Friday, August 21, 2015

Everything's up to date in Minnesota

Great reporting by Politico.com about a giant trash processing plant in the heart of Minneapolis - - and thirty-years of companion innovative planning and action - - that is cleaning the air and transforming the city into a national and international model:
The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, better known as the HERC, has emerged as the centerpiece of Minneapolis’s own push to be carbon-neutral by 2030, as Minnesota’s largest city looks to vault itself into the world’s top tier of sustainable cities.
Politico.com offers fascinating, long-form reports.

Remember this one about Wisconsin's regrettable love affair with highway expansion at the expense of road maintenance and transit?

As the state has shifted resources into freeway megaprojects, 71 percent of its roads are in mediocre or poor condition, according to federal data...

4 comments:

Alan Muller said...

Surely you aren't serious? This is one of the most shameless, most obvious, pieces of flackery for garbage incineration I've every seen.

A look as the origins of the story suggest it was paid for by J.P. Morgan Chase, and produced by a Denver writer and an expensive New York photographer. Banking interests promote high-capital projects such as incinerators.

People in Minneapolis know very well that this incinerator contributes to health problems in surrounding communities and in the state at large. It is a prime example of "Environmental Injustice." People worked hard for years to prevent expanded burning at this old, dirty burner, whose permit has been expired for many years and which has a history of air permit violations. They prevailed, and Minneapolis is now expanding its very low recycling rate of around 17 percent.

I had though this story was too obviously bad to need a detailed rebuttal, but apparently not.

Charlene Lemoine said...

As Waste Issues Representative for the Waukesha County Environmental Action League (WEAL), I respectively disagree with your assessment of the Politico article, “Minneapolis Gets Trashed.”
WEAL is an all-volunteer; grass-roots environmental organization established in 1978. WEAL has held a “no incinerator” position since 1990 and has recently been actively engaged in opposing proposals to locate gasification staged-incinerators in Wisconsin.

I encourage you to read comments linked on WEAL’s website that were submitted by several groups, including the Energy Justice Network and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) regarding another misleading article on incineration entitled “Garbage Incineration Makes a Comeback, Kindling Both Garbage and Debate” published in the New York Times on 1/10/15. http://www.weal.org/ARCHIVE%20Waste/2015%20Jan%2010%20Incineration%20Comeback.pdf

There are numerous statements in the Politico article that are inaccurate and misleading. I would be happy to discuss the article and/or incineration in general with you in person or over the phone. I can be reached through the WEAL website.

Charlene Lemoine
Waste Issues Representative
Waukesha County Environmental Action League (WEAL)
www.weal.org

James Rowen said...

I appreciate theses comments.

Charlene Lemoine said...

Rep. Keith Ellison (U.S. House of Rep. MN 5th District) responded to Politico’s “Minneapolis Gets Trashed” in the MinnPost today.

http://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2015/09/why-get-trashed-when-you-can-recycle?utm_content=buffer5d5fe&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer