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Events

Resources

Investing in transit helps our region to compete

This Sustainable Pittsburgh letter to the editor appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Saturday, January 27

Recent articles add perspective to the Port Authority's plight. Indeed, the fiscal straits have a long legacy. The crisis also has roots in the way we are growing.

Optimism is to be found if we're in step with much of the nation. Americans are saying yes to public transportation spending (in November voters in 13 states approved 21 of 30 transit-related ballot initiatives for about $40 billion, according to the American Public Transportation Association). In addition to focusing on "right-sizing" the Port Authority, it's critical to call on the governor and Legislature to determine a growing source of reliable funding for public transportation. Right-sizing is also in order for the region as a whole toward providing incentives to entice commuters from their cars, to implement smart land use to curb lengthening commutes, pollution, congestion, sprawl and decline of older towns and cities, and to curtail global warming while preparing for the coming of "peak oil" and a carbon-constrained economy.

Opportunities to address these regional imperatives are at hand. Allegheny County is creating its first comprehensive land use plan (Allegheny Places), and the region is updating its long-range plan (Project Region); both provide opportunity to couple investments in transit with smart growth planning as an express economic strategy to lift the region.

Linking public transportation and development can steer growth to right-place investments. Through increasing transit ridership and at the polls, Americans signal that transit is an essential public good with handsome payoffs. By investing in transit we reap simultaneous economic, environmental and social benefits that define a region's ability to compete globally.

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Resources Continued

Prevent Hazardous Waste In Your Home

Wednesday, February 7
7 - 8:45 pm
Meeting Room A - Lower Level, Mt. Lebanon Library, 16 Castle Shannon Blvd.
Pittsburgh
(412) 531-1912 or tibbettsc@einetwork.net

Have you ever given thought to the types of chemicals your body comes in contact with-just in keeping your home clean and maintained? Bathroom cleaners, paint thinners-even garden chemicals and pool chemicals all can cause harm or severe damage if handled or disposed of improperly. When these types of products are no longer wanted, usable, or leftover they are called household hazardous wastes (HHW). Because of the uncertainty of how to safely and properly dispose of HHW, the majority of local residents store it in basements and garages for decades. In most cases, new homeowners or those cleaning out a house to sell are left with the chore of investigating safe disposal options. As part of the Mt. Lebanon Library's Energy and Environment Program Series, Ginette Walker Vinski of the Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) will speak to participants on these disposal issues, highlighting what HHW is, how it affects one's health, ways to properly dispose of it, and non-toxic alternatives. During the presentation, Ms. Vinski will demonstrate the use of homemade, non-toxic cleaners compared with potentially toxic cleaners found at local stores.

The Future of Energy Policy in the Wake of Political Change

Wednesday, February 14
11:45 am
Omni William Penn Hotel
Pittsburgh (Downtown)
Cost: $30 members; $40 nonmembers; $15 students
More Information
Reservations: reservations@econclubpgh.org

It is clear that a change in the Congressional approach to energy issues has arrived. Many are beginning to wonder what Democratic control of the House and Senate will mean for the average American and the future of energy policy during a time when energy prices have soared and uncertainty abounds. Dr. John Felmy, Chief Economist and Director of American Petroleum Institute’s Statistics Department, will speak to these issues.

Live Web-Cast of the 2010 Imperative/2030 Challenge

Tuesday, February 20
11:15 am - 3 pm
Carnegie Mellon University
McConomy Auditorium (First Floor University Center)
Pittsburgh (Oakland)
Free
RSVP no later than February 13: 412-434-2520 or schweiger@ppg.com

Participate in The 2010 Imperative Global Emergency Teach-In, a live, interactive web-cast addressing global warming, change and the challenge to architects for designing a “carbon-neutral”building by 2030. During this web-cast, originating from the New York Academy of Sciences, you’ll connect with Ed Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030, and other leaders at the forefront of design and climate change -- as well as 500,000 students, deans and practicing architects – in a worldwide teach-in and discussion. The web-cast is sponsored by the American Institute of Architects, U.S.Green Building Council, New York Academy of Sciences, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the AIA Large Firm Roundtable. The program also qualifies for three AIA/HSW Co Education credits.

