How Closing Manufacturing Plants Can Be Transformed into Community-Saving Business Ventures

By Angela Walker , AlterNet. Posted November 12, 2008.

Ford's oldest plant in operation, which is set to close in 2011 will be the epitome of the changes to come.

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Hit hard by the slowdown in the marketplace and higher fuel prices, Ford Motor Company recently experienced its largest quarterly loss in its 105-year history. With people evacuating their fuel-inefficient vehicles, Ford is experiencing its delayed rude awakening about the unsustainability of an auto industry geared towards producing pickups and sport utility vehicles. Despite plans to introduce six small cars made in Europe to the U.S. market, Ford today announced another 10 percent reduction in salaried payroll costs and will cut as many as 2,200 salaried jobs by January.

The oldest Ford plant still in operation -- the Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant in St. Paul, Minnesota -- will be the epitome of the changes to come. With plans to shut down in 2011, an additional 900 jobs will be lost in a plant that used to employ 2,000 workers. Communities throughout the state have already experienced the brunt of the country's economic downturn, Minnesota having lost 50,000 manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2006 alone, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

"We're just hemorrhaging," states former United Auto Worker (UAW) official, Lynn Hinkle, who retired over a year ago from a 30-year career at the Twin Cities Ford plant.

Yet something unusual is in the works that could change the future of this 140-acre manufacturing site and convert it into a model for green manufacturing. A coalition of the local UAW 879, McAllister University students, and affordable housing and environmental groups have formed the Alliance to Reindustrialize for a Sustainable Economy (ARISE) to design a green manufacturing site. The ARISE project is currently being considered by the Minnesota Legislature under Senate File 607 as a way to transition workers into a mixed-use facility for green manufacturing.

ARISE is re-envisioning how people look at industry, which historically has collided with the environmental movement. Their reindustrialization plans serve as an opportunity for industry to play a key role in the green economy.

"It is becoming increasingly clear to people in the union movement that our job security is dependent upon the new energy economy," states Hinkle. "If you're about family sustaining jobs, you have to connect global warming solutions and jobs otherwise you're going to have neither."

Ford's current training center would be converted into a green jobs training program for onsite wind turbine manufacturing and installation, and light rail car production. A plan to expand the light rail system is in the works to reach out to surrounding, traditionally low-income communities, which have been working with ARISE on the reindustrialization plans.

The Ford plant, located on the Mississippi River, is already connected to a hydroelectric system, which produces 18 megawatts of hydropower, and has powered the plant for over 80 years. Additionally, there exists a maze of tunnels onsite that were originally dug out for silica, used in making glass for windshields. These tunnels may be used for ground-source heating.

"We believe there's enough green energy sources on site to go totally noncarbon," says Hinkle.

With 140 acres, the coalition has the space to get creative with its envisioning and holistic approach. Businesses would be brought in to develop retail shops on the lower levels of buildings with affordable, residential units above. Walkways up and over the buildings would connect rooftop restaurants and bars to urban gardens with beautiful views of the Mississippi River. To connect the shops to the light rail, small electric vehicles would be produced onsite.

Throughout the last century, manufacturing jobs and industry have played a significant role in the growth of cities and development of communities by providing families with low entry-level jobs. Communities cannot afford to continue experiencing the off-shoring of their manufacturing jobs, especially during the current economic downturn. ARISE's plan is to develop this site as a prototype for turning brown fields, or old industrial grounds, into green manufacturing sites to support green jobs and sustainable community development.

Student group Summer of Solutions -- in partnership with economic justice organization, Global Exchange -- sees the future of their generation invested in this project.

"If we're going to build the green economy, we have to start here," says McAllister graduate Joseph Adamji. "The green jobs movement and the whole idea of shifting and expanding economic opportunity are to make social changes happen. As much as this project is about the Ford site, we need to use it as a model for how we develop communities, intentionally and sustainably."

City planners hope to see this space used as a central hub for sustainability projects for St. Paul and beyond.

"We could redevelop old manufacturing cities like Detroit and bring economic opportunities and prosperity," states Adamji. "We're trying to say that industry can play a role in the green economy."

Decarbonize, reindustrialize, equalize, is what ARISE is saying. The new energy economy can be used to battle lagging economic opportunities and social inequity. ARISE hopes to inspire communities -- from Flint, Michigan to Richmond, California -- to decide how they want to develop a new sense of community. Reindustrialization can be part of this process by formulating ways to generate green energy, mass transit, higher density and energy efficient buildings, and affordable housing.

"This is an opportunity to change the landscape literally and figuratively," says Hinkle. "What a great basis to rebuild the union movement. It's an opportunity for the green union movement to emerge, where unions can stand center stage and create aspirations for our entire society."

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Angela Walker is the media director for Global Exchange.

