be the "Greenest city in America."
So, how's it doing?
by Jim Slama
A year ago we published a widely read and widely debated story on the city of Chicago’s stated commitment to become the Greenest City in America. The section documented Mayor Daley’s green vision and profiled some of the key people behind the plan. We also surveyed many of the city’s leading environmental and civic leaders to see what they would like the city to act upon in this realm. Using this material, we created the "Conscious Choice Eleven-Point Green Plan" and presented it to Bill McDonough, the internationally known architect who is consulting for the city.
Using the original eleven-point plan as a guidepost, we have examined the city’s progress in a number of critical areas. To do so, we contacted many of the same green activists who helped us the first time and asked them to help us evaluate what the city is doing right and what they could be doing better. Based on their responses, we have created a report card that documents our humble opinion of the city’s effort. The Report Card
Clean up the Chicago River: B+
Improvements along the Chicago River are continuing to move forward and the City continues to take leadership in its transformation. One of the most important elements to success in this process is providing more recreational access to the river through paths, trails, and canoe drop-off points. Both the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Park District have taken steps to improve access, and have done particularly well with under-bridge connections along the North Shore Channel.
Water quality of the river also continues to improve. Fishing is becoming more and more prevalent along various branches of the river and the Crayfish population is growing. The biggest threat to the river continues to be stormwater runoff that is dumped into the river when the water system is overwhelmed. This causes high bacterial counts and the release of other hazardous pollution that harms wildlife. In this realm, the city could be doing much more to disconnect downspouts that contribute to this problem.
Suggested Improvements
Laurene von Klan of the Friends of the Chicago River would like to see Mayor Daley and the Regional United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) director go on record with a goal to restore the river. "They should set a visible newsworthy target like they did in Boston: Fishable and swimable in 2005." Von Klan also suggests that the city use its regional clout to create one single body to manage stormwater. "An authority with teeth could set policies to truly minimize discharge into the river," she says.
Clean Up Coal Fired Power Plants: Incomplete
Two of the biggest impediments to the greening of Chicago are in the Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods of the city. The Fisk and Crawford coal- fired power plants are owned by California-based Midwest Generation and are two of the state’s biggest and most hazardous polluters. Research shows that the plants are serious health threats to citizens in the Chicago region. A coalition of health, environmental, and justice advocates has teamed up with neighborhood grassroots organizers to get the plants cleaned up. Last year, Alderman Ed Burke sponsored a "Chicago Clean Power" ordinance to dramatically reduce emissions from the two plants. The proposed ordinance would reduce harmful pollutants by over 90 percent and make the city a national leader in protecting residents from dirty coal-fired power plants.
For the time being, the ordinance is buried in a city council committee, while the Chicago Department of Environment (DOE) prepares an analysis and suggested action. Public health advocates are hopeful that the DOE review will bolster their case for quick council action. "Each year emissions from these two ancient power plants lead to 40 premature deaths and 2,800 extra asthma attacks, according to research conducted by faculty at the Harvard School of Public Health," according to Brian Urzabewski of the American Lung Association. "By passing Alderman Burke’s Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, power plant emissions in the city would plummet and air quality would improve for millions of people in the Chicago area."
DOE Commissioner Marcia Jimenez acknowledges that Fisk and Crawford’s emissions need to be addressed. "We want an ordinance that works. Our lawyers are currently looking at options to press for action," she says.
Suggestions
One solution may be for the city to use its clout with the Blagojevich administration to pass a power plant cleanup bill addressing all of the state’s dirty coal-burning incinerators. The Harvard School of Public Health study showed that the nine older coal fire- power plants in Illinois extend their trail of death and illness well beyond Chicago. According to the School: "(Current) emissions contribute an annual extra risk of 300 premature deaths, 14,000 asthma attacks, and over 400,000 daily incidents of upper respiratory symptoms among the 33- million people living within 250 miles of the geographic center of the plants."
Make Chicago the Organic Food Capital of the Midwest: A
When Mayor Daley sets his mind to something, the city acts. So it’s really encouraging to know that the Mayor recognizes the vast opportunity available by creating a local organic food system to supply much of the organic food consumed in the region. "The Mayor is deeply committed to develoing the organic food sector in Chicago — both growing and processing," says Bill Abolt, top advisor to Mayor Daley as the chief management officer and budget director. "This will support the environment and provide new jobs."
