The BobboSphere: Don't believe everything you think.

Goose Island is the ­only island ­located on the Chicago River. I suspect most Chicagoans would need MapQuest to even find Goose Island. Once a center for manufacturing, the neighborhoods surrounding it have been quietly gentrified over the years. Until quite recently, the island was most famous for the beer that is brewed at its local Goose Island Brewery.

But that was before the December 2008 sit-in by the employees of the Republic Windows and Doors plant located on Goose Island. When their plant suddenly and illegally shut down, the workers demanded a fair severance package and the payment of accrued and unused leave.They occupied the plant in an effort to win their demands.

Last fall two environmentalists did a barnstorming tour together touting the advantages of solar and wind to politicians in three states. Nothing unusual about that except that one of them was the president of the United Steel Workers union and the other was the president of the Sierra Club.

A hardhat and backpacker together? Yep, economic crisis.....meet the environmental crisis.