September 2002

Getting Bill's Attention

by Jim Slama

In the April issue of Conscious Choice we scooped the mainstream media with a four-article set that laid out the City of Chicago’s plans to become the "Greenest City in America." One of the stories described the philosophy of visionary architect Bill McDonough, whom the city hired to guide them with this process.

To help McDonough with his task, I consulted many of the Chicago area’s top environmental and civic leaders for direction as to how the city should attain its lofty goal. We put these ideas into a "Dear Bill McDonough" letter asking the acclaimed "green" architect for his perspective. The article and the issue was such a hit with city officials and McDonough, that he penned a response to Conscious Choice.

Since April, there has been a flurry of activity by the city. Chicago Transit Authority head Frank Kreusi announced a multi-billion dollar program to expand transit service by building connections between existing el and subway train lines. This is definitely a good start to creating a world-class transit system. Now if only they could get the air conditioning to work all the time in the summer!

There has also been movement on the organic food front. Chicago’s budget director and Chief Management Officer, Bill Abolt, indicated strong interest in helping make the city the organic food capital of the Midwest. When I saw him at the opening of the Chicago Center for Green Technology, he was quite animated about the possibilities. "There are a lot of vacant lots and empty warehouses that can be used for this purpose," he said. "I can see the city getting behind this effort."

Of course there are other areas where the city hasn’t budged. Chicago’s recycling program is receiving tremendous criticism for its failure to achieve its recycling potential. The city’s recycling contract is up for renewal with Waste Management, so now is the perfect time to improve the program.

The Fisk and Crawford power plants are still pumping out tons of pollutants and jeopardizing the health of city residents. The city has the power to clean them up — they just need to find the political will to do so.

In order to keep our readers informed about the ongoing progress of the city in its goal to be the greenest city in America, we have decided to publish a report card describing its progress. We will do this in April on the anniversary of the original issue. If you have any opinions or facts on this topic, please let us know. We would appreciate your feedback..

The Conscious Choice Eleven-Point Plan

1. Create a world-class transit system

2. Force Midwest Generation to clean up or replace toxic coal-fired power plants in Chicago neighborhoods

3. Make Chicago the organic food capital of the Midwest

4. Improve Chicago’s commitment to recycling/resource recovery

5. Build on community greening efforts

6. Make the lakefront an international showcase for nature-based recreation

7. Deepen the commitment to green energy/energy efficiency

8. Clean up the Chicago River

9. Support Chicago’s neighborhoods

10. Expand and improve Chicago area parks and forest preserves

11. Make Chicago the country’s hub of green manufacturing and design

Bill Talks Back

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