Contacts list
The following sources were all contacted through telephone interviews:
Chicago 2016 Committee
Mica Matsoff, Director of Communications
Phone: 312.861.4891
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Anthony Star, director of policy and evaluation
astar@cntenergy.org
Phone: 773/269-4017
Environmental Law and Policy Agency
Pete Gray, Media Relations Associate
pgray@elpc.org
Friends of the Chicago River
John Quail, director of watershed programs
Phone: 773.575.0680
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Chicago's green bid for 2016
Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics makes being green an integral part of the proposal. In its mini bid, Chicago emphasized that its air quality exceeds all but one of the U.S. national standards and its water quality exceeds all U.S. standards. Yet just last year, the American Lung Association awarded an F for air quality in Cook County. As for the Chicago River, most of the water is untreated sewage. Chicago is the only large US city that doesn't disinfect its treated waste water.
The mini bid also championed a variety of green initiatives Chicago has already undertaken like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Center for Green Technology, green roof efforts, with more than 300 gardens and green roofs constructed in the city to date and the reclamation and conversion of the downtown airport into Northerly Island Park, now a planned Olympic venue site and nature preserve.
However, it's important to place these initiatives in context and to be watchful of greenwashing, the deceptive use of green marketing. While Chicago has made well-publicized steps toward being a green city, it still has a long way to go. As such, the 2016 committee created a department to specifically address the environment which includes academics, government officials and environmentalists. There is also an advisory council which includes different non-profit and non-goverment environmental organizations. Those organizations have been devising basic models for the committee but ultimately, specifics for the official bid will be decided internally.
"The key issues we want to address are promoting sustainable sports and creating an environmental legacy," said Mica Matsoff, Director of Communications for the 2016 Committee. "We want to be a model for the city and region."
The final bid will be presented in February 2009 so environmental plans are still "a work in progress," Matsoff said. So far, the committee has taken steps to map out different green spaces in proposed venue areas such as Washington Park. "Most of the venues, which would be temporary, would be built in green spaces, not residencies," Matsoff said. "After the Olympics, [the structures] would be taken down and park land and green spaces would resume."
Matsoff said the committee is focusing on "what needs to be in place for 17 days. Right now people are offering counsel and getting feedback."
The overarching maxim for the green bid has been carbon reduction and being carbon neutral.
"There are a variety of ways to reduce carbon, such as buying renewable energy credits," said Anthony Star, director of policy and evaluation for the Center for Neighborhood Technology. "There are a lot of emissions from cars and trucks. One thing we hope to see is a greater use of CTA trains and also increased use of biodiesel. Projects where people go plant trees have fallen out of favor."
If Chicago does win the bid, these projects would have to start immediately. "These projects can't be done with just city or state funding," Star said. "Getting money lined up will be the first hard part. Eight years is not a long time."
CNT has been exploring the benefits of a rail system and working with ComED, an electric company. "A rail system near the south side would reduce energy use," Star said. Also, "the [green] construction of buildings is where environmental impacts could be lower."
The Environmental Law and Policy Agency has played an advisory role on transportation and energy and is also promoting the idea of a regional rail for transport in and out of the city. "A high speed rail for the Midwest is a really smart transport choice, but it takes investment," said Pete Gray, Media Relations Associate. "This is an opportunity to build it up and also something people would use after [the games] are over. It would put focus on this area of the country."
In addition, ELPC is proposing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as a fuel efficient and emissions-reducing means of transportation. Research for the hybrid vehicles is a joint effort between the Illinois Institute of Technology who is working on battery systems, and ComEd, who is working on charging the vehicles' electric drive systems. The car is on schedule to be presented to the committee by next spring. "The Olympics is a good vehicle to get interest in the hybrids jump-started," Gray said. Automakers are already working to make a few models commercially available by 2010 which puts the vehicles on track for a 2016 deadline, Gray says.
Clean water is also something the International Olympic Committee considers and where Chicago historically has faced many problems.
"When judging a city, [the international committee] looks at the quality of life, clean air, clean water, public transportation," said John Quail, director of watershed programs at Friends of the Chicago River. "Disinfecting effluent that pours into the river is the biggest issue. Chicago has done it once every 30 years. It is supposed to be done every three years." According to Quail, the river is not wide enough for events like rowing, but could still be used for training.
Quail also stressed the need to protect open spaces like parks and forest preserves by making sure the spaces were not sold off for development. "The biggest danger are developments which are not well thought-out and planned," he said. "There are going to be environmental impacts. We just need to make sure they are minimized."
One event site being considered is Ryan's Field, near the North Shore Channel. Friends is working with the 2016 committee on pilot projects for the site which includes volunteer labor from the community as well as green construction.
In the meantime, if Chicago needs advice and a role model, it need not look far. The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which will be hosted in Vancouver, is also endeavoring to reduce its carbon emissions. The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VanOC) has ensured the neutralization of carbon emissions through energy conservation and the use of fuel and energy sources that produce low or no emissions. Carbon offsets are viewed as the best way to achieve carbon neutrality. The offsets allow greenhouse gas emitters to 'pay for their pollution' by funding green projects that reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions. A report suggests the 2010 Games could be one of the most environmentally friendly if it spends money on such carbon offset projects as wind farms and other energy-efficient projects, which reduce the demand for fossil fuels.
