Red Hen Exploring Our Conditions explores issues and concerns in our Communities with a Focus on Community Responsibility and Civic Engagement.
#TeamRhino #SaveTheRhino #SaveFive
Raising Awareness to protect our #WildLife, Please take the pledge:
I would like to join #TeamRhinodotorg in the fight against rhino poaching to ensure a future for people and vulnerable wildlife on our planet:
I will never buy or promote any products made of rhino horn, as I know that demand drives poaching.
I will be a committed advocate to support rangers and others on the frontlines of rhino conservation.
I will share my passion about rhino conservation and recruit my friends and family to become involved.
I will urge my government to continue championing efforts to stop rhino poaching at home and abroad.
I will stand with IRF to help save rhinos from extinction. teamrhino.org
Data coming out of The Prevention Access Campaign confirms what many professionals and activists have thought for years. People living with HIV who maintainan undetectable viral load cannot transmit the HIV virus to their sexual partners. As they phrase it “Undetectable equals Untransmittable”, and yes we are aware that untransmittable is not a word. The reason behind the word choice is that noninfectious is a loaded word, or should I say that infectious is a stigmatizing word. There is a growing movement for language modernization in the
HIV community, often referred to as People First Language, or using words that are individual focused instead of focusing on the diagnosis. The S4 Initiative
(See Something, Say Something), also from The Prevention Access Campaign, is one such group dedicated to changing the narrative surrounding people living with HIV/AIDS.
The change in language for describing people living with HIV/AIDS began in the 1980’s. Looking back to The Denver Principals, it was quickly confirmed that victimizing those effected would be combated within the community. The Denver Principals were essentially a proclamation to the world on the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. An excerpt from the proclamation reads:
“We condemn attempts to label us as ‘victims,’ a term that implies defeat, and we are only occasionally ‘patients,’ a term that implies passivity, helplessness, and dependence upon the care of others. We are ‘People With AIDS.”
So who supports these findings?!
Community support has been pouring in from organizations and individuals from all over the globe, like A Positive Tomorrow. The National Institute of Health, in support, states that undetectable individuals who have a suppressed (Undetectable) viral load for 6 months and adhere to their treatment are at a negligible risk of transmitting HIV to their sexual partners. Negligible meaning not enough to even consider. The Partner Study entering its last year has 58,000 documented cases of condom less sex between serodiscordant couples, also known as magnetic with one person living with HIV and the other with a negative status, and zero transmissions from any of those interactions when the couples were monogamous.
So what’s the big deal? Well besides the minds this new data may eases, it can also have legal and medical applications. The most immediate that comes to mind, HIV specific laws based on old information. These laws I’m referring to are laws that criminalize being HIV positive. When criminalizing acts in which transmission cannot occur, such as spitting or loitering (Ohio Rev. Code § 2907.241), stigma is being created and sustained by the government through the prosecution of people living with HIV. One such case as a homeless Texas man sentenced to 35 years in prison for spitting on someone while he is living with HIV.
So what can you do with this information? To start with it’s important that we get this information out there so the public knows that people living with HIV; whom adhere to their treatment and are undetectable, are at no risk for spreading HIV to sexual partners. You can do this by following the U=U Campaign on Facebook or other social media for real time updates.
Going on seven years now that i have been exploring various issues and concerns that affect the most vulnerable members of our society . There is a reoccurring theme of camouflaged oppression in most every attack placed on those who are different from the oppressor. Our most vulnerable citizen are judge by their differences and make those with the all about me mentality uncomfortable. We currently have administrations in our public services, local, state and federal governments demonstrating the comfort level for individuals out weighing the human collective spirit.
My advocacy is to #EndRapeCulture and build platforms for #HumansInvolved. This rape of culture has been going on since the invasion of our country and is captured in the One Book One Philadelphia Readings that i have been following since 2014.
One Book One Philadelphia 2016 "Cold Mountain"
Dismantling public education is one example demonstrating the reoccurring theme of camouflaged oppression. We know that education is the key to freedom and slavery has been the key to private freedoms. The private sectors of our society seem to be stuck in their childish ways of all about me and forget everybody else. The private sector insist on manipulating protections aka laws that were never meant to be changed. Such as public funding was to remain public and not used for private expenses. Much like the catholic church aka the private sector was to honor space for African Americans then changed that clause by closing their spaces.