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What the coal companies know that ARISE doesn't: [Report this comment] Posted by: AsteroidMiner on Nov 12, 2008 9:15 PM Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] As long as you keep messing around with wind, solar, geothermal and wave power, the coal industry is safe. There is no way wind, solar, geothermal and wave power can replace coal, and they know it. The coal fire has to keep on burning in case the wind dies or the sun goes down. If you quit being afraid of nuclear, the coal industry is doomed. Every time you argue in favor of wind, solar, geothermal and wave power, or against nuclear, King Coal is happy. ONLY nuclear power can put coal out of business. Nuclear power HAS put coal out of business in France. France uses 30 year old American technology. So here is the deal: Keep being afraid of all things nuclear and die either when [not if] civilization collapses or when H2S comes out of the ocean and Homo "Sapiens" goes extinct. OR: Get over your paranoia and kick the coal habit and live. Which do you choose? I put quotation marks around "Sapiens" because it is not clear that most of us have enough brains to avoid extinction when it is clearly predicted and the safe path has been pointed out. Nuclear is the safe path. PS: Nuclear is the cheapest and safest source of electricity. Nuclear life cycle CO2 output is the lowest per kilowatt hour because it takes a huge number of windmills or solar collectors or wave machines or whatever to produce the same power as a nuclear power plant. All of those windmills or whatever have manufacturing processes that make CO2. Hydro power requires an enormous amount of concrete. The first step in making concrete is heating limestone to drive off the CO2. That is one of the sources of CO2 from hydro power. The price for electricity for the various sources of power include the total life cycle costs. The cost to build the reactor is not much different from the cost to build a coal fired power plant and the money comes from the same source. Whoever would pay for the reactor is the same person who would pay for the coal burner. Nuclear is the cheapest and the only full time replacement for coal. Nuclear power would be much cheaper than it is if nuclear were allowed to be as unsafe as the other sources of power. Nuclear power plants are self-insured. Tax money is NOT involved and would not be mentioned if it were not for the civil disturbances caused by coal company shills, alias protesters. The nuclear industry needs and deserves protection from people who are obviously either mentally ill or very misinformed. When tax money is mentioned with respect to nuclear power, the money is the extra money that is wasted because of pointless protests. There is NO SUCH THING as nuclear waste. There is fuel that is being wasted for political reasons and because the coal industry has driven Americans paranoid. The coal industry's reason for doing so is the $100 Billion per year cash flow they receive as long as you are afraid of all things nuclear. If you remain afraid of all things nuclear and prevent the conversion from coal to nuclear everybody dies. The cure is for everybody to go to college and get a 4 year degree in a hard science [physics or chemistry] or engineering, or for Americans to start acting like the French people with respect to nuclear power. I have never worked for the nuclear power industry. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Wind is a 15% solution at best. The existence of some wind energy for a few poeple doesn't mean there is enough wind energy for everybody. [Report this comment] Posted by: AsteroidMiner on Nov 12, 2008 9:25 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Global Ocean Wind Energy Potential according to NASA Wind Energy Potential according to NASA Large images [On the original web site. If you look at the images, you see that the best wind is at very INconvenient locations, like near Antarctica and in the North Pacific ocean.] "Wind energy has the potential to provide 10 to 15 percent of the world’s future energy, according to Paul Dimotakis, chief technologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Once windmills are installed, wind can be converted to electricity inexpensively. But not everyone likes wind farms. The giant collection of whirling blades mars scenic views and can kill birds and bats, particularly if located in a high-traffic flyway. To minimize these risks, one solution may be to place wind farms in the ocean. Wind tends to blow stronger over the ocean than over land. The ocean presents a smooth surface over which wind can glide without interruption, while hills, mountains, and forests tend to slow or channel wind over land. But, as any sailor could tell you, wind over the ocean isn’t consistent. In some places, the air is still, while in others, the wind blows fiercely. To identify potential wind farm locations, NASA scientists Tim Liu, Wenqing Tang, and Xiaosu Xie, all at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, mapped out average wind intensity over the ocean between 2000 and 2007. They created their maps from data collected by NASA’s Quick Scatterometer (QuickSCAT), which measures wind speed and direction over the world’s oceans. The satellite sends pulses of microwave energy through the atmosphere to the ocean surface and measures the energy that bounces back from the wind-roughened surface. The energy of the microwave pulses changes depending on wind speed and direction. The scientists averaged QuikSCAT’s measured wind speeds by season, and then calculated the wind power density, the amount of energy that could be derived from a wind turbine in a given location. Their maps for the winter and summer seasons are shown here. Wind strength is influenced by seasonal patterns, land-ocean interactions, land topography, and ocean temperatures. All of these interactions are evident in this pair of images. Areas of high wind power density, where winds are strongest, are purple, while low power density regions are light blue and white. The largest patterns shown in the images are seasonal patterns. In December, January, and February, winter storms fuel strong winds in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. In June, July, and August, winter reigns in the Southern Hemisphere, and the pattern is reversed. The Asian monsoon also controls the seasonal distribution of wind. In June, July, and August, strong winds gust across the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. From December to February, the monsoon winds blow over the East China Sea. Finally, the trade winds trace their way across the tropics, stronger in the winter than in the summer." ==================article continues at the URL above========= [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] ARISE can't compete with GE and Siemens on wind turbines. [Report this comment] Posted by: AsteroidMiner on Nov 12, 2008 9:47 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] General Electric and Siemens are already years into the wind turbine business. Both have $ Trillion capitalizations. Each has many thousands of degreed scientists and engineers, a century of experience and everything else they need to make ARISE's efforts look and be foolish. ARISE would be foolish to try to build wind turbines in competition with GE and Siemens. Likewise, Toyota is the maker of hybrid cars until General Motors, Ford and Chrysler decide to make hybrid cars or electric cars. Even if they go through bankruptcy, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will still be ahead of ARISE. ARISE has no chance. GE is the company that makes "light rail," heavy rail" and any other grade of electric or diesel trains. ARISE gets an "A" for positive attitude and a good luck wish. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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