The truth about Cleveland

Posted on Jun 18, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Susie Collins

Cleveland goes green, NOT.

I received a cheerful email the other day that I though I’d share with you:

Hey, how are you? I’m working on behalf of Positively Cleveland and we’re reaching out to share some eco-friendly information about Cleveland, Ohio with travelers and residents. Forty years ago the Cuyahoga River caught on fire due to heavy pollution, but Cleveland has since turned this unfortunate incident into an opportunity by striving to make itself of the nation’s greenest cities. After decades of hard work, Cleveland has grown to become a “green city on a blue lake.” You may view a copy of our social media release by visiting http://pitch.pe/14671.

As we near the 40th anniversary of the river fire, Positively Cleveland has compiled a list of 75 “green” reasons to love Cleveland! You can find the list here: http://www.positivelycleveland.com/h2ohio

We’d love for you to share this information with your blog readers! Please let me know if I can answer any questions you may have and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks,
Paul Graham
American Pop Digital

I’m more than happy to share this info with my readers, but all I really know about Cleveland is what my blogger buddy Lou Cheese over at Living w/ Multiple Chemical Sensitivity has written. Lou used to live in Cleveland, and if I’m not mistaken, the header description on his blog when he lived there was that “Cleveland sucks big sweaty donkey balls…don’t move here if you don’t have to…”

Since Lou is suffering a myriad of co-morbid illnesses including Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, co-morbid Fibromyalgia, co-morbid Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Reactive Airway Disorder, I thought no one better than Lou to tell us the truth about Cleveland.

So I ran Paul Graham’s chipper little email by Lou to see what he had to say. Here’s his response:

Well, I can’t fault them for trying. But the Cuyahoga River didn’t catch fire just once, it caught fire nearly ten different times. The last time itself wasn’t an awakening for the people of Cleveland, it was an embarrassment. It just so happened some guys from Time magazine were there and wrote and article about it that the rest of the country then read.

Cleveland, perhaps more than any other major American city, traded it’s environment and well being for economic commerce (the problem is, of course, the commerce is gone but the pollution has stayed). Pollution of any type was seen as progress and job security. If a company was polluting it was because they were making something and providing jobs.

To this day, the city and it’s suburbs are covered in poisonous toxic soot from ArcelorMittal, one of the town’s big employers, and yet on the public airwaves anytime regulation is mentioned the lunatic fringe starts screaming about lost jobs. The TV newscasters deliberately call the infamous cloud of industrial pollution and smog that blankets the city “haze,” to give it a more innocuous meaning.

And this has gone on for generations. Cleveland is filled with toxic dump sites because just about any large manufacturing organization could simply do what they pleased with their trash. Even the dangerous stuff. Coal powered ships all over Lake Erie dumped their coal ash into the lake, and SOME STILL DO.

I honestly wish those guys the best, but if they think Cleveland is anywhere close to becoming anything near what could be considered a green city they must be absolutely delusional. The only bike path in city limits runs directly behind a shopping mall (and nowhere else), is fenced in on both sides, and is right next door to the town’s biggest polluter, ArcelorMittal.

Cleveland’s AQI has been pretty good since the economic slump because a lot of the industry has shut down. I’d like to think that perhaps people will notice the clean air and make some changes, but if something as biblical as a river catching on fire 9 times isn’t obvious to them, then a year of clean air won’t make a difference either. As soon as things pick up, that city will be playing the same old tune…..

And that’s straight from the canary.

Oh, here’s a great video on Cleveland that I snitched from Lou’s blog. Also, don’t miss Lou’s recent post Never Forget: Cleveland Sucks.

Thanks, Lou!

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Environment, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Stink, Toxic

7 Responses to “The truth about Cleveland”

linda

19. Jun, 2009

Thanks for the laughs…

Reply to this comment
linda

19. Jun, 2009

More seriously, I decided to skim over their 75 reasons, and while some of them do sound great (progress can be slow) a few others caught my eye:

5. Green uniforms and white gloves… uniforms made from recycled polyester fibers spun from plastic beverage bottles.

NOT GREEN! Pop bottles were not designed to be recycled into textiles and will leach out antimony and other toxic chemicals into dust and your body. NOT GREEN (unless you’re talking about the color)

40. Breathe easy. Restaurants in Cleveland (and all of Ohio) are 100% smoke free.

BUT, are they fragrance free? Fragrances contain just as many if not more harmful chemicals as tobacco smoke, and include chemicals that target all areas of the body, including the brain, endocrine and central nervous systems.

70. A good, clean burn. Lubrizol incinerates alcohol and petroleum runoff from chemical batches producing steam that provides 25% of the plant’s steam needs.

??? HUH ???
Chemicals and petroleum do not burn clean!!! Ever.

Reply to this comment
Susie Collins

19. Jun, 2009

Linda, I get your point about progress being slow, but most of that list is greenwashing in my opinion. Unless they start looking at changing policy in regards to pollution sources, including upholding existing federal clean water and air law, the city will continue to suffer the effects of industrial pollution.

Nowhere on the list does it say that they intend to hold industrial businesses accountable for their toxic waste. Working on the city’s carbon footprint is lacking, in my opinion, if they do not include a component of public health.

The only item on that list of 75 that comes close to the point is #66, but then look at what they are planning on doing with sludge, shown to be very problematic:

66. Keeping up with the Plusquellics. Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic announced plans to create a new “Greenprint for Akron,” a long-term plan to help Akron reduce its carbon footprint. Practices already in place include recycling of asphalt and oil, conservation of energy in city-owned buildings, securing regional water supply safety, conservation and easements to protect natural resources, brownfield remediation, urban landscaping and sludge-to-fuel. (Biogas technology has wide use and acceptance in Europe, but Akron will be home to the first such operation in the United States. Akron’s Wastewater Treatment Plant has for many years taken sludge and turned it into Class A-rated compost that is then applied as a soil nutrient. Now the plant is working with a private company to begin using some of the solid waste to produce energy to help operate the facility.)

To view the whole list directly see http://www.positivelycleveland.com/h2ohio_green

Reply to this comment
linda

19. Jun, 2009

“Akron’s Wastewater Treatment Plant has for many years taken sludge and turned it into Class A-rated compost that is then applied as a soil nutrient.”

AAACK! NOT GREEN! Very BAD for people AND the environment.

But can we give someone at least a little bit of credit for doing something instead of just sitting back and doing nothing because things are so bad? Not on the bicycle path, that is just plain pitiful. And not that it’s anywhere near enough unless the steps you mention are also undertaken, but hey, someone is trying to do something. The problem there is that they are trying to make it sound like the little somethings are a big something, which like you said, is a big greenwash.

Reply to this comment
Susie Collins

19. Jun, 2009

Well, ok, I’ll give them a little credit. BUT… we’ll only know they are really serious about being green when we see action to stop their active pollution sources.

Reply to this comment
Bobby

20. Jun, 2009

Wait a minute! Let’s start with basics. Isn’t their water fluoridated? Can’t shower in it, eat anything cooked in it or rinsed in it, never mind drink it. What ever happened to the American’s with Disabilities Act? There’s absolutely no “equal access” there. As people disabled with MCS we meed a good legal team to start taking on these towns/states…uh, country. Green by Okole!

Reply to this comment
Susie Collins

20. Jun, 2009

Bobby, you are so right. When you get down to it, just the basics of clean air and water are sorely lacking across the nation, the water polluted with fluoride intentionally. So sad.

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