BY ARIEL MARTINO

In print | Published October 2, 2008

On this past Saturday the city of Chester participated in a nationwide day of action to promote the creation of green jobs and to learn about the environmental history of Chester. The event was hosted by the YWCA of Chester and was part of a larger event in multiple cities aimed at educating the urban public about the importance of green jobs and the drawbacks of “dirty” energy like coal.

The day of action in Chester was headed by the PowerVote campaign, a non-partisan group that aims to demonstrate the popular demand, especially among young voters, for responsible and sustainable environmental practices. Currently the PowerVote campaign is collecting signatures on a pledge that promis0es environmental awareness, makes elected officials accountable and demonstrates a desire for viable solutions to global warming.

The event aimed to inform the citizens of Chester not only about the possibility of green jobs but also of green careers as architects and developers. Desire Grover, a Chester resident, worked with PowerVote to organize the event and raise some awareness throughout Chester.

“We need more leaders to come to the table in Chester. Pastors, union leaders, other landowners need to come together and talk about Chester’s green potential. Chester has a history of industry, of burning materials, but it has the potential to become something more positive,” Grover said.

Ladulé Lako LoSarah ’09 and Evan Nesterak ’09 attended this weekend’s events as representatives of the Swarthmore community. “The day of action was a step forward in bridging the campus with the community of Chester in terms of environmental issued,” Lako LoSarah said.

Both Nesterak and Lako LoSarah are members of Earthlust and active in the club’s environmental justice campaign. Last year, they and other members of the campaign began the DelCo Alliance, a group that focuses on the environmental issues facing Delaware County. Through the DelCo Alliance Nesterak met Groves, one of the organizers of this weekend’s events, and became more involved in the PowerVote campaign.

The day of action included a screening of a speech given by Van Jones, a frontrunner in the movement for an increase in green jobs in urban areas. The tagline for the film is, “we can fight poverty and pollution at the same time,” and delineates the ways in which green jobs can benefit the environment.

“Unemployed workers can receive training in solar panel installation, as well as other construction techniques and then be employed to install these environmentally friendly measures. So not only are people put to work, but their work saves energy and reduces energy bills for the consumer,” Nesterak said.

There was also a screening of the documentary “Laid to Waste,” which details the detrimental impacts of waste processing plants on the Chester community. This was followed by a panel discussion about environmental issues specific to Chester. The panel included Angela Chandler, a green developer from Philadelphia, Carol Burnett of the DelCo Alliance, and Tina Johnson, founder of the Chester Co-op.

The event was attended by architects, developers, community leaders and others interested in the environmental justice movement. “[The event] raised awareness about the push for a green economy, and was a forum to discuss how Chester can utilize this push for a green economy to revitalize itself. It was a day of education and discussion. It was the beginning of bigger events and movements in Chester,” Nesterak said.

Grover was heartened by both the turnout and the enthusiasm shown by some of the local architects and developers. “A lot of time there is apathy shown in Chester because the people feel disempowered. But when they heard about a job, people showed up,” Grover said.

Despite the encouragement, the theme of disenfranchisement rang throughout the day. Chester is full of trash incinerators that were built in the city because its residents did not have enough political leverage to oppose their construction. These incinerators cause a huge amount of pollution, which increases the instances of asthma in Chester’s youth.

Similarly, until the Chester Co-op’s creation this past year, there hadn’t been a grocery store in the city of Chester for seventeen years. It was difficult to buy fresh produce in the city, which some believe may have contributed to an increased frequency of diabetes.

These are just two examples of what Jones calls “Eco-apartheid,” the concept that only a small segment of the population has the financial stability to consistently make environmentally friendly decisions. While a middle class family may have the means to buy local organic food, drive to a recycling center, or move to a clean, unpolluted neighborhood, many people below the poverty line cannot make these adjustments.

“The day of action was also about bringing awareness to the fact that everyone should have the opportunity to benefit from environmentally conscious measures, not just those who can afford it. It also brought awareness to how far-reaching environmental issues are. Environmental issues directly affect healthcare, including physical health and diet, and the economy,” Nesterak said.

Chester’s past disenfranchisement creates an even greater push for the green job movement. The city has long been a place for the unsightly aspects of Delaware County — trash incinerators, chemical spills, poverty and corruption. The commonly held belief by proponents of the environmental justice movement is that the citizens of Chester can break from the past by creating a labor force to confront the past environmental practices.

“There are a lot of forces that oppress people [in Chester] from the outside — from state to county to city. So when help comes in from the outside and tries to fix the problem, they’re just putting a band aid on it. It’s a band aid, not a solution,” Grover said.

To spread the message, Nesterak and Lako LoSarah screened the documentary “American Blackout,” the story of urban voter disenfranchisement in the 2004 presidential election.
Both Swarthmore students and members of the Chester community attended the screening, which was followed by a panel discussion.

“There are definitely shady politics behind the reason why Chester is home to so many polluting factories. So promoting knowledge of the political power structure leads to knowledge of why the environment is not being protected in Chester the way it should,” Nesterak said.

“There are corrupt officials raping the city. People need to fight harder, to get up and take a stand, but a lot of times people can’t fight with what they don’t have,” Grover said.

Grover hopes to use “American Blackout” as an education tool in Chester by showing it to new voters and youth to teach about voter disenfranchisement. Lako LoSarah and Nesterak hope to screen “American Blackout” at least three more times in and around Chester. They and other members of the Earthlust environmental justice campaign are also planning on collecting signatures for the PowerVote pledge at Friday’s rally for wind power.

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