Symposium: "Squaring the Circle on Sprawl: Tools and Options for Making Land Development and Conservation Compatible in Pennsylvania"

Thursday, February 22
8 am - 6 pm
Widener College Harrisburg Campus

Info: 717-541-3965 or Click Here

The symposium is designed to educate lawyers and policy makers about the challenges sprawl poses to Pennsylvania by providing a balanced look at all sides of the debate and promoting solutions through legislative change and responsible lawyering. The symposium will feature a broad array of speakers including academics, government officials and practitioners, presenting in multiple formats and allowing for interaction with the attendees.

Tree Care Short Course

Fridays: February 23, March 2, March 9, & March 16
9 am - 5 pm
Penn State University McKeesport Campus
Cost: $180
Info: 724-228-6940 or Click Here
Register by February 16

Today there is an increased awareness by homeowners and municipalities for the need for trained and knowledgeable tree care workers. The green industry has responded to this demand for trained professionals by creating certification programs. Presently there are over 15,000 arborists that are certified by the International Society of Arboriculture. These numbers continue to grow each year. This arborist short course is designed to increase working tree care knowledge, professional arborist skills and prepare tree workers for the ISA Certified Arborist exam.

Corridors of Opportunity: Cultural District

Monday, March 12
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Omni William Penn Hotel (Downtown Pittsburgh)
Cost: $50. NAIOP members and Pittsburgh Business Times Subscribers: $45
More Information/Register Online

The event will focus on the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's upcoming $460 million project, bounded by Fort Duquesne Boulevard overlooking the Allegheny River, Penn Avenue, and Seventh and Ninth streets, which will be the country's first master-planned "green," mixed-use, arts/residential neighborhood, providing approximately 700 new residential units and 9,200 jobs for the region. Other panelists will include developers and others involved in the Cultural District's amazing transformation in the last two decades.

Save the Date: Governor's Outdoor Conference

March 18-20
$275
State College
http://www.connectoutdoors.state.pa.us/

Our future quality of life depends on our ability to understand, appreciate and enjoy Pennsylvania's natural bounties. We simply cannot afford to lose our connection with the outdoors a connection that is part of our rich tradition and provides the balance vital for a prosperous future. Disturbingly, trends indicate that the bond between the citizens of the Commonwealth and our precious natural resources is weakening.

It is up to key stakeholders like you who are most concerned about maintaining and strengthening Pennsylvanians' connection with the outdoors to make sure that we work together to reverse these trends. During this first-of-its-kind conference, we anticipate a substantive and interactive dialogue that will encompass areas as diverse as public health, the economy, childhood and family development, and environmental conservation and stewardship.

Save the Date: 2007 Smart Growth Conference

Friday, May 18
Omni William Penn Hotel
Downtown Pittsburgh
For sponsorship opportunities, contact: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org

Among topics, the 2007 Smart Growth Conference will review and collect input on progress made on the three community challenges/solutions as voted on at the 2006 Smart Growth Conference. Visit: http://www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/2006_Conference/Overview.htm for more information on last year's conference.

Resources

Green Communities Grant Funds Available

Green Communities offers grants to help cover the costs of designing, planning and implementing green components into affordable housing developments, as well as tracking their costs and benefits. In the first year alone, Enterprise awarded $1.9 million in grants to 49 affordable housing developers, an amazing response to the Green Communities offer of funding.

DEP Accepting Applications for Watershed Restoration and Protection Grants

Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty today invited community groups and watershed organizations to apply for the next round of grants under the state’s Growing Greener program and Governor Edward G. Rendell’s Growing Greener II initiative. The deadline to apply is April 13.

DePasquale to Introduce Legislation Promoting Use of Fuel-Efficient Vehicles

State Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, will introduce several pieces of legislation that would promote fuel efficiency and encourage the use of hybrids, alternative-fuel vehicles and other fuel-efficient automobiles.