The economic opportunity in this area is stunning. Last fall, developers of the conservation community Prairie Crossing commissioned a study that determined that Chicago-area retailers currently sell $60 to $80 million of organic produce a year, with approximately 3 percent being grown locally. Most of the organic produce is grown in California and other distant states and shipped to Chicago. In reference to the findings, George Ranney, CEO of Prairie Crossing, stated, "The demand for organic food is 30 times greater than the local supply. This represents a substantial economic opportunity for the entire region."
The city is already walking its talk by turning over vacant lots to community members who are converting them into urban farms. "We are pleased that the city has helped make our urban farm a reality," says LaDonna Redmond who, with her husband, Tracy, has transformed three vacant lots on the west side into a green garden oasis. "Besides the land, the city has also given us some of the materials necessary to make it happen."
Suggestions
Marcia Jimenez has indicated interest in mapping the vacant lots in the city to determine possible locations for major urban agriculture centers. This could lead to the designation of "urban farm zones" where agricultural projects could thrive. The city can also help organic entrepreneurs by committing resources to jumpstart organic farming, processing, and distribution. They can also encourage the state and federal government to fund organic projects that focus on the Chicago market.
Improve Recycling and Resource Recovery: C-
This aspect of Chicago’s greening efforts has been controversial ever since they implemented the blue bag system. Most people cringe at having to stick all their recyclables into a single bag, hoping that by some miracle their glass bottles won’t break and contaminate the paper by the time it is separated at a sorting facility. Unfortunately years ago the city made a huge commitment to this system and it’s here to stay. So for grading purposed, we need to look at efforts of improving the system.
On the bright side, the city dumped the felony-convicted Waste Management as the contractor operating the sorting program. For those of you who don’t know its history, Waste Management was the primary proponent of the blue bag and won a city contract to construct and operate the program despite pleas from environmentalists to develop a real source-separated recycling system. Currently, the city truly recycles about 10 percent of their trash through the blue bag system and the new contract with Allied Waste to operate the program calls for a 12 percent recovery rate. However, Allied is only penalized if the amount falls under 10 percent — not much motivation.
Suggestions
According to Holly Gordon and Besty Vandercook of the Chicago Recycling Coalition, there are several important things the city can do to improve recycling in the city:
"Begin to change the fundamentals of the program to a source-separated collection method. This can be done in increments through pilot programs — which are allowable under the terms of the new contract. And to accept the clean, source-separated commodities, one of the sorting facilities could be reengineered in part or in whole."
"The city should educated people about the issue. They can promote source reduction, reuse, and composting as first steps in waste reduction over recycling. Many people don’t know anything about the blue bag program — who can use it, who must use it, how it works, what to put in the different bags, what types of recycling their apartment buildings must provide if they cannot participate in the blue bag program."
Greening Communities: B
There are over 500 communitymanaged parks and gardens in the city and the number continues to grow. The city is actively promoting these projects with hands-on support from the Department of the Environment’s GreenCorps program, which is a community greening and job training effort geared towards horticultural education and landscaping. Working in partnership with community gardeners, the program provides plant materials, technical assistance, and some of the "heavy labor" at community garden sites. The city has also begun to use "open space impact fees" to help mitigate the loss of open space caused when builders create new developments. The funds are then used to purchase land to be preserved as parks or other public uses.
Suggestions
While the city has made positive strides in this area, some groups working with them feel that a more coordinated effort to communicate with their partners would bring about better results.
Another opportunity is for improvement is the city’s zoning code. "Probably the most important single step the city can take to ensure public open space remains a priority is to complete zoning code revisions to provide for a code category for open space, and then to enforce that code," says Glenda Daniel of the Openlands Project. "Right now, even our city parks are zoned "residential"!
