Map 7.1: Potential Biomass Energy Distribution among Ohio Counties (in Billions)

In an important development from the Ohio Public Utilities Commission, the Plain Dealer reports today that "FirstEnergy Corp. gets permission to burn biomass as sustainable energy source". I previously highlighted this issue on realNEO, as the environmental concerns raised about this plant revolve around developing sustainable fuel stocks for such massive biomass initiatives as the R. E. Burger power plant in Shadyside, Ohio... as burning wood is not the solution... even refuse wood from recycling. But that is all that is on the horizon, for this plant so far... "FirstEnergy spokeswoman Ellen Raines said the company is spending $200 million to re-design and renovate Burger's boilers to be able to burn a mixture of green wood chips, wood pellets and briquettes and something very similar to charcoal."

There isn't enough refuse wood biomass to go around, and the carbon foot print of deforestation for biomass is poor. That is why I propose the state of Ohio take THE global leadership position innovating agricultural biomass optimization, which I believe includes hemp. Thus, the proposal to make Northeast Ohio the Open Source Capital of the Brightest Greenest State on Earth.

Mattie Reitman of the Sierra Club standing-up to EPA against MCCO burning coal in University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio

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...

Case Western Reserve University steam plant may wait months for decision about permit renewal

If you wonder why some powerful people in town and their pawns and puppets have been up in arms about realNEO and us bringing MCCO to trial... take a look at these financials (tons of money) and realize MCCO is listed as a Non-Profit Foundation for "Public, Society Benefit – Multipurpose and Other: Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution" and a "Charitable Organization" - which is perverse, as they in fact cause immense public harm and they shouldn't even have this exemption... and should be "For Profit" and Paying Taxes

With 2009 assets of $66 million and annual sales over $33 million, MCCO was gaming another $500 million (according to former East Cleveland Mayor Brewer) in new funding (probably federal money) to build a new COAL facility at Lakeview and Euclid... even bought the land. The Opportunity Corridor is also being discussed - and the public is asked to wait a year before seeing any plans... as MCCO asks for a 5 year coal burning extension to operate as is for $150+ million more in activity - to burn 220,000+ TONS more coal... spew around 25,000 TONS more pollution...

Joakim Noah spends a cranky off day: Cleveland? 'It's bad, man' - really great interview...

"I don't know about Cleveland, man, there is nothing going on," Noah said Sunday, lamenting the options for his off day on a typical cloudy and chilly spring day. "It's bad, man."

"NO GOING OUT IN CLEVELAND MAN - IT'S ALL FACTORIES. DO YOU LIKE IT - DO YOU THINK CLEVELAND IS COOL?"

As a special follow-up, check out this awesome video of passionate citizens last night: http://www.facebook.com/l/5f842eAZNPC6re8_ChnFRz2Sk0Q;www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WTuYsLjA_E

More to come, it's only just begun!

Check out this great video compilation of passionate citizen comments at the public hearing last night:

The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by doctors swearing to practice medicine ethically.

As they do not practice medicine ethically, all Doctors at University Hospitals Must Turn In Their Licenses to Practice Medicine - including my Father - as they do more harm than good as they pollute this community with soot from burning coal that is unnecessary and that causes certain harm and death to area citizens - especially the young, old, poor, black and weak... and these supposed "doctors" know that very well now.

Beautifully timed, just days after the EPA Hearing about MCCO's permit to burn coal in excessively polluted Northeast Ohio for five more years, and in the middle of a Smog-Wave and air pollution crisis - as citizens awaken to the fact their air pollution monitoring for Northeast Ohio has been broken by NOACA (Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency - which is responsible for managing air quality here... for as long as there has been a NOACA) - the NOACA Governing Board is meeting on their unluckiest Friday the 13th ever.

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.

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My daughter Kylie says SHE shall be the first woman President, and I certainly believe that is possible, if she lives long enough to run.... and her older sister Grace doesn't beat her to the job. You win either way - they are socially conscious!

Those reading realNEO who are real old-time Tremonters will know or remember Kylie's mother, Sharon Dowhaniuk Roulet - Roman's little girl - real Ukranian family... Baba still lives overlooking Mittal... barely. Guido is dead.

Sharon asked me to submit her testimony to the EPA about MCCO, in case she can't get a sitter for the hearing, and I'm sure the realNEO community will be moved by her words as well. I certainly appreciate her words of support for me, as they come so rare here. Thanks Cheri.

Good afternoon:

My name is Sharon Roulet and I was born on September 10th, 1977 at Metro health medical center. I was raised in a home approximately 1 mile away at 2531 Scranton Rd. I was born the middle child with 2 brothers. In the early 80's Tremont was not one of the safest areas to have a family. My father worked at LTV steel and for the city of Cleveland. We were of the lower class. Even though my father worked hard we did not have the money to move elsewhere.

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!

Old-fashioned Ohio coal still being burned at tech-savvy University Circle institutions

John Funk, The Plain Dealer
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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.

Good Afternoon real NEO - Cleveland has been fucked all day - Sheffield is worst now

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?

