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Tainted Wood: Illegal Logging is Pushing Tribes to Extinction

2008-06-27T16:44:30Z

Let me tell you a story about illegal logging pushing tribal families to extinction.

The story begins a few days ago, when a colleague emailed me a YouTube video documenting the discovery of the Tsohon-djapa, a previously uncontacted tribe in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Standing next to their grass huts, with bodies painted red and black in preparation for war, the Tsohon-djapa are shown shooting arrows up at the airplane, hoping to bring it down. As Jose Carlos Mireles, the one responsible for discovering the tribes, says, “They probably thought our plane was a giant bird.”

The futility of this effort brings home the point. When it comes to the mounting pressures of the industrialized world, these tribes have no defense.

With demand for luxury wood products in the United States on the rise, illegal loggers are pushing further and further into the rainforest in search of mahogany and cedar, and into the areas tribes like the Tsohon-djapa call home. The illegal loggers bring with them violent conflict, introduce deadly disease, and destroy the ecosystems upon which the tribes depend. In contrast, the plane that took these pictures is the least of their worries.

The Tsohon-djapa are but one story. There are many others. By some estimates, there are 100 such tribes left in the world, most of them in the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. In the remote Peruvian rainforest alone, the last families of the Mascho Piro, Yora, Matsigenka, and Amahuaca are threatened.

When we talk about extinction, it’s often in the context of protecting an endangered species. But this is a story about endangered families. It reminded me – as I hope it does for you – of the need to protect human diversity.

In countries like Peru and Brazil, all of the market incentives reward deforestation. Increased consumer demand from the United Stated – the wood from one large mahogany tree alone is worth more than $100,000 when used in furniture and luxury wood products - has driven illegal loggers further into the rainforests, and the areas these tribes call home.

William Laurance, a tropical biologist with the Smithsonian Institution, was quoted on Dot Earth as saying: “The new roads open up the frontier for waves of unplanned and illegal logging, land colonization, and land speculation that is nearly impossible for the government to control... It’s a formula for environmental and social chaos.”

The problem of tropical deforestation has received increased attention recently. The cutting of forests in tropical countries accounts for about 15-25% of all of the greenhouse gas emissions. There are now discussions of how to use the emerging carbon market to slow deforestation. However, creating such a market for forest carbon is extraordinarily complicated and will take several years at best.

If we are to save these uncontacted peoples, we cannot afford to wait. We have to take steps now to curb illegal logging. The United States, which alone is responsible for more than 80% of the mahogany exports from Peru, can provide real leadership. Click here to help save the Tahuamanú Rainforest, an NRDC Biogem.

First, consumers here can educate themselves so they can make informed decisions about what wood products they purchase. Click here for a consumer wood guide we published.

Second, the United States Government should make sure that all of mahogany and other timber trade is legal and sustainable.

Finally, we need to step up our cooperation with Peru and Brazil and other key tropical countries to improve forest governance and to put an end to illegal logging.

The Federal Maritime Commission Does the Right Thing

2008-06-17T00:29:01Z

On June 13, 2008, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) wrote to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and stated that the FMC would “allow the early effectiveness” of the Ports’ agreement that authorized the Ports to cooperate in their Clean Trucks Programs. The FMC concluded that: “there was no basis at this time to determine that the Agreement is likely to result in an unreasonable increase in transportation costs or decrease in services.” In other words, the FMC has refused the trucking industry’s request to shut down the Ports Clean Trucks Programs.

Here’s the background to this letter. The trucking industry formally asked the FMC to block implementation of the clean truck programs enacted by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The FMC sent an onerous list of questions to both ports, which the ports responded to. Recently, FMC Commissioner Harold Creel was quoted as saying:

“So it would seem fairly clear from the divergent approaches taken by the two Harbor Boards that, although there may be strong agreement on the health benefits of their common environmental goals and emissions standards, the ‘employee mandate’ remains somewhat problematic.” These were encouraging words for the trucking industry, which had hoped to use the FMC as a tool to delay implementation of both Ports’ clean trucks programs.

Last week, 31 Members of Congress from Southern California penned a letter to the Federal Maritime Commission to support the LA Clean Trucks Program. The letter begins:

“We are writing to express our support for the Clean Trucks Program, a groundbreaking green growth initiative approved by the Port of Los Angeles on March 20, 2008. This program will produce sustainable environmental and public health improvements, enhance the efficiency and productivity of port trucking, and reduce congestion, while appropriately placing the financial responsibility for operating and maintaining a fleet of clean trucks on the trucking companies that negotiate haul rates instead of on the truck drivers who are trying to make ends meet. For these reasons, we are encouraging the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to give this important clean-air proposal full and fair consideration as it moves towards implementation."

The Representatives went on to say:

“The LA Clean Trucks program will actually strengthen competition within the port trucking industry as well as between port trucking and their retail clients. Since port trucking costs are a relatively small component of overall transportation costs, the increased operational costs required by this program will be far outweighed by the overwhelming public benefits.”

“As the FMC moves forward in its review of the LA Clean Trucks Program, we hope to work with you to ensure we avoid the huge economic, environmental, and public health costs that would result if this vital program is delayed.”

The letter was signed by Representatives (Loretta) Sanchez, (Linda) Sanchez, Miller, Lee, Fillner, Roybal-Allard, Harman, Baca, Farr, Berman, Solis, Eshoo, Woolsey, Waxman, Tauscher, Watson, Lofgren, Waters, Thompson, Schiff, Matsui, Speier, Richardson, Sherman, Cardoza, Napolitano, Becerra, Davis, Honda, Capps and Costa. Last month, Speaker Pelosi wrote to the FMC in support of the Port of LA plan. NRDC has also urged the FMC not to delay the Ports’ Clean Trucks Plans.

We don’t know which arguments convinced the FMC not to block the Ports’ much-needed Clean Trucks Plans. But the FMC did the right thing by siding with 31 members of Congress, NRDC, other leading environmental and public health organizations, labor organizations, and many others in declining industry’s offer to act as an obstructionist to cleaner air. We hope the FMC will continue to allow the Ports to clean up the trucks doing business in San Pedro Bay.

Of the community, by the community, and for the community: the rebirth of Old North Saint Louis

2008-06-14T23:51:39Z

Every now and then I run across a story that is so good, that feels so right, that I thank my lucky stars for the freedom NRDC gave me to evolve my career into working for better, more sustainable communities. This is such a story, and it reveals an historic, diverse, inclusive neighborhood that is reclaiming its identity, restoring its infrastructure, empowering its residents, and securing its future. The community wins, and so does the environment, because the Old North neighborhood in Saint Louis is the very antithesis of sprawl.

Here are some images depicting the building stock in Old North before restoration and what one of the revitalized blocks looks like now:

I learned about Old North from John Burse, an architect with the Mackey Mitchell firm in Saint Louis, which features sustainable design in its practice. After we met briefly at the AIA annual meeting in Boston last month, John got in touch and told me about how neighborhood revitalization in Old North is contributing overall to a better regional environment through reestablishing density in a disinvested area and combining a traditional walkable community, affordability and historic preservation. The three projects in the neighborhood that John has been involved with represent a combined $52 million effort over the course of the last 8 years.

As John reports, “If you consider that Old North, once a neighborhood of 40,000, dropped to a low point of about 2,000, these projects represent a considerable shot in the arm. The work we have undertaken is geared towards making this place ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable.” Applause, please.

On the left below is the location of Old North, as its name suggests just north of downtown. (Man, the Mississippi looks brown in that image from Google Earth.) On the right is a tiny image (click on either image for a larger one) of the site plan for what will become one of the community’s new focal points, Crown Square:

According to Sean Thomas of the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, the Crown Square project involves the redevelopment of 27 vacant and deteriorated buildings, including several on blocks adjacent to the former pedestrian mall featured on the site plan. The red and blue colored buildings on the site plan are all historic rehabs, the colors denoting primarily commercial (red) or primarily residential (blue). Sean reports that most of the buildings include a mix of uses, with residential upstairs and commercial/retail space on the street level.

One of the great success stories of smart growth over the last decade has been the revitalization of older inner city neighborhoods. But one of the risks is gentrification; if the redevelopment is not done with great care, the community’s longtime residents can be priced out as real estate values go up. This won’t be the case in Old North, because much of the community’s planning has been shaped by the residents themselves, working with the Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance. Affordability and diversity are hallmarks of the neighborhood’s restoration.

The community’s web site has a short history. Here is a bit of it:

“The Old North St. Louis neighborhood was first developed in 1816 . . .In the latter part of the nineteenth century, large numbers of Polish immigrants settled in the near north side, including present day Old North St. Louis. Old North St. Louis also has an Afro-American population dating back long before the Civil War period . . .
“More recently, immigrant arrivals to the area came in the 1930's, during and after the Depression. Many current residents can trace their origins back to small farm communities in Southeast Missouri, Arkansas, and other states in the south. At this point, the neighborhood was crowded and thriving. Factories, shops, and homes were interspersed, in the classic "walking city" pattern. Some small businesses have a long history in the neighborhood. The North 14th Street Shopping District, the center of the area's commercial activity, has a Businessman's Association dating back to 1902. Stores, like Crown Candy Kitchen and Marx Hardware, are family owned and operated for more than three generations.
“The period after the Second World War ushered in another turning point for the neighborhood. The country was pursuing a life of prosperity, one sign of which was a house in the suburbs. Federal policy, private lending policy, and housing developments provided an incentive to build new homes rather than stabilize older neighborhoods. Many residents moved to the suburbs, encouraged by new housing development and highspeed expressways . . . With the elimination of federal [anti-poverty] funding in the 1970's, the pace of housing demolition increased, but little new housing was built, resulting in declines in both the population and housing stock.”

The history is too rich to recount it all here, but a confluence of circumstances, including the formation of the neighborhood-based Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, enlightened community development leadership, and determined residents, have turned things around dramatically. (In some ways, the Old North story is reminiscent of the recovery of Dudley Street in Boston). The Restoration Group, in particular, has initiated home-building and rehab partnerships; works to save historic properties; coordinates beautification work; and sponsors pot-luck suppers, a street festival, an annual home tour, and much more. The neighborhood even has a history trail and a poetry trail ("Word Up"!).

Do visit the neighborhood’s web site and blog, and also take a peek at the Crown Village development’s site for a close-up look at part of the work and one of the community’s emerging home developments.

The success of places like Old North and Dudley Street, and some of the good community development work of enlightened architecture and development practitioners like David Dixon and Jonathan Rose, makes me think I should write my next book about these great stories. And, as a matter of fact, I am thinking of doing just that.

Clean Air Act Applies to All

2008-05-30T00:35:44Z

Southern California’s air quality woes are a well known fact, but not enough has been done to alleviate the problem. Today, NRDC filed a petition for review in the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging EPA’s approval of the South Coast Air Basin motor vehicles emissions budgets. These budgets are supposed to tell EPA how the South Coast Air Basin is doing on its federally-required roadmap to cleaner air.

In our view, the report that EPA approved simply doesn’t go far enough to address air quality problems for our region. Surprisingly, it leaves 1.5 million people who live next to diesel-clogged freeways to shoulder the worst pollution effects with little or no relief. This is unacceptable. It’s why we filed our lawsuit today.

Last week, California’s Air Resource Board (CARB) released a major new study stating roughly three times as many people in California could die annually as a result of the state’s air pollution problems. CARB estimates that a lethal combination of tailpipe and smokestack emissions could kill 24,000 people a year, compared to CARB’s previous 8,200 estimate. CARB estimates that up to 6,500 Californians die each year as a result of pollution from goods movement within the state.

Most of the people affected by the public health issue that CARB highlights live near goods movement routes: ports and freeways. NRDC has worked for years to clean up cargo-carrying diesel ships and trucks. We have had some success, but not enough. And now even moderate measures such as banning the oldest, dirtiest trucks from the ports are under legal attack by industry. If industry wins, the premature death numbers will increase, as will the need for a clean air plan that gets us where we need to go on schedule.

Alarmists are saying that NRDC’s lawsuit will stall cleaning up our air. Not so: we are not challenging the South Coast Air District’s plan, but instead the District’s rosy report on where we are on the plan’s timeline. And there are measures available right now to get us back on track, such as strengthening and accelerating CARB’s proposed diesel truck rules.

In the long run, NRDC would like to see more cargo carried by rail and less by trucks; we would also like to see the elimination of fossil-fuel powered “drayage,” meaning the transportation of cargo containers from ships to rail yards. The Port of Los Angeles recently demonstrated an electric cargo truck that it has been developing; that truck, or something like it, is where we need to be going to meet the timeline and targets in the South Coast Air District’s plan.

Affordable housing without the stigma: it's all in the detail

2008-05-28T00:30:49Z

I know it may shock readers to learn this, but I am not a regular reader of the Financial Times. I do kind of like its flesh-colored visual tone, though, and my first-language reading options have been limited while in Germany and the Czech Republic.

All this is a rather indirect way of introducing the subject at hand (sorry, Ian), which is that the FT has run a very good story ("All in the detail: Thoughtfully designed affordable housing can help remedy social problems," by Mark Ellwood) on how good design can help make affordable housing fit into a neighborhood so that both its residents and neighbors regard it with more pride and care. Having grown up in an era when it seemed like any sort of subsidized housing was designed to be as dreary as possible, I love it that good people are putting thought into this subject and creating great projects.

This is part of what the HOPE VI program, which I cited in an earlier post, is about, of course. It is also a subject dear to my heart, since I was born into postwar public housing in Hickory, North Carolina, where I lived with my parents until they could afford something a little better some years down the line.

Ellwood's article in the FT cites a number of champions of the concept, including Brad Pitt, Habitat for Humanity, and especially Ray Gindroz, professor emeritus of architecture at Yale and new chair of CNU:

[Gindroz] started his firm during the civil rights movement and from the outset has focused on how social problems can be solved – or at least, eased – through architecture.
He believes any house that looks or feels like a low-cost afterthought will be treated that way by its residents. “Every neighbourhood in the world has a set of physical as well as social characteristics and our approach is to create dwellings which are consistent with their surroundings,” he explains.
One experience in particular helped Gindroz refine his design theories – a public housing do-over in Norfolk, Virginia. The city’s renovation budget had been approved and standard plans to replace windows and kitchens readied; then Ray was brought in to reimagine the project. “We met extensively with the residents and they identified the particular elements of a ‘regular neighbourhood’ – and they did call it that – which they didn’t have.”
For example, there were no chitchat-ready porches; the red brick everywhere was utilitarian and lacked finishing white trim; and without ornament of any kind, homes more resembled barracks than residences.
“They didn’t have fences to define the backyards and there was no way of protecting their front lawns from gangs that tramped over them. And the police chief told us the best security is a front garden with flowers in it: it’s a [psychological] signal to the drug gangs that this is not an easy place to do business,” Gindroz explains. “All that was needed was a little white fence at the corner of each garden.”
What’s more, when Gindroz and his team retro-fitted porches on to the Norfolk houses, they decided to use neo-classical columns made from wood instead of cheap industrial siding.
“It was to the absolute horror of the maintenance crews of the housing authority,” he chuckles. “But it turned out that they have been carefully maintained by the residents because they have become objects of pride, a touch that makes the area feel like ‘a regular neighbourhood’.”

Read the whole article here. You can also watch a short video of Ray talking about the importance of this issue, climate change, and other matters in which CNU plans to be engaged.

There are reasons that range beyond the environmental to support activities like these. This is about community, and building an inclusive society. But this is also environmental: We need cities to be strong, safe, and comfortable for all, in order to overcome the myriad environmental problems posed by unchecked sprawl. Affordable housing is a big part of the solution and must continue to be a big part of the smart growth agenda. We are quite literally all in this together. And I love it that thoughtful people like Ray Gindroz are on the job.

Big Coal Getting Lucky in Kentucky

2008-05-16T02:45:05Z

I had to reread this story to be sure it wasn't actually from The Onion. Taxpayer dollars going to spew propaganda to children about the wonders of coal and the benefits of MTR?

Unbelievable. Sadly, outrageously, this is totally true. Yet again the coal industry manages to surprise - but not shock - me.

What is shocking, however, is the lame excuse and shameless defense of this boondoggle by the very public servants who are charged with protecting the public interest.

Great work from Boston-based smart growth architects

2008-05-15T16:59:30Z

My friend David Dixon, and his Boston-based architecture firm, Goody Clancy, has been doing some fabulous smart growth work, and I’m here to give them a well-deserved pat on the back for it.

I mention this because I’m off to Boston myself to speak at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Architects. (I’m somewhat relieved, actually, that they didn’t strip my credentials after my blog post of a couple of weeks ago. But seeing as how I’m participating in a session with David, a real star in the AIA, I figure I’m safe.)

Let me cite just three examples of this firm’s great work:

To begin, it’s really exciting to come across a vision as well-conceived as Goody Clancy’s plan for transit-oriented development around stops on the proposed new Fairmount/Indigo rail line running south of Boston. The plan envisions four new stations serving low-income neighborhoods, dramatically increasing the corridor’s current level of public transportation service.

The result, if the authorities approve, will be a smart-growth corridor with urban villages clustered around the new stops, affordable housing in compact development at the stations, mixed-use development, better access to jobs along the route and in central Boston, and a green corridor with improved access to parks, playgrounds and the Neponset River. Goody Clancy also has advised neighborhood groups on working collaboratively with the local authority and on a strategic approach to obtaining funding from the state legislature.

The Fairmount/Indigo vision has won a Charter Award from CNU and an Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design from the AIA.

Second, the firm has developed a plan to guide development for the historic Blackstone River Valley in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. As part of a study of the Blackstone National Heritage Corridor, Goody Clancy developed a strategy that takes advantage of the Valley’s assets to tell the story of the birth of the American industrial revolution, to preserve and enhance Valley communities, to balance conservation and growth while promoting recovery of the river, and to stimulate new economic opportunity.

The Blackstone plan’s preparation involved a high degree of public participation to build political support among twenty communities and two states. Background work included identifying the natural features and landscape values of the corridor, recommending strategies for their protection, restoration, and management, and providing a framework for local and regional decisions in land use planning and development.

Finally, and moving out of New England and into the Midwest, Goody Clancy developed a revised master plan for Riverview, a mixed-income, mixed-use HOPE VI development in Cleveland. HOPE VI is a terrific (if chronically underfunded) federal program that provides assistance for for replacing stressed below-market housing with new designs that are integrated into their communities rather than isolated from them as much affordable housing has been in this country. In the case of Riverview, the money was available, but community opposition and feasibility issues related to earlier redevelopment proposals had blocked the housing authority from using its HOPE VI grant. The continued presence of 501 units of low-income elderly housing on the site also overwhelmed efforts to create a true, mixed-income community.