Dr. Hite the superintendent of Philadelphia public schools and his crew are the tokens doing the work of the private sector. He starved and closed 30 plus schools and plan to close at least three a year for the next five years. The Alliance for Philadelphia Public schools recently held a requiem for the closed and anticipated closed schools. APPS base is retired educators who in retirement support quality public education for all. Members of APPS include current educators, parents and community members. APPS can help stop closures of local schools and would like to organize parents and schools now to prevent any further community school closings. For more information, Contact Karel Kilimnik – 215-301-3569 philaapps@gmail.com
Serious questions have arisen about how these private meetings between District officials and charter executives have influenced the District’s decisions over the last six months. Kacer sat across the table from managers and board chairs of the very schools for which she decides whether to recommend renewal. At the May 1 SRC meeting, she referred several times to the “Mastery family of schools.”
District officials told NewsWorks that the purpose of the meetings was to form an alliance to stop Pennsylvania House Bill 97, a new charter bill that would have serious financial repercussions, from being passed. That bill, of course, would have to be palatable to the charter owners and investors including Mark Gleason, who in 2015 offered the SRC $35 million to approve 39 new charters. Offering government officials large sums of money to pass a resolution is the definition of a bribe, but the SRC actually considered it. This year alone, the SRC has approved five resolutions in as many months for PSP initiatives in public schools. Why were no independent education activists — no parents or educators —invited to the table?
When public officials meet with organizations that they have been entrusted to regulate, the people have a right to know exactly what they are doing and saying. Hite had many opportunities during those six months to inform the taxpayers who pay his salary what he and his staff were negotiating with charter operators.
No one other than those in the room knows what was discussed or negotiated. After months of secrecy, the District cannot expect anyone to trust its word on this. We don’t know all of the players or the totality of what was discussed. The Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools has filed a right-to-know request asking for the names of all who attended, minutes of meetings, and all communications.
Parents, educators, and community members who advocate for public schools at SRC meetings know that their microphone will be turned off at exactly three minutes. But charter managers get all the time in the world.
Lisa Haver is a retired teacher and co-founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools (APPS). Lynda Rubin is a retired school counselor and legislative liaison for APPS. https://appsphilly.net/
Parents please lets get together and talk about what is best for all or our families and how we can achieve that success. Mastery took over Cleveland elementary and the school wasn't failing, they just took over the school. This year Mastery will not be providing the families of Cleveland with a summer program, instead they have set their sites on Steel elementary and will host a summer program there without thinking of the Cleveland families. Mastery is one of the hook and bait companies that we don't need dividing our communities. We can remove these bandaids from these deep wounds and begin to build our communities with quality education facilities like Steel. We can't afford to lose another great public school. Why is Steel great? They have an African American principal who promotes African American culture and has partnered with the parents to cater to the needs of the demographics. The oppressor isn't happy with cultured centered education, they want to conform us all into slaving for their economy.
Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Get It: Catering to the Desires of Individuals Won’t Serve the Common Good
Betsy DeVos is a libertarian. One cannot drill this concept often enough. DeVos believes in the freedom of individuals to make the choices that benefit themselves and their children. It is the kind of thinking that promotes the rights of individuals above all else. Wikipedia’s definition of libertarianism perfectly describes the thinking of Betsy DeVos: “Libertarians seek to maximize political freedom and autonomy, emphasizing freedom of choice, voluntary association, individual judgment, and self-ownership.” Libertarians don’t believe government should interfere with individual liberty.
The other day, Betsy DeVos made people in the audience mad when she addressed the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (We’ll ignore for a minute the fact that charter schools are, as a form of private contracting, not really public schools.), because she didn’t seem fully to endorse charter schooling. Here is what she said: “Charter schools are here to stay… But we must recognize that charters aren’t the right fit for every child. For many children, neither a traditional nor a charter… school works for them… I suggest we focus less on what word comes before ‘school,’ whether it be traditional, charter, virtual, magnet, home, parochial, private, or any approach yet to be developed… and focus instead on the individuals they are intended to serve… We need to get away from our orientation around buildings or systems or schools and shift our focus to individual students.” She also emphasized “the parents’ right to decide.”