Municipalities urged to improve pedestrian safety

PennDOT is urging municipalities to improve pedestrian safety by installing free crosswalk signs. Since 2001, PennDOT has distributed more than 3,400 of the fluorescent yellow-green, freestanding crosswalk signs to municipalities across the state. The signs, which are placed in the center of a roadway directly before the crosswalk, are offered to municipalities upon request. In order to receive the sign at no cost, the municipality must have either an area with a high car/pedestrian crash history, or roadways that are difficult to cross because motorists fail to yield. According to PennDOT, Pennsylvania law says that when traffic signals are either not present or not operating, motorists must yield to pedestrians within a marked crosswalk, or any unmarked crosswalk, at an intersection. Violators of the law are subject to a $50 fine. A PennDOT study in southeastern Pennsylvania found that crosswalk signs are very effective in helping to increase pedestrian safety. In fact, where the signs are used, motorists are 17 to 34 percent more likely to yield to pedestrians. Roughly 10 percent of fatalities on Pennsylvania roadways during 2005 involved a pedestrian and of the 1,616 fatalities reported in 2005, 162 were pedestrians.

Beyond The Green Corporation

Imagine a world in which eco-friendly and socially responsible practices actually help a company's bottom line. It's closer than you think

Top CEOs Call for Federal Action on Climate Change

The chief executives of 10 major U.S. corporations have joined together to call for immediate federal action to combat human-induced global warming, saying that voluntary efforts are inadequate to do the job. The group, which calls itself the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, includes the chief executives of Alcoa, BP America, DuPont, Caterpillar, General Electric, Lehman Brothers, PG&E, PNM Resources, FPL Group and Duke Energy, as well as representatives from four leading environmental groups.

How climate change hits India's poor

As sea level rises - partly as a response to climate change - two islands have vanished from the map. Professor Sugata Hazra, a stocky dynamo of a man, discovered their disappearance when he compared maps from the Raj with satellite images. He says 6,000 people have had to be relocated here because their land is underwater....The average Indian produces around a 10th of the greenhouse gases of the average European - a 20th of the average American. That helps to explain the attitude of India's political leaders to the recent request from the US and Europe that India should join talks on restricting emissions.

Brussels presses for greener fuel

The European Commission has announced plans to force energy companies to produce greener fuels. It says it will propose amendments to a directive on fuel quality, which will require a 10% cut in the CO2 released during production and use of the fuel. The changes would make companies use more biofuel, and develop greener biofuels where the production process results in lower CO2 emissions.

Mayors unite on the 'green' front

Pittsburgh is one of dozens of cities joining the fight against global warming, taking actions designed not only to protect the environment but save money by boosting efficiency...Pittsburgh, home to major companies (PPG Industries) and universities (Carnegie Mellon), is one of several cities repositioning themselves as centers of "green" technology, tackling everything from research and development to manufacturing and marketing. "When I look at the green movement, I see a product, a market," Peduto says. "We have the opportunity because of our hillsides, our topography and manufacturing base to take it to the next level … to produce the product." States and cities recognize that there's money to be made in the green movement, and those still struggling to adjust to the downturn in manufacturing are joining the movement.

Pittsburgh's Convention Center Releases 2006 Green Practices Report Card

Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the world's largest certified green building and the first of its kind in the world, released highlights of the facility's 2006 green practices in a special report card.

New Report Shows Benefits of Green Schools

Some 55 million students spend their days in schools that are too often unhealthy and that restrict their ability to learn. A recent and rapidly growing trend is to design schools with the specific intent of providing healthy, comfortable and productive learning environments. These green, high performance schools generally cost more to build, which has been considered a major obstacle at a time of limited school budgets and an expanding student population. A 2005 survey by Turner Construction Company of 665 senior executives found that executives are discouraged from undertaking green construction because of concerns about cost, and a lack of awareness and available information on the financial benefits of green buildings

Radical plan: Strong public transit is good economic development

But it will be all for naught if one of the great unsung economic generators -- public transit -- is left to flounder in Pennsylvania. What stronger boost can state government give the economy than helping to get people to work, get students to class, get customers to businesses -- in short, give citizens cost-effective transportation around their communities?..But if Harrisburg would do its duty and deliver a dependable transit funding formula, the suffering could be diminished and Pennsylvania would score the biggest economic development coup of the decade, bar none.

US Climate Action Partnership

United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) is a group of businesses and leading envrionmental organizations that have come together to call on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. USCAP has issued a landmark set of principles and recommendations to underscore the urgent need for a policy framework on climate change...A diverse group of U.S.-based businesses and leading environmental organizations today called on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to achieve significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. The group said any delay in action to control emissions increases the risk of unavoidable consequences that could necessitate even steeper reductions in the future.