Early in the process, Goody Clancy led an intensive multi-day charrette to formulate a new vision, which drew representatives from federal and local government, current and past public housing residents, local neighborhood residents, open space and park advocates, a local community development corporation, and developers. This charrette initiated an extensive community outreach program that included public meetings, an advisory committee, and regular newsletters. The ultimate result was widespread support for the new plan from the surrounding communities and public housing residents.

The Riverview master plan, now in implementation, provides for the development of 573 units of mixed-income housing and retail on a twenty-acre site with substantial riverfront park space. The plan won another Charter Award from CNU and an urban design award from the Boston Society of Architects.

More on Goody Clancy’s planning and urban design work on their website. If I’m going to be on a panel with these guys, my presentation had better be good. Back to work on it.

BP Could Learn A Lot from James Brown

2008-05-06T23:42:15Z

James Brown famously exclaimed “Give the drummer some…”

BP could learn a lot from the late, great, Godfather of Soul.

Last week was a very good one for the British oil giant. Tuesday, BP announced that they had brought in a jaw-dropping $6.59 BILLION profit in the last three months (that is more than many countries’ annual GDP).

And Thursday, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) surprised everyone by awarding BP an air pollution permit for expansion of its refinery in Whiting, IN. The fact that the permit was awarded was not the surprise---how could an agency charged with improving Hoosier’s household income stand in the way of a big project, no matter how dangerous or dirty? Instead, the move was shocking due to the speed of turning around the woefully inadequate permit, as well as IDEM’s willingness to completely ignore the significant concerns expressed by NRDC and a veritable cornucopia of other environmental and community groups. Ann Alexander, the lead attorney on the challenge likened it to “drive by permitting.”

The air permit gives BP the green light to move forward on an expansion project to make the already dirty refinery into the nation’s biggest tar sands oil processor. That’s right; one of the dirtiest facilities in the country has gotten permission to get dirtier. And they are spending billions of dollars to process the dirtiest oil around, spewing all the climate changing and disease-causing pollutants that come with it. More arsenic, lead, sulfur, and CO2 for everyone in densely packed northwest Indiana (and just 20 miles from Chicago).

What does that have to do with the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business?” Brown and his backing bands crisscrossed America putting on the same legendary high-energy live shows everywhere they stopped. He was always at the center of the show, but Soul Brother #1 knew that he needed to take care of his supporting cast, the audience, and everyone who made it all happen. Everyone in the band needed a little time in the spotlight…even the drummer, who always seems to be ignored and overlooked.

BP should follow that lead---take care of everyone impacted by the refinery. You’d think that being flush with cash would allow BP to invest in the best possible facilities to protect the folks living closest to the expanded refinery. “Can’t the drummer have some?”

But the Whiting Refinery still falls short of existing Clean Air Act regulations. The 100+ year old facility is behind similar facilities in the Bay area of California where simple structural improvements and best practices are being employed to minimize the impact on the surrounding populations and environment. Why do the people of San Francisco deserve stronger protections than the folks in Gary, Indiana?

In NRDC’s challenge to BP’s air permit a number of simple changes were suggested to prevent flaring---the use of those big torches that burn off excess gases and kick out massive volumes of pollution in the process. Looking out for the communities around the refinery is largely an issue of using good engineering design and practices to avoid unnecessary flaring. Adequate compressor capacity and backup compressors are essential to minimize flaring, and not very expensive to add. But BP chooses not to make the investment. Same goes for recycling some of the gases produced in the refinery, rather than simply sending them out the smokestack. No interest from BP. In fact, NRDC suggested an assortment of processes, work practices, and analyses that seem natural for an efficient business...but when you make a boatload of cash, I guess that sort of thing seems less important...

Instead of using those billions of dollars to protect communities like Chesterton, Hobart, Hammond, and Chicago’s south side, BP pushes for permit requirements that the cash-starved state government all too willingly applies. That leaves some of America’s hardest-working families paying for those profits with their health. As JB would say, the deal is “Super Bad.”

Five more green apples for NYC

2008-05-01T17:00:12Z

Last week my longtime NRDC colleague Eric Goldstein posted a blog entry highlighting five laudable environmental sites (green apples) and five awful ones (bad apples). Eric got it right as usual. I am particularly a fan of his because, like me, he loves cities and, besides, he is one of a very small handful of people who were already on the NRDC staff when I first joined 27 (!) years ago.

One of Eric’s green apples is the Queens Botanical Garden Visitor Center, which I mentioned here in my last post as one of the AIA’s “ten greenest” award winners for 2008. It’s one of the good ones, by the way.

But in this post I’d like to offer a slightly (though not entirely) different perspective and cite some additional examples that I think New Yorkers may too easily take for granted as part of their environmental bounty:

Walkable neighborhoods

A lot of places don’t have them at all. New York has them in abundance, from Brooklyn Heights to the Upper West Side to Rockefeller Center to the most celebrated of them all, Greenwich Village, not counting the hundreds I either don't know or don't have space to mention. Living in a “24-hour” environment where jobs, homes, shops, schools, and other everyday conveniences are so close at hand saves time, promotes public health by encouraging walking, reduces carbon and other emissions that would otherwise come from driving, and fosters a sense of community. New York is one of the most walkable cities in the world. Take note of the fact that most Americans have to drive 20+ miles per day just to accomplish the tasks of normal living, and celebrate the difference in New York.

Awesome affordable green development

Two such walkable neighborhoods being constructed near each other in the South Bronx deserve special mention. (Others, too, I’m sure, but these are the two I’m most familiar with.) First, pictured on the left, is Melrose Commons. The pictured bit of green housing is part of a redevelopment plan constructed by the community residents themselves -- approximately 6,000 people, primarily of African American and Latino descent, with a median family income of less than $12,000 a year. Troubled by an initial proposal that would have squeezed many of them out, they organized and took control of the situation, working to promote development that “would be sustainable, would complement the existing infrastructure and the regional location, and would provide for future growth and evolution.”

Today, the plan includes: 2000 diverse housing units that are using green technology, preserving the historical richness of the community, and providing affordable options for residents of different ages and incomes; community open space that is visible from the sidewalk and linked to schools and community gardens; "greening" of industrial areas with recreational space development; business development that will employ community members in such enterprises as an after school center, health care services and recycling projects. They are also developing a town center for education and cultural uses, including the return to community use of a former YWCA building. Melrose Commons is participating in the LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot project, and they sure look deserving to me.