She also criticized the bureaucracy and red tape that she believes are hampering charter schools, a critique meaning that DeVos rejects the role of government to protect our society through regulation. For DeVos, government regulation is the enemy, which is why the Great Lakes Education Project—the Michigan lobbying organization founded and funded by DeVos and her family—strong-armed the Michigan legislature to defeat the plan for a Detroit Education Commission to bring Detroit’s out-of-control, for-profit charter school sector under some oversight and to ensure that schools open in neighborhoods that need schools instead of neighborhoods with an oversupply of schools.
Betsy DeVos’s libertarianism allows her to ignore the concept of opportunity cost in education. She worries about liberty and freedom for each particular parent and child, but the mechanics of how we’ll pay for all this elude her. Economists call it “opportunity cost” when, because the budget is fixed, we have to choose what we can afford. If we choose one kind of publicly funded school, we can’t also fund private alternatives unless we increase the budget. Opportunity cost in education is obvious to parents of children in public schools whose classes are getting larger, for example. Our problem is threefold, but Betsy DeVos doesn’t notice: (1) the overall federal budget for education has declined due to austerity budgeting and the sequester, (2) state budgets, a primary source of education funding, have fallen in nearly half the states since the 2008 recession, and (3) we have at the same time added publicly funded, privatized alternatives—charter schools and vouchers to pay for private school tuition. Hence, we’ve lost the opportunity to spend as much on the public schools—which continue to educate 90 percent of our society’s children.
There is fight over air quality in Philadelphia that needs your attention. Are you aware that Septa is planning to bring fossil fuels to our communities. Communities that currently have high asthma rates are being targeted to host Septa's natural gas plants. These plants would like to pipeline fracked gas from up state Pennsylvania into our city and this is not acceptable to many residents of Philadelphia and the surrounding area. Because this natural gas plant pollutes our air with harmful micro-particles.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) – NOx contributes to the formation of ground -level ozone, also called smog. Ozone is linked to a range of respiratory illnesses including to the development of childhood asthma.
Particulate Matter – Contribute to or exacerbate asthma and heart disease. There is strong evidence linking particulates to dementia, impaired cognitive development in children, premature births, and other problems. The World Health Organization says there is no safe level of exposure. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – Can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, and skin problems. Higher concentrations may cause irritation of the lungs, as well as damage to the liver, kidney, or central nervous system. Ultrafine Particulates – These particles are not yet regulated by the EPA, but many studies suggest that they are especially harmful to human health and that they are emitted in large quantities by natural gas power plants.
There is an Air Management Services public hearing on June 27th that is need of your public comment by June 24th. SEPTA’s plan to build a natural gas powered plant in the Midvale Complex has not been approved. Any affected neighbor or citizen should submit written comments to express their objections or concerns about the SEPTA power plants. Written comments can be submitted to Ed Weiner of Air Management Services at 321 University Ave. The due date for comments in June 24, 2017. The focus of comments should be specifically about Air Quality issues.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Okay. In your testimony, Page 3 of your testimony states the fleet enhancement are a key component of SEPTA's capital program. Bottom line, you're going to purchase a number of vehicles. So you probably may or may not be aware that there's this push because of the potential of the diversification of PGW, which is our company, the City of Philadelphia, and we support the region, and our ability to have additional fleets that use CNG will help the company significantly, particularly in this group and the expansion of our LNG plant. And I see here you want to purchase 525 hybrid electric buses, and it's kind of hard to argue against electric buses, hybrids, because they do -- is there an opportunity -- and I don't know how the vehicles are built -- that instead of using regular gas, that in a hybrid 6 vehicle you can use CNG?
