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Events

Resources Continued

Champions of Sustainability Presents: Pennsylvania State Planning Board: Report Presentation/Public Input

The Champions of Sustainability Event entitled, "Pennsylvania State Planning Board: Report Presentation/Public Input" will be held on Friday, January 26 from 1 - 2:30 pm on the 31st floor of the Regional Enterprise Tower (Downtown Pittsburgh). Registration begins at 12:30 and there is no fee to attend.

The forum is the first public input meeting on the State Planning Board's recently released report to Governor Rendell. The report addresses recommendations for state policies and actions, including possible legislation, on development, conservation, and land use issues such as:

• Tax revenue sharing and additional authority for tax base sharing that will achieve smart growth goals.
• Amendments to the Municipalities Planning Code regarding comprehensive land use planning to address issues including capital investment decisions and coordinating transportation, infrastructure, and development.
• Amendments to county and municipal codes to establish clear procedures to permit municipal disincorporations as an intermediate step to merger or consolidation.
•Criteria for state investments, incentives for more multimunicipal planning and implementation, and policies for attracting private investment.
•Right-sizing provision of services at the state, county, and local levels; and efficient, well-designed transportation, water and sewer, and other infrastructure that serves state, regional, and local needs.

Presenters: Honorable Judith Schwank, chair PA Planning Board
Alex Graziani, vice-chair PA Planning Board
John Mizerak, PA Department of Community and Economic Development

Panel: Lynn DeLorenzo, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties
Dick Hadley, Cranberry Township Supervisor
Honorable Jake Wheatley Jr., State Representative, 19th Legislative District

Come provide input to this important process of state-wide strategies for reinvesting in cities and towns, fostering growth and competitiveness of both urban and rural economies, and improving the quality of life in all of Pennsylvania’s diverse communities.

To register, call 412-258-6642 or email info@sustainablepittsburgh.org

. Hosted by: PA Department of Community and Economic Development, Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development, Regional Coalition of Community Builders, Sustainable Pittsburgh, and University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics.
Sponsored by:

Resources Continued

US Route 30 Master Plan Community Workshop 2

Thursday, January 18
Registration 6:30 pm
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
Chambers Hall – Hempfield Room
Free workshop, open to the public
For more information, call the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County at 724-836-7048 or go to the project website, www.route30plan.com

The Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County has initiated a process with local planners and community stakeholders to flesh out a vision and plan for the 40-mile stretch of the historic “Lincoln Highway” in Westmoreland County. When complete, the Route 30 Master Plan will become a strategic blueprint for Westmoreland County’s economic growth corridor.

This workshop will focus on regional scenarios. One of the issues participants will discuss is how we might balance the density, design, and type of growth along the US Route 30 corridor in ways that support economic vitality, preserve environmental quality, and move traffic safely. Through gaming exercises and lively dialogue, participants will brainstorm possible growth scenarios, and talk about land use and transportation strategies, that can help achieve the best blend of development and preservation in the years to come.

Come and help the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County plan the future of the US Route 30 Corridor in Westmoreland County.

Champions Connection - Celebrating Diversity

Wednesday, January 31
5:30 - 7:30 pm
One PNC Plaza, 16th Floor
249 Fifth Avenue Pittsburgh (Downtown)
Cost: $10
Space is limited; register by January 26: http://www.lpinc.org/community_events.asp

Celebrating Diversity: A major regional event is being planned for August, 2007. Get a sneak-peak and learn how you can get involved by visiting: http://www.diversecitypittsburgh.org/about.html. This event is hosted by Leadership Pittsburgh Inc., The Allegheny Conference on Community Development, The World Affairs Council, and Sustainable Pittsburgh.

Lecture: Revolution in Environmental Health Sciences: New Opportunities to Prevent Genetic Diseases

Monday, February 5
4:30 pm
Adamson Wing, Baker Hall 136 A
Carnegie Mellon University (Oakland)

The Carnegie Mellon Steinbrenner Institute for the Environment will present Peterson Myers, CEO and Founder, Environmental Health Sciences to speak on the subject of "A Revolution in Environmental Health Sciences: New Opportunities to Prevent Genetic Diseases” as part of the Spring 2007 Environmental Lecture Series. The University Lecture Series was developed by Dr. Indira Nair, Vice Provost of Education and EPP Faculty.

The Green Scene for Homeowners: Hip & Healthy Home

Wednesday, February 7
7 - 9 pm
Construction Junction - 214 N. Lexington St.
Pittsburgh
$15 GBA members, $20 non members
Click to download registration form

Learn how to apply green building principles to home renovation projects. This session will spotlight salvaged and environmentally friendly products.

Ethics Luncheon Forum: Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Thursday, February 8
11:45 am - 1 pm
Duquesne Club, 325 Sixth Ave.
Pittsburgh (Downtown)
Cost: $90
RSVP by February 1: 412-396-4005 or Register Online

Gretchen R. Haggerty, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of United States Steel Corporation, and Major General Jessica L. Wright, the Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, will share their thoughts on the meaning of "breaking the glass ceiling." These female leaders will share their strategies for success in professions that many would consider male dominated. Hosted by Duquesne University's Beard Center for Leadership in Ethics.

Resources

Urban Views: Bruce Katz

"The idea that I most focus on is that cities matter and the country is going through enormous demographic, economical and cultural change,” says Katz. “All the changes put together revalue cities. We’ve tended to treat cities as anachronistic places that were built for a different era and different kind of economy. As we move more toward the knowledge economy, we see that cities have an enormous economic and fiscal value.”..But the time may be right for a change in direction. “We’re on the verge of big changes,” says Katz who names a list of recently elected officials who could turn things around: Governor Eliot Spitzer in New York, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Maryland governor Robert Ehrlich, among them. Both Democrat and Republican, these leaders, are focused on city revitalization and smart growth.” If they’ve been mayors, all the better,” says Katz. “Those who have been mayors are a step ahead of the game. Mayors just intuitively understand the value of cities and adjust policies.”

The Battle of Oak Hill

Will the next mayor of Pittsburgh and county chief executive have the courage to provide leadership to the city and its suburbs to break down racist restrictive covenants and zoning laws that render poor people locked in the inner city with no access to the growing suburban job market? Who has the kind of leadership that can take the regionalism debate beyond the safe confines of "city-county consolidation" to build a truly competitive region, with world-class schools, that values equity and shares our region's vast resources? These are the questions that the Battle of Oak Hill challenges leaders to respond to. It challenges leaders to lead. It's not about the developer -- it's about development!

Sustainable Dream Job: Executive Director, Union Project

An exciting and unique opportunity to lead a progressive organization that has been recognized by it peers and the funding community, both locally and nationally, for finding innovative solutions in restoring and reusing a historic building as an arts and enterprise incubator. The Union Project was created as a gathering and working space for artists, community builders and people of faith. Building on that foundation, the Union Project, employing 25 people and with a budget of nearly a $1 million, has launched several social enterprises that have created wealth for the local community, brought culturally, religiously and socially diverse neighbors to work and play together and has promoted and taught the art of stained glass and ceramics.

Municipality of Murrysville Watershed Management System

Municipality of Murrysville in cooperation with the Borough of Export complete municipal Watershed Management System model. To access the practices, tools, and model ordinances

EU's energy plans - how revolutionary?

Stavros Dimas, Europe's ebullient environment commissioner, is in no doubt that the proposals on climate and energy just unveiled by the European Commission are a major contribution to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The Commission is proposing that Europe call for and negotiate for a 30% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by all developed nations by 2020. Whether those negotiations are successful or not, it wants the 27 EU states to adopt a legally-binding unilateral target of at least 20%. "This is not a step forward, but a leap forward to a low carbon world," he enthused to reporters at a Brussels news briefing.

Big businesses' climate meeting

Major UK companies such as BT, Tesco and BA are to meet to collaborate on tackling climate change. The taskforce will discuss ways in which they can help the environment. BBC business editor Robert Peston says some of Britain's biggest companies are now admitting climate changes is real, dangerous and partly their fault...it will also look at whether money can be made out of potential environmental legislation. He said it was not just a defensive move to ward off new taxes and regulations, but proof that big business saw going green, increasingly, as an opportunity.

Mellon Arena Re-Imagined

Many Pittsburghers expect the silver dome of Mellon Arena to go the way of Three Rivers Stadium. But Shadyside architect Rob Pfaffmann and other preservationists have resumed a four-year-old campaign to keep Mellon right where it is -- and put the structure to new uses. "Imagine opening the dome [permanently] and having it a public space, a place to build some shops, a restaurant, a small hotel, a market" in the Lower Hill District, says Pfaffmann. "It has the potential to be a really spectacular space. Architecturally, it's way ahead of its time. It was cutting-edge."

Elementary scores up

The region's elementary schools have improved their scores in reading and math over the past five years, according to a report by The Pennsylvania Economy League of Southwestern Pennsylvania. "While it's in the right direction, it's not a level of improvement that we can be satisfied or content with," she said. Klaber noted that the rate of improvement is enough to meet the federal goal of having all children proficient by 2014, but not fast enough to meet the local target of total proficiency by 2010.... The data, released Wednesday, analyzed state scores of fifth-graders in reading and math for 138 school districts in 11 counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Mercer, Washington and Westmoreland

Sustainable Pittsburgh discusses the proposed transit cuts in Allegheny County

Court Gould, the Executive Director of Sustainable Pittsburgh, talks with Host Matthew Craig about what this may mean for the region, and long-term solutions for the Pennsylvania Legislature in funding mass transit.

Moms rise up, fight for workplace rights

Thousands of mothers and families, feeling squeezed by the growing demands of work while trying to care for children, are joining together in a new organization called Moms Rising. The group, launched in May of 2006, advocates and coordinates grassroots campaigns for maternity/paternity leave, childcare, job flexibility, and more after school programs. "The middle class is incredibly impacted by a lack of support for family-friendly policies," said co-founder and executive director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. "In the U.S., our policies and programs haven't caught up with modern reality." Moms Rising is currently engaged in a legislative campaign in Pennsylvania to make it illegal for employers to ask about the marital or parental status of prospective employees.

It's time to reinvent Port Authority transit

We can only hope that this bitter medicine will also shock the Legislature and Port Authority labor and management into refashioning a system of transit funding and service that's fit for the 21st century.

Transit cuts here are first step to dedicated state funding

The Port Authority's proposed bus route cuts and fare increases are seen as a small but positive step toward eventually winning aid from the Legislature for mass transit in Allegheny County...Many legislators say they won't approve a dedicated source of funding for mass transit until both the Port Authority in Pittsburgh and SEPTA in Philadelphia initiate changes in work rules and reduce service...Mr. Geist is hoping a package of bills relating to highway/bridge repairs and aid to transit could be ready for legislative action by March or April.

Turnaround Ohio: Revitalizing Our Cities and Towns

Revitalizing Our Cities and Towns is our commitment to give local leaders the tools they need to create jobs and attract investments to make their communities vibrant centers of commerce. There are no great states without great cities, and as Governor and Lt. Governor, we will pursue a revitalization plan and an urban investment agenda that will work to create jobs in vibrant cities, provide an education that works for every student, and ensure we have safe and healthy communities throughout Ohio.

Fayette challenged to fill new jobs, Fay-Penn officials say

He referred to a survey Fay-Penn did last year asking about 50 local employers what their employment needs are and will be. "We learned there are about 2,500 jobs that need to be filled. These are jobs that are entry level, paying $10 an hour all the way up to $40,000 and $50,000 a year jobs. But the employers can't find the people to fill them,'' Krantz said.

EU Wants "Industrial Revolution" in Energy Sector

The commission wants to transform "Europe into a highly efficient and low CO2 energy economy by catalyzing a new industrial revolution, accelerating change to low carbon growth and, over the period of years, dramatically increasing the amount of local, low emission energy," it said in a draft released Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

'Worldwide implications' to EU electro/chemical waste restriction

Tough EU policies on electronic and chemical waste will influence markets, the environment and regulations worldwide, according to a study by two US academic experts with several countries already introducing similar laws...In particular, three recent EU environmental policies are gradually being implemented across the 27 European Union member nations. Two e-waste directives, adopted in 2003, require manufacturers to dispose of consumers' used electronic equipment free of charge and prohibit the export of hazardous waste to developing countries for disposal...Meanwhile, the REACH regulation on chemical safety will introduce requirements for importers of products and for information flow in the supply chain...It is therefore of high importance that environmental legislation is consistent around the globe. In addition to EU regulations on e-waste and hazardous substances, EU energy efficiency and eco-design requirements are very likely to have a very similar effect. The EU's EuP Directive sets eco-design requirements for energy-using products. These requirements are very likely to change global design of covered product.

Japan calls for new system to manage global environment

"Japan would like to encourage this leadership and we are willing to throw our support behind the US," he said. "Without American leadership, these difficult tasks cannot be accomplished." The United States is the world's largest source of greenhouse gas, emitting 36.1 percent of the total in 1990.

How Business Saw the Light

From Bentonville, Ark., where Wal-Mart has embarked on ambitious pro-environment policies, to Silicon Valley, where high-tech venture capitalists are pouring hundreds of millions into renewable energy, 2006 was the year corporations began acting as if their existence--like the rest of the planet's--was tied to the environment..."This is a watershed moment in the business community," says Daniel Esty, director of the Center for Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University and co-author of the book Green to Gold. "The environment has become a strategic issue. It's something every company must do to stay competitive." The best companies can use the environment to do more than just stay competitive: they can use it to crush the competition...

Mayor visits Chicago to study development strategy

Mr. Ravenstahl is scheduled to meet with George Ranney, president and Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Metropolis 2020, a nonprofit organization leading a 10-year-old effort to chart a course for the nation's third-largest city and its six-county, 7.7 million-resident region. It has focused on encouraging regional cooperation, development planning and early childhood education. "It will be a broader conversation on the need for planning, the need to focus on transit, the harmful effects of sprawl" and other issues including urban education, said Jack Davis, vice president of Chicago Metropolis 2020.

Rural areas could be a vast source of energy

A recent study from the University of Tennessee projects that America's farms, ranches and forests can provide 25 percent of the nation's need for fuel and electricity by 2025. This use of renewable energy sources would make a serious dent in our reliance on foreign oil, would reduce the output of greenhouse gases and would provide thousands of rural jobs and add billions to the rural economy. The study shows that Pennsylvania would realize $6.1 billion in economic value by 2025 and directly or indirectly support 44,193 jobs...Gov. Ed Rendell is one of 22 U.S. governors who have endorsed the "25 x '25" goal. His administration realizes that Pennsylvania, the nation's fourth largest agricultural state, can combine renewable fuels with clean coal technologies to reduce emissions in older plants across the state. Already, he has set a personal objective to have 18 percent of the state's energy generated from clean technologies by 2020.

New Castle declared financially distressed

New Castle, about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, "has operated with a deficit since 2000 and failed to meet its minimum obligation to fund pension plans for city employees in 2005 and 2006," Mr. Yablonsky said.

Board weighs cuts, tax increase in face of deficit

Faced with a $4.4 million deficit in next school year's proposed budget, Hempfield Area officials Monday night mulled over a tentative list of $1.7 million in spending cuts and anticipated raising taxes by 3.42 mills. That move would require state authorization under the new Taxpayer Relief Act, also known as Act 1.

About 500 march in Hill District as part of nationwide protest

About 500 people marched in the Hill District yesterday to protest another year of federal cuts in affordable housing that likely will mean layoffs in Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia Housing Authority announced 350 layoffs Tuesday..."We need to convey the severity of the single largest reduction in funding this agency has ever faced and what it means to the 20,000 residents we serve," said A. Fulton Meachem, executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh...Demographers and housing experts have been warning of a coming crisis caused by diminishing housing options for the poor. Incentives to help low-income people buy homes, like tax credits, do not reach far enough to help the very poor, of whom many in public housing are elderly. She added that more than 40 percent of the residents in public housing in the city work, "but they're not making enough to go to the private market." The federal cutbacks will cause an ever expanding economic ripple, said Ms. Jackson-Washington. "We employ 480 people who pay taxes, and we have a very large vendor list" of people the authority pays for services.

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Sustainable Pittsburgh affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh Region in integrate economic prosperity, social equity and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses.

Please review SP's regional assessments and vision/policies for the future: SWPA Regional Indicators Report, Citizens' Vision for Smart Growth, and Regional Policy Guidance Document by clicking on the links to our website.

The Transportation for Livable Communities project is a partnership of Sustainable Pittsburgh and the national Surface Transportation Policy Project to advance a sustainable transportation system for Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Sustainable Pittsburgh benefits from support in 2006 from:

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Dollar Bank
The Heinz Endowments
Mellon Financial Corporation
The Pittsburgh Foundation
PNC Bank
Richard King Mellon Foundation


Special thanks to the SP Members

Sustainable Pittsburgh
425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1335
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 258-6642
fax (412) 258-6645
E-mail SP