Second, in the same area of the Bronx, is Via Verde, an award-winning project designed to serve a mix of incomes through a variety of unit types, including rental, co-op, and live/work town homes. Via Verde’s form is inspired by the integration of garden and city: the connected rooftops of low-rise town homes, a mid-rise duplex building, and an 18-story tower will be used to harvest rainwater, grow fruits and vegetables, to exercise, and to relax. Additional biophilic elements connecting people to nature will include private backyard gardens, semi-private courtyards, and public learning and gardening space to provide a range of outdoor experiences.

The project, being developed by a partnership that includes my sustainability brother-in-arms, Jonathan Rose, is being designed to exceed LEED Gold standards for environmentally responsible and energy efficient design. Passive, low-tech strategies include cross ventilation in all apartments, solar shading, and aforementioned green roofs to provide insulation and control storm water. The project also incorporates high-efficiency mechanical systems, energy-conserving appliances, and renewable energy strategies, including solar voltaic canopies. In addition, smart material choices, including non-toxic paints and rapidly renewable wood products, will improve the air quality for residents and conserve natural resources. Where were these projects on the AIA’s “ten greenest” list?

Bryant Park

I really hope New Yorkers don’t take this one for granted. A shameful embarrassment in the heart of Midtown for much of the last century, this is now a treasure. To say it had fallen into hard times is an understatement. As one observer put it, “the grim joke among New Yorkers was that the police only went into the park after someone was murdered to identify the victim.” In the late 1980s, though, the welfare of the park was handed to a private entity, the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation. After a massive effort, today the eight-acre urban oasis hosts a football-field-sized lawn, twin promenades featuring the same species of trees as the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, six flower beds planted seasonally with 100 species of woody shrubs and herbaceous perennials and 20,000 bulbs, a carousel, a boule board, chess tables, the Bryant Park Grill, free wireless access, and 2,000 moveable chairs for pausing to take in the sights. It is an astounding success and is enjoyed by thousands of visitors every day.

World-class public transportation

This one is a no-brainer. New Yorkers can not only walk, they can ride. New York’s subway system is used by over 600,000 riders per day. It is one of the most extensive public transportation systems in the world, with 468 passenger stations, 656 miles of “revenue track,” and a total of 842 miles, including non-revenue track, according to Wikipedia. The subway is also notable for being among the few rapid transit systems in the world to run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This, of course, is in addition to the extensive regional rail service, and more buses and bus lines than one can count. In most US communities, the share of trips taken by public transportation is under three percent. Think about it.

Really small environmental footprint

Yes, you read that heading correctly. All this adds up to what is unquestionably the most resource-efficient and low-polluting city in the country, when those measures are considered on a per capita basis. As David Owen wrote in his thoughtful article “Green Manhattan,” originally published in the New Yorker, “if you made all eight million New Yorkers live at the density of my town, they would require a space equivalent to the land area of the six New England states plus Delaware and New Jersey.” (No word on where the current residents of New England, Delaware, and New Jersey might go.) Metropolitan Phoenix, which has a population roughly twice that of Manhattan, occupies more than 200 times as much land.

Owens continues, “eighty-two per cent of Manhattan residents travel to work by public transit, by bicycle, or on foot. That’s ten times the rate for Americans in general, and eight times the rate for residents of Los Angeles County. New York City is more populous than all but eleven states; if it were granted statehood, it would rank fifty-first in per-capita energy use.”

So what’s my point, anyway?

New York certainly has its share of problems, environmental and otherwise. I am extremely glad that some of my colleagues, including Eric, are working on them and solving them. But it also has some amazing environmental qualities, particularly for the US, that are not just particular spots like Queens Botanical Garden or Bryant Park, but systems producing environmental benefits. We don’t think to single them out because they are such an inherent part of the city’s fabric. But they deserve some apples, too. Don’t take them for granted, New Yorkers.

Green Apples and Bad Apples: 10 environmental sites in New York City

2008-04-21T23:20:44Z

For those of use who can remember it, Earth Day 1970 in New York was every much as watershed an event here as it was elsewhere in the country. Thirty-eight years ago this week, tens of thousands of New Yorkers poured onto the streets of Manhattan to demand clean air, safe water and environmental protection in every sphere of city life.

To mark the anniversary we are releasing NRDC’s second New York City Green Apples, Bad Apples report. In it my colleague and co-author Ari Kahn and I list some of the city’s best environmental places and also some of its most environmentally worrisome locations, specifically those that have “ripened” over the past 12 months.

These five “Green Apples” – our environmental bright spots – and five “Bad Apples” – the environmental trouble spots are located throughout the city’s five boroughs. Thanks to the magic of our web department there is also an accompanying interactive map with the spots highlighted.

Now without further ado, here is NRDC’s New York Urban Program 2008 Earth Day picks for New York City:

NRDC’S NEW YORK CITY GREEN APPLES, Earth Day 2008

NORTH MOUNT LORETTO WOODS (Staten Island)

In the nation’s most densely populated city, open space is always at a premium. And even Staten Island, the least populated of the city’s five boroughs, has experienced a surge of development pressure in recent years. So when a significant open space acquisition is made, it is just cause for celebration.

Such is the case with respect to North Mount Loretto – a 75 acre parcel of woods, wetlands and wildlife on Staten Island’s south shore. Last November, the New York archdiocese sold this 75 acre parcel to the State Department of Environmental Conservation, by way of the Trust for Public Land. The new acquisition, north of Hyland Blvd, becomes a valued companion to the 194 acre parcel south of Hyland Blvd., which had previously been set aside for protection. The original parcel contains mature woodlands, natural springs and a mile of uninterrupted coastline overlooking Raritan Bay.

In addition to public recreation and other uses, the new acquisition will serve as a preserve for osprey, migrant birds, raccoons and possums. And it apparently represents the single largest land protection measure in New York City over the past year.

Funds for the purchase were provided by the Port Authority of New York, through its Hudson-Raritan Estuary Resources Program. And, recognizing the role of the Roman Catholic diocese in both the protection of the original property and in facilitating this new acquisition, the lighthouse on the original shorefront property has been renamed in honor of John Cardinal O’Connor.

Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, the tenacious guardians of Staten Island’s natural resources, have long sought to safeguard these parcels from development and have rejoiced at the new acquisition. We agree, and are pleased to designate North Mount Loretto Woods one of our Green Apples for Earth Day 2008.

PUBLIC SCHOOL 154 (Brooklyn)

It’s not easy to identify the most environmentally friendly public school in New York City. But based upon the activities that have taken place there over the past year, P.S. 154 in the Windsor Terrace section of Brooklyn would likely appear on the official list of finalists.

This spring, P.S. 154 became New York’s first public school to abandon environmentally burdensome, single-use polystyrene lunch trays. Polystyrene, also known as Styrofoam, is a petroleum-based product (used among other things to manufacture the ubiquitous white coffee cup) whose familiar bulk can remain intact for thousands of years before decomposing. Polystyrene also takes up a disproportionate amount of space in the nation’s landfills, is not commercially recyclable and when disposed of on land or water can become a hazard if swallowed by birds and marine mammals. According to New York City Councilmember Bill de Blasio, the City’s Department of Education utilizes more than 850,000 polystyrene trays in school lunchrooms everyday. De Blasio has introduced legislation that would ban restaurants, delis and other food establishments from using polystyrene take-out containers and prohibit city agencies from using polystyrene products completely.

Parents at Brooklyn’s P.S. 154 have grown tired of waiting for the Department of Education to come up with a more environmentally friendly product to use for serving their children’s lunches. So, earlier this year, they announced that, with support from local businesses, they had found an environmentally preferable substitute for polystyrene trays at the school. Beginning in the fall, lunch at P.S. 154 will be served on trays made from bagasse, a natural, nontoxic and biodegradable material made out of discarded sugar cane stalks, which quickly decomposes in landfills.

The switch from polystyrene trays is not the only green thing happening at P.S. 154, whose formal name is the Museum Alliance for Science and Technology Magnet School. In the fall, the school’s new playground and outdoor science lab will be completed. The playground is being built from recycled material and the science lab will have a windmill and solar powered water fountain, according to Gina de la Chesnaye, one of the parents responsible for getting the new food trays into the school. Parent volunteers will also be working with students to run a composting program for the new food trays and they expect to divert 3500 pounds of waste away from landfills every year. These and other environmental programs are moving ahead with the support and encouragement of P.S. 154’s Principal, Sam Ortiz.

In recognition of its leadership on the polystyrene campaign and for its other ecological advances (and with the hope that other schools will join the friendly competition to become New York City’s greenest public school), we are pleased to recognize P.S. 154 with an Earth Day 2008 Green Apple.

QUEENS BOTANICAL GARDEN’S VISITOR CENTER

Global climate change is the number one environmental issue facing the nation and indeed the planet. In New York, energy used in buildings is the single largest generator of global warming gases, accounting for more than three-quarters of total emissions. As a result, one of the most effective steps we can take to combat climate change in New York is to reduce the carbon footprint of new construction.

In 2005, the New York City Council passed and Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed Local Law 86. It requires that new construction and renovation of city-owned and city-funded buildings meet ambitious standards for energy-conservation and green design. And it directs that all new city construction meet green building standards, as certified by the U.S. Green Buildings Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

The new visitor center at the Queens Botanical Garden, which officially opened this past September, is perhaps New York City’s greenest public building and a showcase for the environmental, energy-saving and architectural benefits of green construction. The building contains an auditorium, reception and gallery spaces, meeting rooms and offices. And it is a model of efficiency: it gets 17% of its energy from rooftop solar panels, it heats its water using geothermal power and has an 8,000 square foot green roof that is performing beyond expectations. According to Jennifer Souder, the Garden’s Director of Capital Projects, preliminary tests from last summer measured the building’s green roof temperature at 82 degrees, while nearby white and black tar roofs were cooking at 115 and 170 degrees respectively. Expect significant energy savings and a reduction in the “urban heat island” effect to result from this facility.

The new Visitor Center’s other green features are also impressive. Stormwater is captured, filtered through grasslands and then used to supply the garden’s decorative fountains and to water its numerous plants and greenery. To date, the system has completely contained stormwater runoff on site, even during the heaviest downpours – lessening the load on the city’s already over-taxed combined sewer system. Meanwhile, grey water from showers used by staff is captured, filtered and then used in the building’s toilets. For these and other reasons, the building is in line to receive a LEED platinum certification When it does, it will be one of the first entire buildings in New York City, and potentially the first outside of Manhattan, to achieve this coveted classification.

The state-of-the-art visitor center could become a new source of pride to Queens’ diverse population. Of equal importance, it can serve as a stellar example of how green building techniques can today be employed to reduce environmental burdens and long-term operating costs of new and renovated construction in New York. It is with pleasure that we designate the Queens Botanical Garden’s new Visitor Center as an Earth Day 2008 Green Apple.

STREET TREES (Bronx and citywide)

The commitment to plant 1 million new trees in New York City by 2017 may be the most visible and one of the most important environmental legacies of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The program, originally announced by the Mayor on Earth Day 2007, is one of more than 100 environmental strategies described in the Mayor’s forward-looking sustainability plan, called PlaNYC.

Trees are true friends of the city’s environment. They absorb storm water and help limit the overflow of sewers into our rivers. They cool our neighborhoods in the summer, reducing energy demand and air pollution from dirty auxiliary power plants that operate on the hottest days of the year. And they absorb CO2. Perhaps best of all, they beautify neighborhoods and make our city more livable. Imagine what New York City would be like without the 5 million trees we have in our parks and on our streets today.

But New York City is a tough town for trees. One out of ten street trees die within the first two years of being planted. And even stately, mature and healthy trees face threats such as lack of water, damage from motor vehicles and even intentional destruction.

The City Parks Department, in cooperation with Bette Midler’s New York Tree Restoration Project is attempted to fulfill the Mayor’s ambitious goals, with help from the public. The Department reports that almost 55,000 trees have been planted over the past twelve months -- many in neighborhoods like Morrisania and the Hunts Point section of the Bronx, where the need for street trees are great. Sustainable South Bronx has been one of the dedicated local groups assisting in this tree planting effort. In Hunts Point for example, the group has worked with community volunteers to identify new planting sites and to recruit volunteers to tend to the trees once they have taken root.

To Morrisania and Hunts Point neighborhoods which have advanced an initial round of street tree planting, and which deserve continued attention on this front, we designate an Earth Day 2008 Green Apple.

