After decades of discussion, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is imposing a fine on Peoria for failure to resolve its combined sewer overflow problem. The EPA has still not approved Peoria’s so-called “green solution” and is ordering the city to…
Tag Archive for environment
Banking on wetlands — our evolving land ethic
by Clare Howard • • 0 Comments
Landfill, garbage disposal, wetland restoration, native plants, environmental beauty. Not words typically associated with each other, but the association is perfectly logical for Charles Hostetler. He hopes to make the correlation universally clear with a project along Kickapoo Creek Road.…
Letter to the Editor | Protecting coal ash, not children
by contributor • • 0 Comments
Governor Rauner’s Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is failing to protect us. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) weakened federal health and water protections for communities near toxic coal ash waste dumps. If you live in the Peoria area, that…
Science & Environmental Briefs | June 2018
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
In Denmark, people use about four, single-use plastic bags a year. By contrast, Americans use an average of one single-use plastic bag a day. Stores in Denmark do not provide free plastic bags. In 1993, Denmark implemented a tax on…
Trump’s EPA won’t – or can’t – clean up some hazardous sites
by Bill Knight • • 0 Comments
A year ago this month, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, appointed by President Donald Trump, visited the USS Lead Superfund site outside Chicago. It’s still hazardous. The EPA’s Superfund program was established 38 years ago to clean up…
Letters: Top Legislative Agenda Should Be Climate Change
by contributor • • 0 Comments
Re “Immigration and Infrastructure Top of Legislative Agenda for Republicans in Congress” (Ray LaHood’s column, February 2018): I suggest a-top-of-the-agenda item for Congress—climate change. Tragically, the present Republican President, cabinet, White House staff and Congress not only do not identify…
Silica sand – in the air, water, lungs and frac drills
by Clare Howard • • 0 Comments
Thomas and Diane Skomski moved to Wedron in rural LaSalle County in 2003 to recuperate close to nature after Thomas suffered a massive stroke. They purchased a beautiful 23-acre property bordered by Indian Creek with sheer limestone cliffs and bluffs…
Reflections From A Secular Humanist
by contributor • • 0 Comments
A Humanist View of Religion’s Role in Environmental Protection BY HARRY ELGER According to NASA, greenhouse gas emissions and mass extinctions are making the Earth less inhabitable. As role models of ethics and morality, shouldn’t religions be stronger supporters of…
Salting our roads — and water and fields
by Bill Knight • • 0 Comments
There are always trade-offs, it seems. In “Inherit the Wind,” the Henry Drummond character (Spencer Tracy in the film version) sums it up: “Progress has never been a bargain; you have to pay for it. Sometimes I think there’s a…
Can Chemical Combat Cause Collateral Carnage?
by Dale Goodner • • 0 Comments
It may not be Iraq or Afghanistan, but it is a war of sorts. We’ve come to view such plants as clover, dandelions, and plantain as territorial terrorists. They invade our lawns with flowers and broad leaves, forcing us to…