Russia Today (RT) Falsely Connects West Virginia Chemical Spill To US House Republicans (UPDATED)

January 12, 2014 - (Updated Jan. 13) - The terrible chemical spill in West Virginia last Thursday is a horrible thing. We all agree on that. But who is to blame? Well, certainly Freedom Industries is. That's the company whose chemicals tainted the local water supply for nine counties, and they're owned by the Koch Brothers. Yes, those Koch Brothers, the ones who support Republicans. But there are others to blame: The Democrats who control West Virginia's state government.

Russia Today (RT) ran a story with this incredibly misleading headline: "US House passed bill ravaging toxic-waste law - on same day as W. Virginia chemical spill."

RT wrote this: "As West Virginians were learning Thursday of a devastating chemical spill in the Elk River that has rendered water undrinkable for 300,000 people, the US House of Representatives was busy gutting federal hazardous-waste cleanup law." Emphasis is mine, and made to show you that whatever the U.S. House of Representatives was doing last Thursday had nothing whatsoever to do with what was happening at the same time in West Virginia.

Analyzing Joe: Why Orange Matters Here

Many of know that Alderman Joe Moore is full of crap, but here's further proof that the 49th Ward Dictator is a hypocrite. He claims to be the Green Alderman. Let's see why green really does not matter to Moore.

Joe lives in a big house on Fargo, about two blocks from his ward office. Yet, he often drives his car to work. Nice carbon footprint.

How much energy must it take to heat the big house in winter? Nice carbon footprint. Are there solar panels anywhere in sight? Nope.

The photo here shows Joe's trash, taken yesterday evening. Click for larger image and notice the cardboard. Does it look ready for recycling to you? Notice the plastic orange Home Depot bucket. Wow...Home Depot.

We've got several issues here.

(1) Plastic buckets are made from petroleum ("oil"), the use of which currently increases our dependence on foreign oil, further enriches the Big Oil companies, leaves a large carbon footprint, and is not bio-degradable.

(2) Is that paint or caulking in the bucket? I don't know, but again, petroleum is involved. Furthermore, how dare he live in a house with paint? Doesn't he know that it would be greener to live in a mud hut somewhere?

(3) Home Depot?!? Say, that's a Big Box store! My God, Mister Anti-Big-Box shops at Home Depot?!? He should be run out of town. Why couldn't he have purchased a locally hand made wooden bucket from a locally owned store or artisan in Rogers Park?

Joe Moore. What a piece of work.

ASBESTOS STOPPED NORTH SHORE SCHOOL DEMOLITION

THE BENCH EXCLUSIVE It's a big open box of dangerous chemicals, and they're blowing freely through the neighborhood and into nearby park land. And the owner knew this was the case even before the building was ripped open, exposing chemical hazards to an entire neighborhood. (And no, this is NOT an April Fools story!) HAZARD IS CONFIRMED After much speculation (see "Related" below) it is confirmed that the sudden work stoppage of the North Shore School demolition in Rogers Park was ordered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). The Bench has learned from a trusted source that demolition was stopped within hours of its start, by the IEPA, because of asbestos and other hazardous chemicals and materials contained within the building structure. According to Don Gordon, a local lake shore activist who tried to stop the demolition in the eleventh hour, the owner allegedly knew the school building held a "brew of dangerous chemicals." Combined with what The Bench's anonymous source tells us about the IEPA action, many more questions are raised. Did 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore know of the hazards before the demolition began? Many people speculated that this was so, and according to Mr. Gordon, the owner's own contractor allegedly knew it beforehand. While it's good that the IEPA stopped the demolition, why has it not ordered the gaping building sealed to contain the hazardous materials? Why have no warning signs been posted, no fliers distributed to warn neighbors of the hazardous materials blowing out of the partially demolished building? Where are Joe Moore's email blasts to advise neighbors to keep windows closed? Why did the owner of the property, if indeed she did know of the hazards, proceed with the demolition? What will be done to correct this?