WEST HARLEM WATERFRONT PARK (Manhattan)

New York City’s Hudson River waterfront is experiencing a renaissance. The creation of the Hudson River Park in 1998 began the transformation from the Battery to 59th Street. Access to the river has expanded, creating new places for New Yorkers to jog, bike, sunbathe and even launch kayaks into the river. And this waterfront revitalization has coincided with a cleaner Hudson River, with levels of traditional water pollutants having declined considerably over the last two decades.

Now, at long last, eagerly-awaited change is coming to northern Manhattan’s waterfront as well. This summer, the West Harlem Waterfront Park will officially open. A four block long esplanade will stretch between St. Clair Place and West 133rd Street, replacing an asphalt parking lot with lawns, play areas and woodsy gathering spots overlooking the Hudson. Two new piers will allow for kayaking, fishing and water taxi service. The Science Barge – an exploratory museum for children of all ages – will be docked at the new park this summer. And the park’s completion will allow for bicycle and pedestrian paths to connect with riverfront greenways to the south and north.

The new park fulfills the joint vision of West Harlem Environmental Action’s executive director Peggy Shepard and Community Board 9 leaders who worked with public officials for more than a decade. They helped convince the New York City Economic Development Corporation to jettison earlier development plans and to advance instead an innovative “community vision” for the site. New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe told the New York Times that the new park will complete “the big missing link in the Hudson River greenway.”

And northern Manhattan community activists aren’t finished yet. In late 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked WE ACT to organize a broad-based community planning process to identify possible uses for the now closed Sanitation Department Marine Transfer Station, which is adjacent to the new park.

Responsible elected officials, community organizations and agency planners deserve a pat on the back for their commitment and determination to return this section of the waterfront to the West Harlem community. We designate, with pleasure, the new Hudson River Waterfront Park as an Earth Day 2008 Green Apple.

NRDC`S NEW YORK CITY BAD APPLES, Earth Day 2008

ENERGY-WASTING RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS WITH OPEN DOORS IN SUMMER (Manhattan and citywide)

America will never slow the rate of global warming if we don’t find ways to burn less fossil fuel. And we’ll never be able to reduce fossil fuel usage if we continue to pursue profligate energy-wasting activities. Unfortunately, some New Yorkers still don’t understand these basic facts or are choosing to ignore the long-range impacts of their actions.

While there are many energy-wasting examples to choose from, one particularly wasteful activity is the practice of certain retail establishments that set their air conditioning systems on “cold” and leave their front doors open wide during hot summer months. (The purpose of this practice is presumably to entice additional customers into the store by sending a frigid blast of air onto the sidewalk.)

Whatever benefits it may have as a customer lure, this practice has significant adverse energy and air pollution impacts. According to the Long Island Power Authority, retailers increase their electricity consumption by 20% to 25% when they leave their doors open. And increasing power demand on the hottest summer days also leads to increased air pollution, as the auxiliary back-up power supplies are called upon to meet peak demands. Unnecessarily boosting summer peak power demands can even make occasional brown-outs more likely. In short, this is a practice that places personal business considerations over societal needs.

City Councilwoman Gale Brewer has introduced legislation that would prohibit commercial establishments from leaving doors open while air conditioners are blasting. We hope the Council holds hearings on this concept in coming months.

We have not singled out a particular retailer for engaging in this conduct. In this regard, we have most frequently noticed this energy-wasting practice as we pass in front of high-end fashion clothing stores on popular shopping streets in Manhattan and across the city. So we designate the high-end retail establishments whose managers keep their doors open in summer, while their air conditioners pour cold air into the streets, as Earth Day 2008 Bad Apples.

METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY’S RECYCLING OFFICE (Manhattan)

New York City’s world-renowned subway system has 468 stations and not a single one is equipped with separate bins to collect newspapers, bottles and cans for recycling. Nineteen years after the New York City Council passed its landmark mandatory recycling law -- mandating that New Yorkers separate trash for recycling as a means of conserving natural resources and reducing pollution -- the New York City transit system still refuses to get on board with a recycling program that allows for riders to participate. The failure of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”), the subway system’s corporate parent to provide bins for riders to recycle is especially disappointing because newspapers and magazines are by far the largest single component of the transit waste stream, are relatively easy to riders to sort and have economic value as recycled materials.

To be sure, as MTA officials note, workers do perform “post-collection separation” -- picking through the station trash, after collection, to cull out recyclables. But such a process, where recyclables are first mixed in with food waste and other trash by the public before being separated, inevitably leads to higher levels of contaminated recyclables. And this post-collection recycling effort, by failing to provide station receptacles for papers and for bottles and cans, sends a confusing message to New Yorkers about what their role should be in participating in the city’s recycling program.

In contrast, other leading transit systems throughout North America provide their riders with accessible and convenient opportunities to recycle. Transit systems in seven other cities surveyed by NRDC earlier this year, including Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, Montreal and San Francisco, all have recycling containers available in stations for their riding public. And Toronto, which may have the most ambitious recycling program, first tried post-collection separation, but later switched to separate bins that accept containers and paper in all of its 69 stations. And they reportedly did so with no increase in overall disposal costs. Ironically, the MTA has long provided large paper recycling bins at Grand Central Terminal for Metro-North riders. That program continues to be both an environmental and economic success.

It pains us to give a Bad Apple designation to the MTA, whose transit system is so critical to the region’s mobility and so responsible for its low per capita energy consumption. (Indeed, just last week, Governor David Patterson and the MTA announced new sustainability initiatives intended to, among other things, further reduce the transit system’s carbon footprint.)

But for nearly two decades, the MTA has stymied efforts to cooperate in building public participation in New York City’s cornerstone recycling program. For this shortcoming, the MTA office responsible for its solid waste program has earned our Earth Day 2008 Bad Apple designation.

NEW YORK ORGANIC FERTILIZER COMPANY AND NYC’S HUNTS POINT WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT (Bronx)

The South Bronx has for decades received more than its fair share on environmental burdens. Highways have torn through neighborhoods. Motor vehicle pollution has violated air quality standards and exacerbated childhood asthma. Waterfront access and open space have been hard to come by. While progress has certainly been made thanks to sustained community advocacy and work by local elected officials, problems of environmental justice persist.