Make the Lakefront an International Showcase for Nature-based Recreation: A-
Chicago has taken strong steps in the past year to make this goal a reality. The Chicago Park District is in the midst of a major initiative to improve the overall quality of the lakefront parks. A major component of this work is to restore habitats for fish and wildlife. "Mayor Daley is taking waterfront habitat and open space very seriously," says Cameron Davis, Executive Director of the Lake Michigan Federation. "Good indicators include the fact that Chicago has endorsed the Chicago Wilderness Biodiversity Recovery Plan and the park district has also attracted top level talent like Megan McDonald to be the new lakefront director. All of this points to enormous momentum for making Chicago the premier global showcase for how a city can have a waterfront that benefits people, fish, and wildlife all at the same time."
Suggestions
The lakefront still faces a number of challenges. The biggest is to clean up the problems that still lead to beach closings every year due to high bacteria counts. In addition, the city still needs to figure out a way to prevent salt from Lake Shore Drive from making its way into the water treatment plants offshore.
Deepen the Commitment to Green Energy/Energy Efficiency: A
Chicago has achieved consistent progress with its energy policy. "The City has taken a number of actions in supporting the development of clean energy efficiency and renewable energy that move positively in that direction," says Howard Learner of the Environmental Law and Policy Center. "Chicago’s leadership on clean energy development is a win-win-win for jobs, economic development, and the environment."
Over the past year, Chicago has been pushing Commonwealth Edison to increase the percentage of renewable energy purchased by the city and is well on its way to being one of the top municipal purchasers of wind power in the country. In addition, the city is currently installing wind turbines in Humboldt Park as a demonstration project.
Suggestions
Well designed roofs can reflect heat in the summertime and substantially cut down energy costs. The Chicago city council can mandate new and rebuilt roofs to have a reflective surface by passing a recently introduced ordinance. With Mayor Daley’s undisputed control over this body, this should be a no-brainer.
Howard Learner thinks that the city should turn O’Hare airport into a world-class green airport. "Since the city is about to spend billions of dollars to expand the airport, they should invest some of it into making the buildings energy efficient and green," he says. "It is the perfect opportunity to make a really big statement. If the city does it right, O’Hare can become an international model that exemplifies the Mayor’s environmental commitment."
Creating a World-Class Transit System: B-
The city still has a way to go to create a world-class transit system. Most riders will still agree that at peak hours the trains and buses are still too crowded and prone to repair problems. In addition, many areas of the city are still vastly underserved by public transit — a big need that could be rectified with creative solutions. That said, CTA President Frank Kreusi has stepped up in the past year and taken several pro-transit, pro-consumer stands. One of the best was the decision to spend millions to upgrade buses to allow them to use a much cleaner grade of diesel fuel, thus cutting air pollution substantially. Transit advocates now want the CTA to publicly commit to exclusively purchase new buses utilizing the most advanced pollution-control technology.
Suggestions
There is a great opportunity to work with the state to encourage the CTA, RTA, and Metra to develop a universal fare card to truly integrate transit options in the region. This has been impossible in the past due to political squabbling between the Democratic city and Republican RTA, but the recent election has changed all that. A universal fare card should be a slam dunk with Democrats now controlling Springfield. Jacky Leavy from the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group would also like to see Mayor Daley "encourage employers to use the Transit Check program, and tell the CTA he wants the U-PASS program extended to all city colleges, including part-time city college students."
In addition, the CTA should seriously look at ways to make buses more efficient. Nearly all the proposed improvements to transit in the city focuses on rail, yet buses account for a large percentage of usage. "There are many ways to make buses more efficient, like expanding the Western Express service to other routes, using signal preemption to allow buses to hold a green for a few seconds, and creating exclusive lanes for buses so they are not competing with traffic," says Jan Metzger from the Center for Neighborhood Technology. "Advances in information technology will some day let us look on our computer screens to see how many minutes away the bus is from our stop before we step outside."
Support Chicago’s Neighborhoods: B+
The city is about to finalize new zoning standards that will update the 45yearold ordinance currently in place. Smart growth advocates are encouraged by the direction this reform is moving, particularly its impact on Chicago’s neighborhoods. "There are early signals of some encouraging innovations," says MarySue Barrett of the Metropolitan Planning Council. "One is mixed use districts, such as around transit stops, that would offer developers bonuses for more intensive uses. Another is the designation of pedestrian-oriented retail corridors — such as Chinatown and 26th Street — where walk-ability would be preserved and new development would have to respect build-to lines and parking restrictions." According to new urbanist architect and city planner, Doug Farr, these standards would be a huge impediment to the strip malls that have popped up all over the city "by requiring that new retail buildings install display windows near the street and place parking in the rear of buildings."