Chicago will have a lot to live up to. Vancouver is set to be the greenest Olympics so far but if London 2012 comes close to its stated objectives, it will beat Vancouver by a long shot. Luckily, this is one competiton everyone can win.
The mini bid also championed a variety of green initiatives Chicago has already undertaken like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Center for Green Technology, green roof efforts, with more than 300 gardens and green roofs constructed in the city to date and the reclamation and conversion of the downtown airport into Northerly Island Park, now a planned Olympic venue site and nature preserve.
However, it's important to place these initiatives in context and to be watchful of greenwashing, the deceptive use of green marketing. While Chicago has made well-publicized steps toward being a green city, it still has a long way to go. As such, the 2016 committee created a department to specifically address the environment which includes academics, government officials and environmentalists. There is also an advisory council which includes different non-profit and non-goverment environmental organizations. Those organizations have been devising basic models for the committee but ultimately, specifics for the official bid will be decided internally.
"The key issues we want to address are promoting sustainable sports and creating an environmental legacy," said Mica Matsoff, Director of Communications for the 2016 Committee. "We want to be a model for the city and region."
The final bid will be presented in February 2009 so environmental plans are still "a work in progress," Matsoff said. So far, the committee has taken steps to map out different green spaces in proposed venue areas such as Washington Park. "Most of the venues, which would be temporary, would be built in green spaces, not residencies," Matsoff said. "After the Olympics, [the structures] would be taken down and park land and green spaces would resume."
Matsoff said the committee is focusing on "what needs to be in place for 17 days. Right now people are offering counsel and getting feedback."
The overarching maxim for the green bid has been carbon reduction and being carbon neutral.
"There are a variety of ways to reduce carbon, such as buying renewable energy credits," said Anthony Star, director of policy and evaluation for the Center for Neighborhood Technology. "There are a lot of emissions from cars and trucks. One thing we hope to see is a greater use of CTA trains and also increased use of biodiesel. Projects where people go plant trees have fallen out of favor."
If Chicago does win the bid, these projects would have to start immediately. "These projects can't be done with just city or state funding," Star said. "Getting money lined up will be the first hard part. Eight years is not a long time."
CNT has been exploring the benefits of a rail system and working with ComED, an electric company. "A rail system near the south side would reduce energy use," Star said. Also, "the [green] construction of buildings is where environmental impacts could be lower."
The Environmental Law and Policy Agency has played an advisory role on transportation and energy and is also promoting the idea of a regional rail for transport in and out of the city. "A high speed rail for the Midwest is a really smart transport choice, but it takes investment," said Pete Gray, Media Relations Associate. "This is an opportunity to build it up and also something people would use after [the games] are over. It would put focus on this area of the country."
In addition, ELPC is proposing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as a fuel efficient and emissions-reducing means of transportation. Research for the hybrid vehicles is a joint effort between the Illinois Institute of Technology who is working on battery systems, and ComEd, who is working on charging the vehicles' electric drive systems. The car is on schedule to be presented to the committee by next spring. "The Olympics is a good vehicle to get interest in the hybrids jump-started," Gray said. Automakers are already working to make a few models commercially available by 2010 which puts the vehicles on track for a 2016 deadline, Gray says.
Clean water is also something the International Olympic Committee considers and where Chicago historically has faced many problems.
"When judging a city, [the international committee] looks at the quality of life, clean air, clean water, public transportation," said John Quail, director of watershed programs at Friends of the Chicago River. "Disinfecting effluent that pours into the river is the biggest issue. Chicago has done it once every 30 years. It is supposed to be done every three years." According to Quail, the river is not wide enough for events like rowing, but could still be used for training.
Quail also stressed the need to protect open spaces like parks and forest preserves by making sure the spaces were not sold off for development. "The biggest danger are developments which are not well thought-out and planned," he said. "There are going to be environmental impacts. We just need to make sure they are minimized."
One event site being considered is Ryan's Field, near the North Shore Channel. Friends is working with the 2016 committee on pilot projects for the site which includes volunteer labor from the community as well as green construction.
In the meantime, if Chicago needs advice and a role model, it need not look far. The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which will be hosted in Vancouver, is also endeavoring to reduce its carbon emissions. The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VanOC) has ensured the neutralization of carbon emissions through energy conservation and the use of fuel and energy sources that produce low or no emissions. Carbon offsets are viewed as the best way to achieve carbon neutrality. The offsets allow greenhouse gas emitters to 'pay for their pollution' by funding green projects that reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions. A report suggests the 2010 Games could be one of the most environmentally friendly if it spends money on such carbon offset projects as wind farms and other energy-efficient projects, which reduce the demand for fossil fuels.
Chicago will have a lot to live up to. Vancouver is set to be the greenest Olympics so far but if London 2012 comes close to its stated objectives, it will beat Vancouver by a long shot. Luckily, this is one competiton everyone can win.
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