I was born in Granite City, Illinois, a steel town where the coke plant sits on property once farmed by my Great-Great Grandfather. Other family members came to work in the steel mill, drawn both by the jobs as a way out of mining coal, and by the strong union culture of the community. Nonetheless, the jobs were hard and the environment polluted. Now, most of those jobs are gone, but the legacy of pollution remains. I think the experience of growing up in that community has been the basis for my interest in law and the environment: providing a focus and training to address public policies, institutions and priorities that affect the health, safety and sustainability of people and their communities.
Prior to joining NRDC, I served as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois, the founding Commissioner of Environment for the City of Chicago, and as a principal in an environmental and public policy consulting firm. I have also taught environmental law and policy at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Posted May 23, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming
As the dignitaries all fly out after this weekend’s NATO conference in Chicago, the focus does not really shift from global security here. Wednesday marks the EPA’s hearings on the proposed Greenhouse gas standards for new power plants, one of...continued→
Posted May 12, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
This must have looked like a dismal week for the folks overseeing the efforts to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. In the face of news that their vaunted anti-carp electric barrier had suffered a mechanical...continued→
Posted May 7, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
I got a call over the weekend looking for my take on news that the electric barrier, billed as a “success” and the best tool to keep the invasive Asian carp away from Lake Michigan, had lost power, leaving...continued→
Posted April 25, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, U.S. Law and Policy
Listen to the fracking fanatics in Ohio and you are likely to hear lots about the economic possibility, but a whole lot less about its economic and environmental liabilities. Despite cavalier statements from boosters of this newly popular technique, there...continued→
Posted March 27, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Moving Beyond Oil
It is official. Chicago is in the grips of the highest gas prices in its history. With that reality firmly shoved up our noses, you’d think that lawmakers would do everything they can to help the situation, not make it...continued→
Posted February 29, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice
After decades of pushing back against public fury, basic economics, and the Clean Air Act, Chicago’s dinosaur coal plants are on their way out. A deal has been brokered with Midwest Generation, LLC to close the coal units at...continued→
Posted January 31, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
No big decision is made overnight. And many of the biggest take years to come together… before finally, at a critical moment, all of the necessary pieces fall into place. That is what is happening in the discussion around...continued→
Posted January 26, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution
Good news for human health and a clean energy economy out of Ohio today: an announcement that FirstEnergy is closing units at six of the nastiest coal plants in the nation. Four of the plants sit on the shores of...continued→
Posted January 21, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil
I was surprised to see Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady had been scheduled to take part in a big Keystone XL pipeline rally this week in the Quad Cities. Given the decision to deny the ill-conceived project’s permit this week,...continued→
Posted January 13, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution
I was truly pleased to see President Obama visit with the beleaguered staff at the Environmental Protection Agency this week. Given the withering and unfair attacks launched at the EPA from some in Congress who would undo the protections...continued→
Posted November 9, 2011 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution
The We Energy spill last week is not the only coal ash mess testing the Great Lakes. The Chicago Tribune ran a great story this week about the region's last coal-powered steamship, The Badger, which dumps four tons of...continued→
Posted November 6, 2011 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution
In case you missed it, an aging pile of toxic coal ash adjacent to a Wisconsin coal plant collapsed into Lake Michigan early Monday morning. Yeah, that’s the beloved lake that is a source of recreation and drinking water...continued→
Posted November 2, 2011 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably
This week sees the release of a very important book by visionary architect Jeanne Gang, Reverse Effect: Renewing Chicago’s Waterways. The book sprouts from the collaboration between Jeanne Gang, her excellent colleagues at Studio Gang, very smart students at Harvard’sGraduate School of...continued→
Posted September 29, 2011 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
I was recently asked to submit an OpEd on the Keystone XL pipeline for the Illinois Business Journal in the MetroEast area of the state where I grew up. It is an interesting place for the project to be debated,...continued→
Posted September 28, 2011 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution
Chicago is filled with remnants of days gone by, buildings and infrastructure created to serve people and the economy, some still in service, some no longer used, and some serving a new purpose of helping us remember and focus...continued→
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