Friday, February 15, 2008

Breathing - Or Not

Spring might not be in the air quite yet, but there's something out there. Check out your air at Scorecard.

Here's the score in my neck of the woods, St. Joseph County:

In 2002, this county ranked among the dirtiest/worst 10% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of air releases of recognized developmental toxicants.

The Top 10 Polluters in 2002

1 AM GENERAL CORP. Mishawaka
2ROYAL ADHESIVES & SEALANTS SOUTH BEND
3 SAMPSON FIBERGLASS INC. MISHAWAKA
4 ULTRA/GLAS OF LAKEVILLE INC. LAKEVILLE
5 POLYGON CO.WALKERTON
6HONEYWELL AIRCRAFT LANDING SYS. TEMS SOUTH BEND
7 NEW ENERGY CORP. SOUTH BEND
8 EDCOAT L.P. NEW CARLISLE
9 JANCO COMPOSITES INC. MISHAWAKA
10RMG FNDY. MISHAWAKA

13 comments:

Talia Reed said...

But what would we do without all of those businesses that are keeping us employed? I guess we can only hope for better technologies.

Rachel said...

AM General - 2151 employees; Royal Adhesives & Sealants - 150 employees; Sampson Fiberglass - 25 employees; Polygon Co. - 100-250 employees; Honeywell - over 1,000 employees...need I go on? These companies do good things, too...like feed, clothe, and house thousands of families in this county. Hunter/gatherers probably had super clean air. Of course, they were also hunter/gatherers.

Charmi said...

Yes, it certainly makes you wonder how the other 90% of counties with cleaner air than ours, air that isn't quite as likely to harm our children, get by. Certainly people must be starving there, all at the price of clean air. What in the world are they thinking?

Talia Reed said...

Many people who live in other counties commute to St. Joe for their employment.

My mom used to work for Polygon. It was her first professional job, as the Assistant to Human Resources. From there she was hired by Corporate Staffing Resouces to run her office in Walkerton for the company. Polygon was really a springboard for her career. Also, Joe's mom worked in the factory years ago. For a small town like Walkerton, with a population just a little over 2,000, having industry like Polygon (and Premdor, Modern Door, American Roller, etc.) is really a blessing.

Charmi said...

I'm not saying get rid of industry, Talia, by any means. I'm saying that it's not unreasonable to hold industry to higher standards. We give much too much of what is precious to us away.

Talia Reed said...

I am with you on wanting cleaner air, but I am not at all sacrificing the economy to do it. Raising clean air standards might seem like the responsible thing to do, but industry is hurting so much as it is. Companies like these compete in a global economy--with countries that don't have as high air quality standards as ours and therefore we price ourselves out of the market. I do hope however that we can improve our technology not just for cleaner air, but also for newer industries and markets that will boost our economy as well.

Rachel said...

Holding industry to higher standards = money spent = less jobs. We have a life expectancy among the highest in the world...as long as we're eating. Apparently breathing our air still allows us a good 77 years on average; unfortunately, starving kills fairly quickly.

Charmi said...

Man, have they got you brainwashed. Did I mention the other 90% of counties who still get to eat?

Charmi said...

Anyway, this debate is going to fall along political lines, so I suppose it's a waste of typing time. We already know what the other is going to say!

Rachel said...

Yes, I've been suspecting "they" have been brainwashing people. You ARE talking about the aliens originally from the planet Xena who live underground near the earth's molten core, right? How did you know about them? Who are you really? What do you want from me?

Charmi said...

You're on to me, Rachel. Of course I am an alien, The Xena, as it were ;-)

Rachel said...

I knew it. I could have sworn I spotted one of your tentacles trying to break free from your shirt sleeve once.

Frode Barth-Winslow said...

Those poor Europeans, Canadians, and New Zealanders. None of them have jobs. They can't even compete in the global economy. Thank goodness I live in South Bend, where there's high employment! And when I think South Bend, I think, "competitive in the global economy"! Much more than Frankfurt or Dublin, anyway. All thanks to our low air quality standards! This must be why the dollar is so strong against the Euro right now...