Chicagoist: Wanna Go to the Beach?

guest

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:33:20 -0600

"Elect Dave, you and I both know the chances of our society switching over to 40 mph solar cars is zero. Why even bring it up?" Yes but we have the technology of fully electric plug in car but GM killed it. Its zero-emissions. And if we get renewable energy like wind and solar to make electricity then we'd have less CO2 emissions/pollution. I'd suggest you watch the film "Who Killed The Electric Car." It's a good watch.

guest

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 20:26:12 -0600

Elect Dave, you and I both know the chances of our society switching over to 40 mph solar cars is zero. Why even bring it up?

guest

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:37:31 -0600

You write an article like this, but you sure love that BP Banner Money don't you Chicagoist

guest

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:44:44 -0600

There are already experimental (a.k.a. not yet commerically viable) solar powered cars that can sustain 40 mph, and there are high speed trains in Europe and Japan that are partially powered by solor energy. Restructuring our society to use mass transit and be less dependent on automobiles is also part of the solution. If you want to use fossil fuels, you are going to have to live with the negative consequences. It's that simple. www.electdave.org

guest

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:19:21 -0600

Solar power and wind are not going to propel your automobile.

Kevin Robinson

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 09:23:38 -0600

Guest # 19: I believe that the advertising policy at Chicagoist is much like that at The Nation: if you're willing to pay for it, we're willing to publish it. So, while we may disapprove, or even feel repulsed by, the political views of some of our advertisers, we generally won't ban them from advertising with us. But we do reserve the right to attack them in our our columns. I'd like to believe that our readers are smart enough to read what's presented to them and draw their own conclusions with out Chicagoist acting as some sort of opinion filter. revitch: David Kalbfleisch, Green Party candidate for U.S. House, IL-10, had this to say about Kirk's opposition: “I disagree with the ‘not in my backyard’ mentality because it doesn’t solve the problem. If BP doesn’t dump its waste in Lake Michigan, it will just dump it somewhere else. Rather than appropriating substantial funds to develop clean energy sources like solar and wind — the real solution — Rep. Kirk votes to continue to squander hundreds of billions of dollars waging war against a weak country that was never any threat to our national security. That is not my idea of fiscally conservative legislation or responsible environmentalism with a focus on long term sustainability.” Not the best answer I've ever read, but still a pretty good critique of the larger hypocrisy of the NIMBY approach.

revitch

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:05:11 -0600

Surely there is more to this story than we are being told. One of the things that is strikingly absent is a call for people to reduce their dependence on oil. Stop driving your cars. And anyone in Chicago who has their air conditioning on today (73 degrees outside) should have to go swim to the Whiting refinery to lodge their own personal complaint. It's a bit like complaining to the butcher for killing the cows when we wanted milk and then ordering a steak!!!

guest

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:47:29 -0600

Hey Chicagoist, you first have a post on this, and then you carry an ad from BP ? I hope you give the money from that ad to the Park District instead....... A reader

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:39:18 -0600

This is so great. Now my gas will be a five cents cheaper.

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:48:39 -0600

Kirk is an advocate for the environment especially Lake Michigan - he got the federal dollars need to clean up Waukegan Harbor, worked to get the navy to provide acres of lake front open space and recently introduced bi-partisan legislation with Rep. Lipinski to ban dumping in the Lake. There is a petition to the BP president against the dumping on his website: http://kirkforcongress.com/petition1/ Go there and sign it.

Navin

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:25:38 -0600

Hey BP overthrew a democratically elected government in Iran and with the CIA's help installed a dictator who's ill treatment of the citizens helped eventually bring about the Islamic Revolution. We can all thank them for that too! Thanks BP! But that's just one example of many f'd up things they've done. Seriously when it comes to evil on a global scale it's hard to beat these assholes. So yeah, we kneel before you BP, put whatever you want into our lake and water supply.

Kevin Robinson

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:53:03 -0600

Rather than lose hope in humanity or devolve into hopelessness, I would suggest that you call your elected officials and encourage them to take steps at the federal level to stop Mitch Danials. Sen. Dick Lugar seems to be opposed to this, and could probably use a little prodding on the issue. Rep. Pete Visclosky could also stand to hear from you, especially if you live in his district. If you click the last link in this post, you can contact your elected officials.

pantagrapher

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:21:52 -0600

Just couldn't trouble yourself to click on the link, eh Guest13? I love it when people pretend to be curious. From the Trib article: "The company will now be allowed to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of sludge into Lake Michigan every day."

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:10:34 -0600

How much pollution are we really talking about here? 53% is pretty meaningless since it is a relative amount. Are they currently dumping ten ounces of ammonia or ten million gallons? Or am I being insane by expecting anything but agitprop here?

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:52:05 -0600

When you hear stories like this it doesn't give you any hope for humanity.

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:42:43 -0600

It is important to point out that Rep. Mark Kirk is a bum when it comes to environmental issues. He has voted for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He supported H.R. 4241, which authorized a massive sell-off of public lands to corporations like BP. He voted for weakening clean air rules evident in H.R.3893. He has also supported the Bush Administration's politicization of scientific evidence.

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:40:12 -0600

The best(worst) part of this is.. BP wants to refine canadian crude so they can reduce dependency and lower gas prices a few cents a gallon in the midwest. What actually happens is the prices will remain up because the gas stations are allowed to fluctuate prices as much as 20 cents a day (6% on $3.30/gal). Its the most redonkulous part of the supply/demand economics of gasoline, and people are stupid enough to vote for this.

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:34:59 -0600

The southern coast of Lake Michigan is already damaged goods from the oil and steel industry. Several beaches in the area are littered with dead fish. NW Indiana needs more casinos and less factories.

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:30:03 -0600

80 jobs. $3.8 billion expansion creates 80 jobs? i freaking hate Indiana for so many other reasons, add this one to the list.

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:23:41 -0600

Yet another reason why you shouldn't swim in Lake Michigan, if the fact that Gary backs their sewers up into the lake when it rains wasn't enough.

Navin

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:16:12 -0600

Thanks for writing about this I was going to suggest. The word really needs to get out. This is fucked!

skaterina

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:08:53 -0600

This is bullshit - millions of people in two countries have to put up with a tainted water supply and polluted lakes and habitats so that BP can get richer and Mitch Daniels can brag about bringing 80 jobs to Indiana.

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:47:48 -0600

Now when you see those BP "we are being so green" ads, you will know they are utter bullshit. The people/groups who proclaim the loudest they are being green usually are not. I can't believe we, as a society, are still so stupid about the environment that we would allow this (and yes, we do allow it, because we elect the people who make the rules and appoint the regulators).

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:28:50 -0600

"governors of the eight states and 2 provinces." FYI, provinces have 'Premiers'

pantagrapher

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:05:25 -0600

Federal regulators under the current administration aren't going to do shit. I couldn't believe this news when I heard it. Fuck you, Indiana.

guest

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:48:45 -0600

Where is Dan Quayle when we need him? This expansion is not small potatos. "It isn’t pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." -- Vice President Dan Quayle