Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 08/20/2010 - 14:06.
I received a press release from the EPA today - DOE Announces Nearly $120 Million to Advance Innovative Weatherization Projects, Highlights Progress in the Program Nationally - highlighting $120 million in Federal stimulus funds going to 102 organizations across America to drive innovation under the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Weatherization Assistance Program... and none of the awardees are in Ohio (see list below). Linked to this article about this program is a table of homes weatherized around the county as of June 2010, through Federal stimulus funding, and Ohio is well represented - and I believe our house in East Cleveland was weatherized through such funding - it is disturbing no Ohio programs are part of this latest round of funding...! Why not?
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 08/20/2010 - 12:44.
09/10/2010 - 08:00
09/12/2010 - 21:00
Etc/GMT-4
The Ohio LinuxFest is proud to announce that registration is now open for Ohio LinuxFest. The schedule has also been announced, and this year will feature a fantastic line-up of talks for new and experienced Linux users. The 2010 Ohio LinuxFest takes place in Columbus, Ohio at the Greater Columbus Convention Center from September 10 through September 12.
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 17:24.
2010 REALNEO Mid-Year Update at 12,594 Nodes; 25,366 Comments; and 8,984 Members... many who are Trolls
Since around the beginning of 2010, when realNEO.US had been stable long enough to have fairly accurate statistics of our web-traffic - based on over a year of tracking with Google analytics and consistent data on Compete.com - I have been providing members with regular analyses of various metrics of our web traffic, for community insight. These updates include:
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 07:12.
As I explain to "outsiders" what obstacles to true economic development we are confronting here in Northeast Ohio, I point to the concluding half of my "Preamble: Real Co-op for Open Food, Information and Community Development 2009", where I explain "you can't manage what you don't measure. Leadership here does not want to be measured."
At that time - February, 2009 - I explained the risk from having poor local leadership was greatest then, as we had just brought into office a wonderful new President, who must stimulate bad local, state, national and global economies... we had tough battles ahead requiring good local footsoldiers, as $ billions in NEW federal funding initiatives was flowing our way.
They raise the stakes, in exploitation of the difficult economic times here, by attempting to corrupt the good will of our new President.
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 08/12/2010 - 09:08.
Environmental Health Watch Outreach and Education Director Kim Foreman testifying at the August 10, 2010 EPA License Renewal Hearing AGAINST renewing their permit to burn coal, reading into the record and excellent statement offering a holistic, realistic perspective from the Cleveland environmental community - view this video.
John Funk of the Cleveland Plain Dealer continued his expanding coverage of the dangerous situation in University Circle that is the Medical Center Company. Outlining the timeline below, Funk highlights that "The permit, the facility's first ever, expired in 2003, and authorities have been reviewing the company's renewal application ever since" and "Built in 1932 and expanded with gas boilers as needed, the steam plant is operated by the Medical Center Co., a non-profit corporation whose board of directors represent CWRU and the major institutions that make up University Circle. The plant burns about 40,000 tons of coal per year." At issue is the renewal by the EPA of their permit to continue burning coal for five more years, which is outragous.Public feedback to the EPA is encouraged!
The article is included in entirety below to protect this information for public health and safety...
Submitted by Evelyn Kiefer on Wed, 08/11/2010 - 00:55.
He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it"- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dear Leaders of University Circle Institutions,
Did you or a representative of your institution attend the EPA public hearing on the Medical Center Company's request to renew their steam plant operating permit Tuesday evening August 10th at the MLK branch of the Cleveland Public Library?
If not, please view this video. You will want to hear the powerful testimony given by citizens who attended this meeting.
The Cuyahoga Democratic Party has asked for the resignation of two of their most powerful and ineffective leaders - Jimmy DiMora is on the NOACA Governing Board and has not personally attended one meeting this year - neither has Tim Hagan. Neither has Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson - his planning Director Bob Brown only attended three... same with Commissioner Jones. RTA Boss Dixon - none. Port representative Raskind - none. ODOT representative - 2 out of 6 meetings. NOBODY FROM THE EPA.
Citizens must now recognize the breadth of their influence and failure, causing failure of the region and state though such vehicles as the governing board of NOACA.
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 19:55.
This excellent article on the MCCO coal burning powerplant in University Circle - Old-fashioned Ohio coal still being burned at tech-savvy University Circle institutions - by the Plain Dealer's John Funk speaks for itself... and is truthful to the best of my knowledge... and I learned some important new information. Thank you John Funk! I've included the entire PD article below in the interest of public safety.
Thank you Mattie and the Sierra Club for making all this happen - love the conclusion... "The solutions are not as forth coming as some might think," Reitman said. "You can't just put up a wind turbine and call it warm." Now to get a timeline in writing from MCCO for all aspects of their planning to move off coal, WITH CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT!
The tall smokes stacks at the back of the Case Western Reserve University campus belong to the Medical Center Co., a non-profit that has been burning coal for nearly 80 years to heat CWRU and much of University Circle.
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 01:22.
August 9, 2010 Ohio EPA AirNow web portal air pollution current conditions for Northeast Ohio - 1:00 AM Report Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups in Cleveland and surrounding communities, as it was all prior day and last night... now?
Good Morning real NEO - last night the air was unhealthy... were your windows open?
It seemed like a beautiful Sunday night for sleeping with the windows open but you should not have last night. You should have known better. Did you know the air pollution would make you unhealthy last night? Were you warned it would be unhealthy today?
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sat, 08/07/2010 - 15:03.
Hexa the Pollution Fighting Witch visiting a cheap new office location she recommends for the Headquarters of NOACA, the pollution monitoring and highway planning people for our region. Hexa thinks they need a clearer view of the reality they cause.
Aneesh P. Chopra Assistant to the President and Chief Technology Officer Associate Director for Technology Executive Office of the President Office of Science and Technology Policy Washington, DC 20502
Dear Mr. Chopra,
We met briefly at the City Club of Cleveland and I requested your card to follow-up regarding an investigation into irregularities in our environmental monitoring data and technologies in Ohio.
I am preparing to report on these concerns to the EPA, in writing and during a permit renewal hearing in Cleveland, August 10, 2010, highlighting the fact that the citizens of Cleveland, Northeast Ohio and the world have been denied accurate, actionable air quality data here for so long, and our air quality monitoring systems are so poorly architected, it is safe to say we have no idea how polluted and polluting we are. As such, no permits to pollute further should be issued here.
To: "Reitman, Mattie" <mattie [dot] reitman [at] sierraclub [dot] org>
Mattie,
I'm actually preparing my report on all this for the CIO (CTO) of America, who I have met and have direct access - he is a young Googlie techie Indian-American who embraces open source and innovation of the world through technology - what I am realizing is there has been an intentional crippling of the entire nation's environmental monitoring - this stuff the EPA is using is the worst implementation of IT I have ever seen and it is how we measure our pollution for the world...
Get it... for the world...?!
This is old tech put in place in the Bush era to keep the world from knowing how polluted we are - how polluting we are - to hide that from the world to make us look better than we are - Bush was gaming the entire world on pollution and we lose.
Matt, thanks for the update on this issue. After reading your message, I'm concerned about the human impacts of pollution in northeast Ohio.
First and quite simply, I think that it's inadequate to expect networked monitors in a region as large as northeast Ohio to be able to compensate for each other's outages, and that it's a matter of opinion whether high particulate levels are unhealthy only if they persist for a 24-hour period. I'd say it's downright insensitive to claim otherwise, particularly for those who live in a relatively less polluted area.
