howard mielke

Thursday, April 23, 2015 – 6:30pm

Faubourg St. John neighbor Dr. Howard Mielke has worked hard for decades to investigate and study the effects of lead. He has been a champion for children by pushing to have lead remediation performed in New Orleans’ playgrounds, parks and anywhere children play.

Lead is an insidious threat that you and anyone with children should learn more about. Don’t brush this off as a non-issue. It is truly important to your health and the health of children.

Dr. Howard Mielke has a treasure trove of scientific information about lead. He can explain the scientific facts as simply as you like or get into the intricate details if you want to know more. When it comes to facts about lead and why it should be removed from where children play, Dr. Howard Mielke is “the man”.

You have an opportunity to learn more and to meet with your neighbor Dr. Howard Mielke at the New Orleans Museum of Art Theater on April 23rd at 6:30 p.m.

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Thursday, April 23, 2015 – 6:30pm

New Orleans Museum of Art Theater, City Park

View the entire film on April 23rd at 6:30 p.m.
in the New Orleans Museum of Art Theater in New Orleans City Park.

Getting the Lead Out:
The Intersection of Lead, Crime, Health and Preservation

This year’s Martha Robinson Lecture features clips from the documentary film MisLEAD: America’s Secret Epidemic and a presentation by Faubourg St. John neighbor Dr. Howard Mielke, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine.

: Dr. Howard Mielke

Whether in the paint of our old buildings or in the fuel that was used in our motor vehicles, we are affected daily by the legacy of millions of tons of lead in our environment. The film establishes the medical underpinning about health damage caused by children’s exposure to lead-based paint. In addition, the rise and fall of fuel lead additives are described for New Orleans. MisLEAD shows that legacy lead has an ongoing effect on New Orleans through its impact not just on physical health, but on societal health and behavior. Finally, the film depicts efforts to decrease legacy lead, and ensure the recovery and preservation of New Orleans communities for future generations.

This event will screen segments of the film and will include a panel discussion.

Thursday, April 23, 2015 – 6:30pm

This lecture is FREE and open to the public.

Location of event:

New Orleans Museum of Art Theater, City Park

New Orleans, LA 70119

Thursday, April 23, 2015 – 6:30pm

New Orleans Museum of Art Theater, City Park

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Faubourg St. John neighbor Howard Mielke Makes the News

by Anne Cutler of WGNO-TV
At Community Church Unitarian Universalist, the lobby walls are lined with photos from Hurricane Katrina. Just blocks from the 17th Street canal, the catastrophic levee breach destroyed both the church and its congregation. Board President Howard Mielke says it’s been a long road to recovery for the 50 or so members who remain. “The emotional impact ended up just being horrendous.”

Slowly, but surely, the church has rebuilt- the entire time, keeping an eye on the environment. “We talked about this and we tried to figure out how to do it. We asked our architect to work toward being Energy Star. He said there weren’t any good plans out there, so we really had to start from scratch.”

Atop the church roof, workers install an array of solar panels- the final stage of the project. A company called Solar Alternatives has been developing the plans for about a year and a half and installing the panels over the past few weeks. President Jeff Cantin says, “Solar starts off for a lot of people as just a grand idea and they church members, they knew something about it. We started talking to them about what it would involve on the building, but eventually it came down to: how do you make the investment?”

It’s a big investment. The cost is about a hundred grand, with half covered by Louisiana’s EmPower grant program. The total cost of the rebuild ran about $800,000. When finished, Unitarian Universalist will be the first Energy Star solar church in the nation.

Mielke says, “One of the ways we can have a message to the community is that we’re resilient, sustainable and strong because we also are going to be using much less energy and sharing our energy with the rest of the community as a result.”

The church uses the sun’s energy in more ways than one. Along with solar panels on the outside of the building, the inside during the day uses only natural light, thanks to unique architecture, reflective paint and lots of windows. Mielke explains that, “walls are really important. We have very good insulation in this building. R-30 in the roof and the walls are equally insulated.”

So, they’re protected from the elements and protecting the environment. With the new building complete, Mielke says he’s now focused on rebuilding the congregation and hopes their modern, energy conscious church will attract a younger generation of followers.