Daily Air Quality Forecast for Cleveland-Akron-Lorain

It seems I suddenly need to go to Washington DC to meet with Federal officials about air pollution in Northeast Ohio. As timing is critical, I need to leave tonight and drive - returning tomorrow night. Rather than make the trip alone, wasting all that gas for just one person, I thought I 'd see if anyone else in the realNEO community would like to share a ride to-and-from DC for a day-trip there - we should be there for full business hours... 8am-midnight.

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The NOACA Air Pollution Time Series line chart left above shows the region has had unsafe air quality since midnight, as per many monitoring stations - Cleveland is excluded from this chart but represented in the Rose Chart right above, which indicates the air in Cleveland was Unsafe at least at 5 and 6 AM, before they cut the data stream off.... meaning it is likely unsafe NOW. DO NOT TRUST THEIR DATA BEFORE 5 AM!

Right now - TUESDAY MORNING IN CLEVELAND AND ALL AROUND NORTHEAST OHIO - the air appears unsafe to breathe. According to data hidden throughout air quality monitoring reporting in the region, our air has been AT BEST UNSAFE FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS since MIDNIGHT. In other words... it is still UNSAFE from yesterday. Of course, the Ohio EPA forecast for today was "Moderate".

Mattie Reitman with the Sierra Club just forwarded me his communications with the Chairman of Medical Center Company, Robert Brown - who is Treasurer of Case.... and Senator Sherrod Brown's brother... the PD's Connie Schultz' Brother-in-Law... major regional coal-burner and source-point polluter. Through Brown's leadership MCCO operates a secretive coal burning, polluting steam plant for University Circle in my backyard, causing 1,000s of tons of pollution a year in my backyard, harming us each and every day... which I am fighting with the Sierra Club to shut-down.

Sherrod Brown has proven to be a pro-coal Senator. The PD basically denies global warming exists, loves coal, and ignores the issue of environmental injustice entirely.

I am in contact with the Senator's staff about these conflicts of interest, as I am dealing with his brother's pollution, I don't like that my Senator is pro-coal, I don't like that his wife's monopoly newspaper ignores pollution.

As you will see below, Mattie politely asked Robert Brown to arrange for better communications between MCCO and neighbors like myself, including "putting energy into something like" forums on moving MCCO off coal... and Brown said no.

What if MARIJUANA was LEGAL in EAST CLEVELAND?!

Like in Michigan, California, and other states, but EVEN BETTER for the community

• Cannabis - the organic medicine - the civil right!

• Hemp - the industrial crop - "green" fuel source – complete food - ultimate fiber

• Controlled, TAXABLE Cannabis New Economy

Welcome to East Cleveland the International Cannabis Exchange for healthcare and industry for the world – The Exchange will put East Cleveland back ON THE MAP!

When I met with my counsel about legalizing cannabis in Ohio, I explained I never bring up a problem without a solution.

The problem I brought up to him and his many large industrial clients is the excessive industrial pollution in Northeast Ohio, primarily from coal-burning industrial source points like MCCO and MIttal, which must be eliminated to make this a livable, sustainable region.

The solution I asked his firm to support is making Northeast Ohio the Open Source Capital of the Brightest Greenest State of Earth, including legalizing Cannabis and basing the Global Cannabis Exchange and industry here... which will grow to over $1 trillion world-wide in the coming years.

Cannabis is marijuana, for medicinal and other personal use... and hemp, for industrial use and nutrition - two classes of crops, each worth $10s billions to the Ohio economy alone, if developed effectively.

The financially influential Kylie Roulet DEMANDS MCCO and all Affiliates STOP BURNING COAL IN HER BACKYARD!

Dear Ronn:

realNEO statistics indicate our content is well trafficked by Cleveland Foundation staff, so I won't preface my comments with introductions... we know each other well.

The Roulet family is in a position whereby my parents have accumulated $ millions in wealth through investment of their incomes working for or affiliated with University Circle institutions - Case, University Hospitals and the Cleveland Institute of Art - and they intend to donate much of their wealth to those and similar causes - except those institutions burn coal, and do so in a harmful way that has been highly deceptive and has resulted in direct physical and financial harm to members of the family: myself, wife and children... indirectly and directly harming our friends and their family.

As such, my family has less money than it should, my parents' money is tainted by their employers having burned coal throughout their careers... and much of their money is intended for institutions that to this day cause harm by burning coal when there are ready alternatives... and those institutions show no real intent nor good will to stop.

WOW - UCI forgot to put the University Circle MCCO Coal Burning Power Plant EPA Hearing at the University Circle MLK Cleveland Public Library in their August WOW! email blast to and for University Circle stakeholders, which/who are all subject of this hearing... as polluters and/or VICTIMS. It is a shame to waste an excellent opportunity to educate their stakeholder community, like this - perhaps they will see the notice here, or UCI will correct the error and better educate their community...

