November 11: Energy lessons, crisis | Vine Street Expressway construction | On healing

Happy Veterans Day. We thank those who have served, as well as their families. Expect government offices to be closed today. And maybe give In Flanders Fields a read.

As the prospect of an energy export hub coming to Southport, Hidden City Daily shares a cautionary tale about fossil fuel facilities on the Delaware tracing the history of Publicker Industries’ ethanol plant, once located just north of the Walt Whitman Bridge and “deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency to be the most concentrated waste disaster in the Mid-Atlantic region.”

Meanwhile on the Schuylkill, Reuters reports that Philadelphia Energy Solutions faces an “existential crisis” once again, wrought by declining oil prices and a lot of debt. “In recent weeks, the refiner has cut about 25 percent of non-union staff, reduced benefits and postponed capital projects, according to sources at the plant. A letter to employees from the company’s CEO, Phil Rinaldi, a refinery turnaround specialist, describes the situation in stark terms. ‘The company’s finances are significantly stressed,’ Rinaldi said in the letter, sent to employees in September.”

OCF Realty’s Naked Philly reports an eight story (apparently by-right) building is expected to rise at Broad and Parrish. It will have ground floor commercial, parking stacked in the basement, first floor, second floor, and apartments on floors three to eight.

Starting Monday, the Vine Street Expressway will be closed overnight for construction. The closure will be between the Schuylkill and Broad Street nightly from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. through November 22.

And here’s your Friday food for thought: Can a divided America heal? Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt speaks with TED curator Chris Anderson about the moral underpinnings of our politics and ways forward. (h/t Jim Saksa)

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