I am a huge fan of Van Jones and his "Green for All" message . The man's a modern day Prometheus. The message he developed, the connection he made between a community in need in his base of Oakland, CA, and the call to slow global warming, an ailing planet, is brilliant. The man deserves a Nobel for that alone. His persistence has paid off. His vision is infectious and hopeful. His common sense attracted serious, hard-headed allies, groups such as the United Steel Workers and the Sierra Club. Leaders were won over. And every other media headline has the phrase "green economy" in it. Those ones in between the other headlines that bespeak financial ruin.
To this day, I believe Van Jones is right on. But it takes the wind out of my sails, personally, whenever I go to a "green economy" event and the lobby is filled with people hawking their wares. It's a visceral reaction; intellectually, I know they have every reason in the world to care about profits and promote their good work, but inwardly, I resent the reduction to marketing. It's as if the only reason to save the planet is because we can make it profitable. Do the right thing, and make money too! The enterprise smacks of late night infomercial promises. And maybe now, because the whole world hopes Jones is right, the shine is off the product. It's no longer the solution of intellectuals but of merchants, investors, professional environmentalists, marketeers. And now that Obama has embraced the vision, distorted enough to include the entire Democratic tent, everybody's lining up for the green economy gravy train. And it's a little depressing. Because the planet really is ailing and what does money mean in the face of that?
Think transit, not recreation. That's the paradigm shift cities like Lyon, Paris, Minneapolis and Miami made when instituting their bike sharing systems. In Philadelphia, where the average person views biking as a potential blood sport, the ground is being well prepared to take it to the next level. Bicycling has doubled in Philadelphia over the last three years. According to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, there are 76,000 bike trips in the city of Philadelphia every day. The region's bike culture is thriving, larger even than in Chicago or New York City. And Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia Executive Director Alex Doty and chief advocate for Bike Share Philadelphia Russell Meddin are doing their best to get even more people on wheels.
Looking at the miles of bike trails available in the region, including such scenic rides as Heinz National Wildlife Refuge and Pennypack Park, the average Philadelphian could be inspired to get out on a bike. But the city is more daunting.
“There are 205 miles of marked bicycle lanes on Philadelphia city streets. Unfortunately, most people who live in Center City have no earthly idea they exist because they don't exist downtown. But they're everywhere else,” says Meddin, “So you shouldn't be afraid, because once you get out of Center City proper, there are bike lanes and the streets are marked well enough to ride safely. Once you start riding, you get used to it. You learn real quickly, and you make it safe for you.”
Community leaders met January 6th in a Port Richmond recreation center to discuss Temple University Health System (TUHS) plans for Northeastern Hospital amid rumors it will cut services. Staff within the system have been told that Northeastern is “restructuring”. Employees at Temple University Hospital have been told Temple will expand its obstetrics department (OB) once it closes at Northeastern. Northeastern officials contacted by members of the community have denied plans to close the facility, saying they are looking to "tighten their belt". What that may mean in terms of specific service cuts awaits the recommendations of an internal Task Force studying the restructuring of Northeastern within the Temple system, says Northeastern, but those close to the hospital fear maternity services will go. What so irks community members is that Northeastern's process is closed to the public and there are no community representatives included on the Task Force.
“I think we need to meet with the Task Force face to face because this effects the whole community," said Cheryl, a longtime Port Richmond community member, "I was born in that hospital, I'm 61 years old. My daughter was born in that hospital. My grandfather suffered a heart attack and they saved him in that hospital. My mother just came out of there three weeks ago. This hospital has been around as long as I have.” Others attending expressed the same sentiments. Dr. Albert Pizzica, Director of Newborn Nurseries and Chief of Pediatrics at Northeastern, said, “Any restructuring at Northeastern that doesn't include OB is just unacceptable.”
After acquiring Newman, Episcopal and Northeastern hospitals nearly ten years ago, the system promised to keep Northeastern open after closing the other two. Temple University Hospital enlisted community help four years ago in their effort to obtain property adjacent to their facility where a Walmart was planned. Patty-Pat Kozlowski of Port Richmond on Patrol and Civic said, “There are about 5 or 6 Port Richmond organizations here and we feel kind of boondoggled about what Temple and Northeastern's doing because we were their Davids when they couldn't fight the Walmart thing. We were the ones on the front line, we put our necks out there and won it for them”. Community members say Temple University Hospital assured them they would use the property to expand hospital facilities, to build a new maternity ward or nursing school. In fact, the location is currently a parking lot. “Now we make a call to say hey can you put someone from the same community group that saved you five years ago on the Task Force, we're not getting any calls back, they're not even telling us who's on the Task Force,” Kozlowski said.
At a planning meeting held in Center City at the Liberty Resources offices on Wednesday night, Casino-Free Philadelphia (CFP) leaders were in good spirits as they announced a new six-month campaign to stop casinos from opening in the city. “I’ve been relaxed,” said founding member Jethro Heiko, “because I know we can win.”
Refusing to buy the oft-used line that slot parlor development is a “done deal,” the members of CFP’s leadership explained how through grassroots organizing, “we will declare independence from casinos.” The official campaign launch is scheduled for January 26, when CFP will read its own independence declaration near the site of the original signing of the Declaration and will end on July 4. The date has obvious associations of freedom and self-government, but just as important, it also falls on the 5-year anniversary of the maligned legislation of Act 71, which set in motion the SugarHouse and Foxwoods building projects.
CFP leaders stressed that the campaign’s timing is optimal. They have generated considerable momentum over the past two years through awareness campaigns like Operation Transparency, Philly’s Ballot Box, and Operation Hidden Costs. And, perhaps just as critical, all eyes now seem to be on Philadelphia in the long struggle against state-sponsored predatory gambling.
As a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on January 2 explained, across the country “there is formidable resistance to the [casino] industry’s future growth.” SugarHouse and Foxwoods are not the only corporations who stand to lose here, and this particular showdown in Philly may figure to be “the American casino industry’s Waterloo.” On the local level, the latest City Paper issue featured a cover story on the addiction-creating designs of slot machines and the parlors that house them (“Meet Your New Neighbor” ).
Earlier this week Temple University Health System announced a reorganization plan to employees that will go into effect in January. Called "Bold Ideas for a Brighter Tomorrow", it's really the same Old Ideas as yesterday. The plan includes severe cuts in services at Northeastern Hospital. The health provider claims that too many beds, relentless pressure from private insurers and Medicare to cut costs, difficulty of fair reimbursements and a decreasing population in its service area makes this reorganization necessary.
According to the plan, Northeastern Hospital will essentially become a facility designated for outpatient use and to take on emergency outflow from Temple University Hospital. One casualty in the plan is the maternity care unit at Northeastern, bringing to 17 the number of maternity units Philadelphia has lost in the last 11 years.
In the last decade, Temple University Health System acquired Episcopal, Newman and Northeastern Hospitals, all the hospitals to its east. It decided to close Episcopal and Newman but promised Northeastern would stay open to serve the community. More recently, Temple University Hospital spent millions to acquire property adjacent to the hospital, encouraging the surrounding community to defeat a proposal in City Council for a Walmart at that location. Temple profits last year were $53 million.
The Pennsylvania Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals union along with other effected healthcare worker unions will be holding a candlelight vigil in front of Northeastern Hospital, at Tulip and Allegheny, Monday, December 22nd at 6:15PM. All concerned about the erosion of healthcare services in Philadelphia and especially in the Northeast should come out to call for reconsideration.
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