FREE ESSAY ON THE TREE

THE TREE

For immediate release:
July 6, 1999
Regional Clean Air Partnership
The Clean Air Partnership will be hosting a "VIP Reception" on Thursday, July 8th at the
Science Center from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The reception is being held in an effort to
increase the level of awareness of CEO's and senior managers of area businesses and
institutions regarding the continued need to address ozone air quality in the greater
metropolitan region.
To date, nearly 400 local employers are formally participating in either the Clean Air
Partnership's Clean Air Coordinator (CAC) or Ridefinder's Employee Transportation
Coordinator (ETC) Programs. These efforts involve the education and encouragement of
employees to take voluntary measures to improve regional air quality, largely based in
the use of car/van pools and mass transit. Many of these measures are recommended in
response to American Lung Association's ozone forecasts that are disseminated to the
CAC's and ETC's as well as through local news media, roadside message boards and the
Science Center overpass to the general public.
In an effort to expand Clean Air Partnership participation beyond response to bad ozone
forecasts, Dick Fleming, President and CEO of the Regional Commerce and Growth
Association, and Honorary Co-Chair of the Clean Air Partnership, made special invitation
to several area business and civic leaders to attend the VIP Reception on Thursday. "The
reason for this gathering is simple," Fleming stated. "We want to continue our ongoing
efforts to improve the air quality in the region. While we have made great strides
bringing the number of bad air days down in the last decade - down 80% from the mid-80's
- there is still more to accomplish. Not only do we want to assure compliance with all
local, state and federal clean air laws, but we also want to do all we can to assure the
highest quality of life possible for those who live and work throughout the region."
Through a new "Community Development" committee within the Clean Air Partnership, our
business and civic leaders will be encouraged to institutionalize the notion throughout
the region that attention to air quality is essential in order to maintain a healthful,
as well as economically sustainable, lifestyle in the greater region. Examples of such
"institutional" contributions have already been demonstrated by both and Illinois
Departments of Transportation in planned deferment of lawnmowing and painting operations
on "red" air days, and MSD's postponement of a household hazardous waste collection day
until after the ozone season. 
"Participation does not have to be costly or burdensome. It just takes planning, and some
institutional commitment," Fleming added. That is the point of Thursday's reception.
The Clean Air Partnership is ......... (I'm sure Julie has canned stuff for this).
Bibliography
1999 George Lucas