A major ongoing challenge to many South Bronx residents are the noxious odors that waft into portions of the Hunts Point community from two sewage-related facilities -- the city-owned and operated Hunts Point Water Pollution Control Plant and the privately owned, city-contracted New York Organic Fertilizer Company. Despite their innocent-sounding names, these two facilities are responsible for years of air pollution, according to Mothers on the Move, a local social justice organization that has been among the neighborhood groups shining a spotlight on the problems.

The New York Organic Fertilizer Company has a contract with the city to treat several hundred tons a day of sludge from city sewage plants and, at its South Bronx facility, to dry the sludge and turn it into “pellets” for eventual use as fertilizer. The plant has been in operation since 1992. Yet despite efforts by the company and government officials to remediate the problem, the stench is continuing, local residents say.

To make matters worse, the City’s giant Hunts Point Wastewater Treatment Plant is located only blocks away. This plant treats raw sewage from portions of the Bronx (and from Rikers and City Island), before discharging it into surrounding waters. Although it is not operating at capacity (200 million gallons a day), the Hunts Point plant is contributing to air quality problems that continue to make life unpleasant and at times unbearable for many of its neighbors. Moreover, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which operates the plant, has an expansion in the works. It hopes to site four, 13-story egg-shaped digesters (that break down sewage sludge) near the plant where they would impinge on the tiny oasis of Barretto Point Park.

Despite mock funerals, stockholder protests, and periodic objections from such local officials as Congressman Jose Serrano and City Councilwoman Maria de Carmen Arroyo, the foul smells from these sewage facilities continue, neighbors say, and seem likely to make for another unpleasant summer in Hunts Point. The New York Organic Fertilizer Company and the Hunts Point Wastewater Treatment Plant accordingly are due an Earth Day 2008 Bad Apple designation.

RIDGEWOOD RESERVOIR’S URBAN FOREST (Queens)

Environment scientist and author John Waldman calls the pond at Ridgewood “one of the wildest places in all of New York City.” More than 120 species of birds, including seven that are endangered, have been spotted flitting about its unusual urban forest. And according to a study completed for the City’s Parks Department, the area is “highly significant for the biodiversity of New York City and the region.”

Nevertheless, the 50 acre site that was once home to the Ridgewood Reservoir, on the border of Brooklyn and Queens, is itself endangered as a result of proposed action by the city to have at least a portion of the location “developed as a public park.”

The focus of this dispute is the old Ridgewood Reservoir, which served as a primary source of drinking water for Brooklyn residents in the mid and late 1800s, and into the 20th century. As reliance on the city’s Catskill and Delaware system grew in the 1900s, reliance on the Ridgewood Reservoir (and the other Brooklyn Water Works reservoirs that stretched into southern Nassau County) declined. The Ridgewood Reservoir was last used in regular service in 1959, and the entire complex was transferred to the City Department of Parks & Recreation in 2004.

The controversy began shortly thereafter, as the Parks Department envisioned turning much of the acreage over to active recreational uses such as bike paths and artificial-turf ball fields. But the Reservoir’s water storage basins, empty for decades, now provide a unique area for observing the process of urban reforestation. And the dense forest that now covers much of the terrain is viewed by nature guardians like Rob Jett and the Ridgewood Reservoir Education and Preservation Project as an irreplaceable nature preserve than is inappropriate for other uses -- even for sports fields, bike paths and other active recreational activities.

Last fall, threats to the reservoir’s forests became more urgent, with a proposal by the Parks Department to clear at least 20 acres of land and advance a $46 million active recreation plan at the site. Advocates for preserving the reservoir land for nature and urban environmental education have suggested instead that the Parks Department fix up the adjacent Highland Park, which they note is already set up for active recreation and is in need of an infusion of Parks Department capital funding.

For not yet heeding the call to preserve this unique natural setting in the heart of New York City (but with the understanding that it is not too late for a change of course), we award the Parks Department plans to develop the Ridgewood Reservoir landscape with an Earth Day 2008 Bad Apple designation.

UNDEVELOPED FORMER-NASCAR SITE (Staten Island)

It is the largest undeveloped site in the City of New York. At 676 acres, it is four-fifths the size of Central Park. And the use to which it is ultimately put could have important consequences for the urban environment.

The parcel in question is on Staten Island’s west shore, in the community of Bloomfield, overlooking the Goethals Bridge. And it already has a controversial past. The site was assembled by officials of the International Speedway Corp, which had hoped to build an 82,500 seat NASCAR racetrack there. But fears of traffic congestion and widespread political opposition led the owners to withdraw that proposal. Then, a plan to sell the site to one of the nation’s largest developers of distribution warehouses fell through last year. Today, the property is again up for sale. And many elected officials from the borough are now hoping that the Port Authority will consider acquiring the site for some maritime-related use.

How this property is developed is likely to have significant environmental impacts for Staten Island. First, there is the question of traffic -- will this industrial site and the surrounding highway network be able to hand hundreds or even thousands of additional truck trips a day that could result from some possible uses? And what air quality impacts would likely result from such traffic patterns?

There are also concerns regarding contaminated fill, which was apparently placed on the property several years ago, in anticipation of race track construction, and which has been the subject of a State Department of Environmental Conservation enforcement proceeding. (The site itself was a former oil tank farm, so whatever its final use, the environmental clean-up will have to be conducted with utmost care.) Finally, at water’s edge, the property has ecologically important tidal wetlands – they too deserve protection and must be taken into consideration as final plans are developed.

Of course, future land use decisions for this site will not be made solely on the basis of conservation and pollution concerns. Yet the earlier proposal by Councilmember Michael McMahon, which would have set aside land for a “clean technology” operation, safeguarded critical wetlands and even included some recreational facilities, retains some appeal. Regardless of whatever development decisions are ultimately made in 2008 and beyond, it is essential that our elected officials pay serious attention to the environmental sensitivities of this site and the surrounding communities. Until such assurances are provided, we are designating the former NASCAR site as an Earth Day 2008 Bad Apple.

(Many thanks to: Miquela Craytor, Gina de la Chesnaye, Susan Donogue and Morgan Monaco, Justin Green, Jennifer Greenfeld, Hilel Lofaso, Eva Lowendowsky, Kunal Malhotra, Principal Sam Ortiz, Ellen Pratt, Philip Silva, Jennifer Ward Souder, James Subudhi, Jendi Tarde, Laura Tickler, Russell Unger, and Jean Weinberg for their help in preparing this report.)