Green LA Coalition Honors Michele Prichard, Cecilia Estolano, and the Teamsters Joint Council 42
by Katherine Butler
This week, the movers and shakers of Los Angeles met to honor those who have been working to green the city for the rest of us. Green LA Coalition celebrated Michele Prichard, Cecilia V. Estolano, and the Teamsters Joint Council 42 for their recent efforts in the green world. And they did so right in the heart of downtown Los Angeles at hipster hot spot Cuidad.
Amidst crispy quinoa balls and “Green City” margaritas featuring USDA Organic Casa Noble tequila, the honorees mingled with honorers. The fundraising event was organized by Green LA Coalition, which is a group of 100 organizations working to “provide vision, expertise and community support for making Los Angeles the greenest big city in America.” Other sponsors included Antioch University, The Nature Conservancy, TreePeople, the Los Angeles County Metro, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and more.
First, I spoke with Jonathan Parfrey, Director of the Green LA Institute. This is the education and capacity building arm of Green LA Coalition, which works to bring timely information and resources to the environmental community. As Parfrey explained, “we put on workshops conference, meetings with elected officials, tours of local facilities and more.” Parfrey, who is also the Commissioner of LA Department of Water and Power, further detailed a new green initiative by the LA DWP. According to Parfrey, soon DWP employees “will start going door to door to help city of LA learn more about with water conversation, energy efficiency rebates, and essentially transitioning into green lifestyle.”
Director Parfrey then introduced me to their first honoree, Michele Prichard. According to Parfrey, “Michele is really sort of a woman who helped get Green LA Coalition off the ground.” Prichard is the Director of Common Agenda at the Liberty Hill Foundation. Liberty Hill advances movements for social change through a unique combination of grants, leadership training and alliance building. Common Agenda was formed to bring different community groups to make a difference in public policy.
Prichard was honored for her work, but told me that “it really was a team effort. Green LA wouldn’t be here without the contributions of dozens of leaders.” When I asked her how she felt about being honored by the Green LA Coalition, she informed me that she was most thrilled “by the fact that Green LA has brought together the environmental justice movement, but also other arenas like affordable housing. Tonight, a lot of different communities coming together and I’m excited to see it.”
The evening also acknowledged Cecilia V. Estolano, who Director Parfrey informed me has been “a superstar in bringing a green building infrastructure to LA.” Estolano is part of Green for All, a national organization that advocates for broad access and opportunity in the clean- energy economy. She is spearheading Green for All’s effort to scale public-private partnerships that grow family-supporting, green jobs in cities across the country.
And last but certainly not least, the evening honored the green work of the Teamsters Joint Council 42. The Teamsters have been active in the Clean Truck Program at the Port of Long Beach. Reports are that this program has reduced air pollution from harbor trucks by nearly 80 percent as of January 1, 2010. On this date, the Port banned trucks with 1993 and older engines, as well as nearly all trucks with 1994-2003 engines. And they aren’t stopping there. Next up, the Teamsters are going to start greening up trash collection of the city of Los Angeles.
Photo: Honoree Michele Prichard with Paul Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Southern California Association of NonProfit Housing.
Low sperm count seen in Chinese workers exposed to high levels of plastics chemical BPA
CHICAGO (AP) -- Chinese factory workers exposed to high levels of the plastics chemical BPA had low sperm counts, according to the first human study to tie it to poor semen quality. The study is the latest to raise health questions about bisphenol-A and comes two weeks after Canada published a final order adding the chemical to its list of toxic substances. Whether the relatively low sperm counts and other signs of poor semen quality translate to reduced fertility is not known. Study author Dr. De-Kun Li, a scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., noted that even men with extremely low sperm counts can father children. But Li said finding that BPA may affect sperm is troubling because it echoes studies in animals and follows his previous research in the same men that linked BPA exposure with sexual problems. If BPA exposure can reduce sperm levels, "that can't be good" and means more study is needed to check for other harmful effects, Li said. The study was published online Thursday in the journal Fertility and Sterility. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health funded the research. Andrea Gore, a pharmacology and toxicology professor at the University of Texas who was not involved in the research, called it an important but preliminary study. The results "are at least suggestive of the possibility that BPA may be one of the compounds that are causing some of these changes" in sperm, she said. But Gore said stronger evidence is needed to prove that BPA is indeed the culprit. BPA is used to make resins and strengthen plastics and is found in many consumer products: hard plastic bottles, metal food container linings, dental sealants and eyeglasses. Most Americans' urine contains measurable levels of BPA. Studies in animals have linked the chemical with reproductive problems and cancer. That's led to millions of dollars in new research in people. Steven Hentges of the American Chemistry Council, an industry group, said the study in China "is of limited relevance" to U.S. consumers, who typically are exposed to very low BPA levels that pose no health threat. The study involved 130 Chinese factory employees who worked directly with materials containing BPA and 88 workers who didn't handle it and whose exposure was similar to that of typical American men. Low sperm counts were found in workers who had detectable levels of bisphenol-A in their urine. Poor sperm quality was two to four times more prevalent among these men than among workers whose urine showed no sign of BPA. The lowest sperm counts were in men with the highest levels of BPA. BPA in urine was linked with lower-quality semen even in men who didn't work with the chemical, although their average BPA levels were much lower than in the other group. Li said the average level in this group was similar to that detected in U.S. men. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been evaluating the chemical's safety but declined to say if it is considering following Canada's lead in declaring the chemical toxic. In an e-mailed statement, the FDA said it is working with the National Institutes of Health and others "to advance scientific understanding of BPA and inform our decisions." AP-->
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This week, the movers and shakers of Los Angeles met to honor those who have been working to green the city for the rest of us. Green LA Coalition celebrated Michele Prichard, Cecilia V. Estolano, and the Teamsters Joint Council 42 for their recent efforts in the green world. And they did so right in the heart of downtown Los Angeles at hipster hot spot Cuidad.
Prichard was honored for her work, but told me that “it really was a team effort. Green LA wouldn’t be here without the contributions of dozens of leaders.” When I asked her how she felt about being honored by the Green LA Coalition, she informed me that she was most thrilled “by the fact that Green LA has brought together the environmental justice movement, but also other arenas like affordable housing. Tonight, a lot of different communities coming together and I’m excited to see it.”