Chicago’s neighborhoods have become more bike friendly in the past year with additional on-street and off- street bike paths. This includes a goal to create a bike path along the Chicago River. Such efforts have paid off and made biking a solid alternative for many commuters. According to Barrett, "While there is more that can be done to make cycling an attractive transportation alternative, the census documents an impressive 6,000 daily bike-to-work commuters."
Suggestions
If the new zoning ordinance is going to work, the city must support a robust public participation process during the re-mapping phase and encourage and accept input from a host of neighborhood stakeholders.
Expand and Improve Chicago’s Parks and Forest Preserves: B+
The Chicago Park District (CPD) continues to improve. Their commitment to restoring and creating wildlife habitat is remarkable for a big city and deserves raves. As part of this, the CPD adopted bird guidelines to promote native plantings on the lakefront bird flyway. In addition, the District has acquired significant parcels of land or expanded parks in non-yuppie neighborhoods like Calumet Heights, Lawndale, Rogers Park, and Bronzeville.
Although the city of Chicago does not control the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Mayor Daley has a great deal of political control over it. Unfortunately, this agency is the polar opposite of the park District. According to recent reports from the Friends of the Forest Preserves and Friends of the Parks: employee morale is low, operating costs are high, and land acquisition is pretty much nonexistent. "The Forest Preserve District merits a failing grade in 2002," says Erma Tranter from Friends of the Parks.
Suggestions
The forest preserves are a vital element of Chicago’s Recreation infrastructure, yet they are a disaster. Mayor Daley needs to rally his allies on the Cook County Board to completely overhaul the operations of the District, so that it serves the people rather than the bloated bureaucracy running it. If the Mayor can achieve this, Tranter has a few ideas to help transform it:
"Forest Preserve District must acquire all the parcels of land that they identified in the land acquisition plan that are still available and close the deals. The District should also be aggressive in working with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to lease all suitable land for 50 to 100 year(s). The Forest Preserve District should seek to acquire surplus cemetery land in Chicago to expand LaBagh Woods and other preserves. In addition, the Forest Preserve District should design and create bike/ped paths to connect with Chicago’s bikeway system."
Make Chicago the Country’s Hub of Green Manufacturing and Design: B+
The city has declared its intention to become a hub of green manufacturing and design. To facilitate this, they have committed to creating a "green corridor" along Lake Street running from the Chicago Center for Green Technology to the Garfield Park Conservatory. A major component of this area will be devoted to companies that are engaged in green businesses such as organic food, renewable energy, and native landscaping. "We envision this as the center for green companies in Chicago," says Dave Reynolds from the Department of the Environment. "Spire Solar is already located in this district and other companies are showing strong interest in locating here."
The Merchandise Mart is sponsoring the first show in America of sustainably made furniture and home furnishings. The Green Design Pavilion will be a major addition to the prestigious Chicago Design Show that is held every November at the Mart. This new project was initiated by design consultant Barry Bursak.
"This show will be the first opportunity for architects, designers, and the public to see a lot of products under one roof that are sustainably manufactured, and to inform people how they can access these products. Building awareness of this is the first step toward developing new manufacturers which could locate in Chicago. The Mart has really shown that once again Chicago can be the leader in design trends, and at the same time become a leader in environmental stewardship" said Bursak.
Suggestions
The fact that the Merchandise Mart is creating the Green Design Pavilion represents a tremendous opportunity for a sustainable home furnishing industry to develop in Chicago. The city can nurture its growth by sponsoring the Mart’s effort and offering resources to make sure that it is a big success. In addition, the city should pull together a symposium of leading thinkers in this area to envision what it would take to truly make Chicago a "Green Design" hub. Architect Bill McDonough could be a valuable ally in this process, using his vast skills in industrial design as well as contacts in the private sector to help the city succeed.
Jim Slama is editor-at-large of Conscious Choice magazine and president of Sustain, www.sustainusa.org.
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