MR. KNUEPPEL: I don't believe without retrofitting the vehicle. SEPTA has investigated having our buses be CNG, and a couple years ago we did a study on that, and what it showed was that we had to do a significant amount of improvements at our garages where we store them, and we really in many cases are in very tight neighborhoods. If you think about our Allegheny bus garage, homes on three sides and school on a fourth, there's really not a lot of room to expand our footprint and be able to provide the facilities, additional facilities, we'd need for CNG. What we have looked more so is other ways to use gas, and we've converted most of our maintenance facilities and larger facilities all over to gas, and then now we have a very interesting project where what we are -- we're in the investment grade audit stage now. It's a GESA, Guaranteed Energy Savings Act, project. But we're looking to run a significant portion of the regional rail network off of gas and have a combined heat and power project up at our Wayne Junction area. That's the equivalent of over 300 buses, the amount of gas that that facility would use. So SEPTA is using gas. For us right now it's made more sense to utilize it for running regional rail, and that's what we're working on. Also in many ways for SEPTA, you heard that we just received money to start purchasing pure electric buses with batteries, and that has been something that if that technology really pans out, that will really help us and really seems to be that we'll jump over CNG and head to electric buses.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: All right. And this is an interesting conversation, because when I talk to people representing PGW, they reference the fact that obviously electric is a cleaner-burning fuel source, but the origin of the electricity, I'm told those facilities are not as environmentally sound as the CNG-related activities.
MR. KNUEPPEL: When we move to and we have this electric bus pilot, we're actually looking at having the charging station be fueled by natural gas. So that is a conversation we've had with PGW and certainly with -
COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Instead of coal and all the other things.
MR. KNUEPPEL: Right. And even with our regional rail project, getting away from PECO is going to provide a benefit to the region in terms of air quality and cleanliness.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: All right. You sound like you came prepared for that question. I would like to follow up with you. Can you just give me -- because it may be helpful to what we're trying to do. I don't know if the analysis that you did with respect to electric versus CNG -
MR. KNUEPPEL: Okay. Certainly.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: if it was documented, could you get that to us, please.
MR. KNUEPPEL: Yes. Absolutely.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Because we have to make some decisions. We'll be making a determination on the expansion of PGW's plant and diversification plan. So that will be helpful to us. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Notice of Application for Plan Approval at the Midvale Bus Facility
Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) has applied for approval of plans to install a Combined Head and Power Plant (CHP) at its Midvale Bus Facility located at 4130 Wissahickon Avenue, part of its Roberts Complex (SEPTA-Roberts). The CHP will consist of two 6113 horsepower (HP) natural gas-fired generators that will provide steam and electricity to the facility and supplemental electricity to SEPTA’s regional railcars. Each generator will be equipped with a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Oxidation Catalyst (OC) System. The SCR reduces Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions and the OC reduces Carbon Monoxide (CO), Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and Formaldehyde (CH2O) emissions.
Estimated Emissions Impact of New Permit
The table below lists the potential increase in emissions (pollutants released into the air) associated with this project, expressed in tons per year:
Pollutant
Potential Emissions (tons/yr)
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
21.8
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
16.4
Particulate Matter Less Than 10 Microns (PM10)
0.08
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
27.2
Sulfur Oxides (SOx)
0.09
Lead (Pb)
0.00
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) are gases made up of nitrogen and oxygen that are released during the burning of fuel. In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 2.6 tons of NOx into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of NOx if it has the potential to emit 25 tons in a year.
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) is a colorless, irritating gas that is created when fuel containing sulfur is burned. In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 0.9 tons of SOx into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of SOx if it has the potential to emit 100 tons in a year.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas that is formed when carbon in fuel is burned. In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 3.0 tons of CO into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of CO if it has the potential to emit 25 tons in a year.
Volatile Organic compounds (VOC) are chemicals that evaporate at room temperature. In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 1.6 tons of VOC into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of VOC if it has the potential to emit 25 tons in a year.
Particulate Matter Less Than 10 Microns (PM10) are very small substances, such as dust, dirt, soot, smoke, or drops of liquid, that are released into the air during the burning of fuel. In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 2.3 tons of PM10 into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of PM10 if it has the potential to emit 100 tons in a year.
Lead is a metal that can be released into the air during the burning of fuel. In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released a negligible amount of led into the air.