WOW! University Circle MCCO Coal Burning Power Plant EPA Hearing at the University Circle MLK Cleveland Public Library
Thanks to the timely, effective intervention of the Sierra Club, the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to hold a public hearing for citizens to discuss their concerns about the renewal of the permit for the Medical Center Company (MCCO) to burn coal in their powerplant in University Circle (pictured here), harming residents and workers in the densely populated and economically distressed surrounding neighborhood... August 10, 3:30-5:30 - FREE - More

Roberto Ocasio's Latin Jazz Project on August 11 - the following day - will be an excellent way to celebrate our success moving University CIrcle COAL FREE - THEY ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! SEE BELOW...

WOW! Wade Oval Wednesdays
Don't miss the last four WOW! concerts this summer. The lineup includes Cats on Holiday and Lost State of Franklin on August 4, Roberto Ocasio's Latin Jazz Project on August 11, Heart & Soul Band on August 18, and Sultans of Bing on August 25. A movie night featuring Raiders of the Lost Ark will take place following the concert on August 18. More 

Dear Senator Brown,

Did you know the Air Quality Was Unhealthy for Everyone if not Severe July 27 & 28, 2010? That is what appears buried in the incomplete, deceptive EPA data largely hidden by the Federal government funded City of Cleveland, local EPA, NOACA and Ohio EPA air pollution control services - such data is sometimes possible to locate with great effort by the public, as illustrated in the screenshot above. There is reported a highest 1-hour average PM 2.5 level of 123 - UNHEALTHY FOR ALL - meaning the level spiked much higher during the hour. That was at NOON, in downtown CLEVELAND, July 27, 2010.

Kylie Roulet gasping at astoundingly poor visibility from significant pollution in Cleveland, Ohio - July 28, 2010 - 3:00 PM

Dear realNEO:

I have forwarded the following request to Senator Sherrod Brown, who I have contacted regarding poor air quality and defective pollution monitoring in Northeast Ohio, and I expect a response this week that I will share with this community for action.

Norm

Mr. Ryan,

I'm sorry I missed your call.

I'm beginning to compile an issues list for air quality and perhaps you may introduce a staffer capable of answering the following:

Why is our air reading from the State EPA AirNow Site (screenshot attached) Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups now - what monitor data is this based upon - what formula determines that - what software calculates that - what human intervention has touched our air quality data today, where, by whom, under what authority - what are the air pollution conditions for the monitors that never work (Medina and Painesville) and the monitors that appear to sometimes work (Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Sheffield Lake, Canton) - why does Cleveland only have one monitor when we had two before this Summer and which monitor location is reporting - why does Warren show a 24 hour reading yet no one hour - who is personally responsible and paid for maintaining the monitor equipment on site at each site - where are the performance records - where is the raw data - who is personally responsible and paid for the data transmissions to the Ohio EPA and any other data management and reporting services and who does have access to our monitor data in what formats -  who is personally responsible and paid for maintaining the data transmissions to Ohio University and the data analysis equipment and software at Ohio University and who has access to the equipment and data - what human interaction with the data and software is legal and authorized - who is responsible for the data at the Ohio EPA AirNow site http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.local_city&cityid=148 and the NOACA AirOhio site http://ohioair.info/quality/currentmap1hrPM25.asp that are always wrong - who is responsible for determining the air quality forecast for the following day that is always wrong - how are all these people able to be consistently wrong?

As Introduced by the Stanford University News, March 16, 2010, in Urban CO2 domes increase deaths, poke hole in 'cap-and-trade' proposal, Stanford researcher says: "Not all carbon dioxide emissions are equal," said Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering. "As in real estate, location matters".

"In the first study ever done on the local health effects of the domes of carbon dioxide that develop above cities, Stanford researcher Mark Jacobson found that the domes increase the local death rate. The result provides a scientific basis for regulating CO2 emissions at the local level and points out a significant oversight in the carbon dioxide "cap-and-trade" proposal that was passed by the House of Representatives in June 2009 and is awaiting definitive action by the Senate."

Everyone knows that carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas driving climate change, is a global problem. Now a Stanford study has shown it is also a local problem, hurting city dwellers' health much more than rural residents', because of the carbon dioxide "domes" that develop over urban areas. That finding, said researcher Mark Z. Jacobson, exposes a serious oversight in current cap-and-trade proposals for reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases, which make no distinction based on a pollutant's point of origin. The finding also provides the first scientific basis for controlling local carbon dioxide emissions based on their local health impacts.

Dear citizens of Northeast Ohio who are concerned about health, prosperity and/or the environment....

There is a coal burning power plant operated by Medical Center Company (MCCO) in University Circle, and another has been planned by MCCO for construction in East Cleveland, and that is harmful to the environment, our economy, and the health and educational achievement and so success in life of all citizens in neighboring communities, like Cleveland, East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights, and regionally and worldwide.

This Saturday, 3-5 PM - at Peace Park and around Coventry Village, in Cleveland Heights - you are encouraged to meetup with a representative of the Sierra Club to learn more about the pollution and harm caused by MCCO - and alternatives to burning coal in your neighborhood.

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