Obama Center Presents a Chance for Biden to Place Environment Before Politics

President Biden is known for his regular Amtrak commute from Wilmington, Delaware to Washington, D.C. The main Amtrak station in the region, Union Station, is a stone’s throw from the U.S. Senate Office buildings, which is now at the center of one of the many early environmental decisions issued by the Biden Administration to address the environmental concerns generally and policies from the previous administration. 

The administration’s actions came after Washingtonians appealed to newly appointed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and others to order the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to “reconsider and revise” its multibillion-dollar redevelopment plan of Union Station, the region's busiest transit hub.

A brief review of the FRA’s original plan for Union Station would not have destroyed nearby green spaces or otherwise significantly increased the physical footprint of the 107-year-old train station. However, critics argued that FRA’s plan was “too car-centric,” with too many parking spaces for greenhouse gas-emitting personal vehicles. Their plan would have about 1,000 fewer parking spaces to encourage more ride-sharing, as well as more rented bicycle and scooter use. Mr. Buttigieg seems to have sided with critics as the FRA will now revise its plans. 

This reversal gives new hope to Chicagoans who have similarly urged policymakers to slow down and reconsider previously rushed, environmentally obtuse, and politically influenced decisions to locate the proposed Obama Presidential Center (OPC) in historic Jackson Park. The park is the city’s magnificent, 150-year-old Frederick Law Olmsted-designed urban oasis full of wildlife, trees, rolling green grass, and exquisite landscaping.   

Like the Washington activists, Protect Our Parks (POP), a Chicago-based grassroots nonprofit, submitted a detailed letter to Mr. Buttigieg and then-acting-Interior Secretary Scott de la Vega. The letter outlined the concerns of findings from the Federal Highway Administration, National Park Service, and the city of Chicago that turned a blind eye to the proposed OPC’s significant environmental impact on Jackson Park. In fact, they seem to go out of their way to misinterpret applicable federal law — specifically, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Transportation Act — that requires foremost consideration of “prudent and feasible alternative[s]” to any proposed use of public land and “all possible planning to minimize harm to the park . . . or historic site resulting from the use.” 

At a very simplistic level, the current plan ignores that construction at Jackson Park will destroy 1,000 carbon-sequestering trees, further jeopardize Lake Michigan’s rising lake levels, and negatively impact a migratory bird corridor. The harms posed to Jackson Park by the current OPC plan are at least as onerous as those posed to the Capitol Hill area by the initial Union Station plan. To add to the issues, four thoroughfares would be closed from the OPC construction, increasing traffic snarls and thereby elevating idle engines contributing to the city’s air quality issues and GHG emissions.

Fortunately, we believe there is a winning alternative for the OPC, not far away, on the city’s South Side adjacent to Washington Park, which federal agencies, Chicago leaders, and the Obama Foundation have not seriously considered. 

 

While we have opposed the Jackson Park location, we share and support former President Obama’s desire to bring much-needed economic development to Chicago’s South Side. We believe that can be better achieved at the site near Washington Park while preserving Jackson Park, maintaining the environment, and protecting park space. 

As the Biden Administration moves to advance its environment and climate agenda, it must afford Chicagoans working to preserve park space and the environment the same consideration it afforded Washingtonians working against parking spaces at Union Station.  

We urge that a careful, dispassionate review of relevant environmental and land use laws and regulations be required with all comparable projects.

We believe a solution exists to break ground on the South Side and transcend economic barriers while protecting the environment and preserving our parks. The question is, will anyone look at the trees and park space rather than the parking spaces and politics. 

Herb Caplan is the president and founder of Protect Our Parks, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago.