I remember the day well, April 22, 1970. I went along with a couple of friends to Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia’s Fairmont Park. The area of the park had been the scene for many “Be-In’s.” Taken from the sixties term of “sit-in” where youth congregated and sat in a close circle to make their voices heard for any of the various causes of the day, from ending the war to legalizing pot, a Be-In was simply a Sunday happening where concerts where held, much in the tradition of Woodstock, and the “In Crowd” got to “Be-In.” Now that I have fully exhausted my vernacular of the day - I hope you are impressed - let me get back on topic. Most of us came for the cause, to protest the incessant polluting of the planet we all lived on.
This was the time when the Tear Drop That Changed a World was about to air and the youth of America felt called to the causes of esoteric and altruistic foundations, when consciousness was expanded and the bomb threatened to end all that was known. Some of the more disciplined minds of the day looked at the thick, exhausts of the multitude of factories and wondered where it all went. With slide rulers - computers were yet to emerge for the common person - they calculated the results of all that pollution, a new term for the day, and what they saw scared the daylights out of them. Sooner then we all could imagine we all were going to choke to death, literally, on our waste. And nobody seemed to care.
Take it to the youth, they were always ready and eager to jump on any cause worth while. And they did. April 22 was dedicated “Earth Day,” a day when we were to take into consideration the health of the planet. Prediction of doom flourished and the year 2000 seemed an ideal twelfth hour.
The conservative body saw Earth Day as a threat and quickly denounced it as UnAmerican. The battle between common sense and greed began and our children and the future were held at stake, each side claiming to have the interests of those children and the future at heart.
Once “sides” were drawn up and a battle of sorts began I knew we were in trouble. How can anyone ignore the common sense of the situation and deny the coming result? I stood among those that day in Fairmont Park knowing that the battle would be a long one and wondered if enough people would see the light before it was permanently blotted out with smog. I would never have imagined that I would be well into my fifties and the year 2000 would be long past before the “cause” caught on enough to convince me that our planet has a chance. Of course, I also thought pot would be legal by now, too.
Each year at this time I take stock and wonder what resolution could I avow, like we do on New Year’s Day, and believe might make a difference in my life and to the planet. If I can quit smoking for my health and become a vegetarian from the belief of no harm to any living creature that feels, I can take one more step each year to improve my relationship with the world I live on. Green may finally be cool but it is necessary if we are to make it to the year 3000 (Hey, 2000 is long gone so might as well mark the next cool sounding year).
Up to this point the few have managed to make some noticeable changes. Los Angeles doesn’t have a cloud of doom hanging over it, the highways don’t look like back alleys and the oceans are finally being looked at as a growing risk from the decades of dumping and maybe getting on the list of salvation. Now that going Green is becoming cool, I am thrilled at the acomplishments we can achieve.
Now if we could just legalize marijuana….
Author: Jon Anderson 
You can see Jon’s articles on Jon’s Home Page.
Should EPA ban perchloroethylene at all drycleaners? The Bush Administration imposed rules in 2006 that regulated the emissions of large dry cleaners and ban “perc” use in residential building by 2023. Perchloroethylene is a cancer causing hazardous air pollutant that has been known of for several years. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has banned all use of perc by 2020 in California. The question is, should EPA now ban all use of perc or just in mixed use buildings?
The national environmental group, Sierra Club, has long argued that all perc use needs banning. The Obama Administration concurs. Recently EPA filed Court papers to re-open the issue and determine whether uses of perc needs banning by 2023. The preponderance of evidence is that EPA will wins its court case and ban perc totally.
There are two alternatives to using perc in dry cleaning, one is the so called “wet wash” and the other is liquid cleanser derived from recycled carbon dioxide. The availability of market available technologies to replace perc safely seems to argue for a quicker phase out of perc. According to EPA, the cleaning industry reduced its annual air emissions of perchloroethylene from 1996 to 2006 by replacing older equipment with newer, more efficient equipment, thus reducing air borne leaks. Since the industry trade group the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute says the new equipment was expensive and lasts 15 years, they need a longer phase out time period. This seems realistic, given the past reductions.
No word on whether the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute will appeal if the rules are applied nationwide in a permanent ban. There are no cases yet resolved under the Obama Administration in the Courts to determine if the legacy Bush Administration judges will overturn Bush-era EPA rules and programs. No doubt several environmental issues will only get resolution from the Supreme Court, unless Congress and Obama have success on the economy and health care reform, then tackle energy, transportation and the environment. Look for a follow-up article trying to explain the intricacies, budgets and politics of Federal and State agencies when it comes to transportation, energy and the environment.
There will be more transportation funding under Obama and energy, clean energy and oil independence is also a top priority. The Clean Air Act, last amended under President George Bush in 1990 needs amending again. The 1990 amendments made great progress in clean air. A new amendment would clarify to EPA and the Courts how to interpret several different environmental laws that lapsed in the last 14 years under the Republican Congress, including Superfund.
Unfortunately, time is the biggest enemy of the environment and biggest asset to industry because of the quicker economic impact and the longer health effect impact. Depending on success and the agenda of legislation the remainder of the year under Obama and the Democratic Congress, environmental legislation is directly impacted. Look to see EPA, industry and environmental advocacy groups hash out environmental issues extensively before, and even if, Congress can re-authorize Federal environmental legislation to clarify direction.