Permit Requirements
SEPTA–Roberts has a facility-wide Synthetic Minor operating permit which limits the total facility emissions below levels defined as major under Federal regulations. SEPTA-Roberts will maintain its Synthetic Minor operating permit and facility emission limits after the installation of the CHP. Since the facility will remain a minor facility, this plan approval application is not applicable to New Source Review (NSR) or Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements, regulations that only apply to major facilities.
The generators are applicable to the Federal Standards of Performance for Stationary Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engines found in 40 CFR Subpart JJJJ. The requirements in this regulation include emission limits for NOx, CO, and Non-Methane Non-Ethane Hydrocarbons (NMNEHC, similar to VOC) on a grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr) basis. The draft plan approval includes emission limits for these pollutants that are significantly lower than the limits found in this regulation. The draft plan approval also includes emission limits for Formaldehyde and Ammonia.
Air Management Services (AMS) must ensure that the proposed target heater operation will comply with all applicable air quality requirements. The final plan approval will include testing, monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements to ensure compliance. These requirements will include initial emission tests for NOx, NMNEHC, CO, Formaldehyde, and Ammonia. SEPTA must conduct additional tests for NOx, NMNEHC CO, and Formaldehyde every 8,760 hours of operation or every 3 years, whichever comes first.
After a plan approval is issued and installation is complete, AMS will confirm by inspection that the units conform to the plan approval conditions and the information supplied in the permit application is accurate. AMS will continue to monitor the units’ operation by reviewing facility reports and visually inspecting the facility on a regular basis.
Emissions Impact on Neighborhood:
AMS determined the project’s emission impact on the neighborhood using a computer model called AERSCREEN. The computer model projects the worst-case emission level in the area due to the project based on project characteristics such as the emission rate, exhaust stack details, and local geography. AMS ran the computer model for NOx emissions, the pollutant with the highest expected emissions due to the project. AMS compared these results to the EPA standard for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), the main component of NOx. See Table 1 below for the results.
Table 1 – Project Emissions Impact in Parts Per Billion (ppb) NOx
Project
Background
Project + Background
EPA Standard
10.78 ppb
76 ppb
86.78 ppb
100 ppb
Project – This is the emission impact on the neighborhood due to the project. AMS input hourly NOx emissions (based on the emission limits in the draft plan approval); stack temperature, diameter, and height; and local geography into the model to determine the NOx emission concentration increase in the ambient air due to this project. The model determined the maximum 1-hour NOx concentration increase from the combined stack is 10.78 ppb.
Background – This is the existing pollution level in the area without the project. To be conservative, AMS used 76 ppb, the highest certified 1-hour level measured by AMS air monitors in Philadelphia since 2009, as the background level.
Project + Background – This is the maximum projected pollution level in the area after the project.
EPA Standard – This is the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) Primary Standard of 100 parts per billion (ppb) established by EPA for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2). NAAQS primary standards provide public health protection, including protecting the health of "sensitive" populations such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly. For more information on NAAQS standards, see https://www.epa.gov/criteria-air-pollutants/naaqs-table.
The results of the computer model show that the total ambient pollutant concentrations of this project are below the primary standard for NO2. AMS finds that the proposed project does not have the potential for significant health and environmental effects.
Permitting Process
After AMS completed its review of the application, AMS had a public notice published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, to alert community members of the proposed plan approval, the 30-day public comment period, and a public hearing scheduled on June 27, 2017, at 6 PM at the Panati Playground located at 3101 N. 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19132. AMS will address any comments received during the comment period or public hearing before taking final action on the plan approval. You can also comment online at https://actionnetwork.org/forms/submit-a-comment-to-air-management-services
During the public comment period, copies of the application will be available for public review at Air Management Services, 321 University Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104. The public will be able to arrange a visit by calling (215) 685-7572. Copies will also be available at the Falls of Schuylkill Branch (3501 Midvale Avenue, 215-685-2093) and the Nicetown-Tioga Branch (3720 North Broad Street, 215-685
“We condemn attempts to label us as ‘victims,’ a term that implies defeat, and we are only occasionally ‘patients,’ a term that implies passivity, helplessness, and dependence upon the care of others. We are ‘People With AIDS.”
