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 April 17, 2013 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 There has been a peculiar silence out of Springfield as it relates to fracking. And that is a problem. As I’ve noted previously, there are virtually no laws governing hydraulic...continued→
Posted April 17, 2013 by Henry Henderson in Environmental Justice
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The annual Goldman Prize is an exceptionally important honor, celebrating the extraordinary commitment of grassroots environmental leaders who stand for the integrity and dignity of citizens and communities. The annual...continued→
Posted April 2, 2013 by Henry Henderson
Change comes slow. Especially when it runs headlong into 150 years of history. That is certainly the case with the Chicago River, a waterway long maligned and mistreated at the heart of this city. While many have long embraced...continued→
Posted March 24, 2013 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution
One of the most fascinating and disturbing issues that comes up again and again around fracking is the multitude of exemptions and entitlements that have been handed to the industry at the expense of citizens. Exemptions from the federal drinking...continued→
Posted March 6, 2013 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming
"Eventually, I think Chicago will be the most beautiful great city left in the world." Frank Lloyd Wright Unquestionably, Chicago’s skyline is among the most beautiful in the world. But its beauty is only part of what makes any...continued→
Posted March 1, 2013 by Henry Henderson
Last week a fracking bill came out of the Illinois General Assembly that got a lot of attention. This week I got a look at a video that reminds me why it was so important for so many people and...continued→
Posted February 21, 2013 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment
Illinois has the potential to be the next state washed over in the fracking wave moving across the country. That could be a big problem as companies are buying up mineral rights in many counties, even though the state has...continued→
Posted January 15, 2013 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming
Last week, there was much attention focused on the impact that continued reductions in Lake Michigan’s already historic low water levels might have on the Chicago River if the mighty drought gripping the region were to continue. Namely, a...continued→
Posted December 20, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming
Low water levels are visible almost everywhere you look in the normally water-rich upper Midwest right now. The Mississippi River is so low that it needs emergency blasting to clear rocks impeding barge travel. And the Great Lakes are approaching...continued→
Posted December 14, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce yesterday released a pretty, remarkably rosy sounding report, speculating on the potential impacts that fracking might have on Illinois’ economy. It is, as I say, remarkable stuff. “Natural gas development could create more than 45,000...continued→
Posted November 20, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution
There is more than one important holiday this week. Monday was World Toilet Day. Reading this in the relatively developed world, especially in the relatively clean and sterile world of modern America, we might be tempted to stifle a...continued→
Posted November 2, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
Spectacular storm Sandy immobilizes the biggest city in America, along with large swaths of the East Coast, and I find myself thinking about the most unspectacular stuff…infrastructure. Disasters like we saw this week laid bare the hidden systems that we...continued→
Posted October 10, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Over and over the Asian carp debate gets dumbed down into "fish vs. barges." Usually it relates to pushback against any changes being made to the Chicago Waterways System, but also pops up in the increasingly common occurrence of...continued→
Posted October 5, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Another day, another disappointment. Earlier this year, Congress gave the Army Corps of Engineers clear orders to sort out a plan to deal with the movement of Asian carp in Chicago’s waterways to prevent the invasive fish from infesting...continued→
Posted September 12, 2012 by Henry Henderson in Curbing Pollution, The Media and the Environment
Sometimes you need a new perspective on things to see them clearly, as if for the first time. Take the Chicago River. Many of us interact with the waterway on a daily basis, but in a passive manner. And,...continued→
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