We're working on permanent transit funding

We are committed to doing what we can to make the cuts less drastic and to stabilize funding for the long term. We understand that transit service is vital for the livelihood, health and quality of life of many residents and businesses in each of our districts. htt

Pennsylvania Must Take Action on Global Warming

Pennsylvania alone contributes one percent of the pollution that causes global warming, more than 105 developing nations combined. We are also number three in the nation, behind only California and Texas, for production of greenhouse gases. Now is the time to act. Fortunately, bipartisan legislation is being introduced in the both the Pennsylvania House and Senate to do just that. But these global warming bills need broad support from all corners of the state to turn the legislation into meaningful action.

Shared Equity Home Ownership

Shared equity homeownership ensures that the homes remain affordable to lower income households on a long-term basis by restricting the appreciation that the owner can retain, preserving affordable housing in areas where rising prices are forcing lower income households out of the market. At the same time, by placing the owner within a community-based support system, such as a community land trust or limited equity cooperative, shared equity homeownership can mitigate the risks of homeownership, potentially increasing the benefits of homeownership both for the owner and the neighborhood in which she lives.

Safe Routes to Schools Campaign Advances in United States With Congressional Funding, Added Technical Assistance to States and Localities

Launched 30 years ago in Denmark, where some 70 percent of students now walk or bike to school, the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) campaign is advancing in the U.S., with Congress allocating $612 million for state programs in FYs 2005-2009, and the Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based National Center for Safe Routes to School and the Bethesda, Maryland-based Active Living Resource Center (ALRC) expanding their educational, organizational and technical assistance to states and localities.

Deer Creek Crossing mall killed

Either of those projects, Mr. Strul said, would be substantially different from the original plan and would not meet the requirements of the tax increment financing, known as a TIF, because they could not generate enough tax money to pay off the loans..."Anybody who wants to develop that needs to respect and protect that stream," Mr. Hanger said. "The idea that a TIF would be paid by the taxpayers to ruin a trout stream was outrageous. ... We should use TIFs to redevelop brownfields and former industrial sites." "Maybe the era of giving away money to shear our hillsides is over," said Republican county Councilman Dave Fawcett, who sponsored an ordinance in council to repeal the tax increment financing for Deer Creek Crossing.

As the Port Authority drifts towards service cutbacks, a call for another look at the problem ... (and news of a Brazilian cure)

Refugees add unique perspective

Approximately 95 percent of refugees who come to Pittsburgh end up staying. Those who leave do so primarily to join family members who have been relocated to other cities. Although their lives can be difficult, refugees work diligently to improve their condition, and their hard work does not go unnoticed by employers, said Mr. Miller, who added that he receives frequent requests for their services.

New immigrants turn to local agencies for job and lifestyle assistance

Their work is seen as vital not only to making immigrants feel more at home, but also to helping the local economy grow by encouraging more immigrants to put down roots. The region currently is home to about 62,000 foreign-born residents, the fewest of any major metro area, and local business leaders say they need a lot more. "A steady influx of working-age immigrants in their 20s and 30s would gradually enlarge the region's working-age population," a crucial factor in wooing more companies and offsetting a potential crisis as baby boomers begin retiring and the region's population continues to stagnate, said Peter A. Morrison, a demographer with think tank Rand Corp.

Alcoa Named One of the Most Sustainable Corporations in the World

The Global 100 was initiated in 2005 by Corporate Knights Inc. of Canada, which publishes the world’s only mainstream corporate responsibility magazine. Innovest Strategic Value Advisors Inc., an investment research and advisory firm, compiles and analyses the data of 1800 international companies to create the list.

Corporate Environmental Leadership: Green is the colour of success!

Should the United States enact a cap on greenhouse gases, which many think is inevitable, products that reduce emissions will be high demand...Although there is no legal requirement at the moment for companies to cut emissions, many firms are investing now to ensure they will have the capacity to respond to tighter restrictions in a carbon constrained future, which many business leaders believe will happen within the next five years...A study by investment analysts Innovest Strategic Value Advisors showed that when climate change regulations are introduced, the best positioned company could earn windfall revenues of $298 million or 10.6% of earnings, while the worst could lose 25 percent of earnings to compliance costs...There has always been corporate environmental leadership on some level, but the past few years have seen unprecedented engagement of sustainability by executives at major firms. The environment is now seen as a strategic pillar of business performance and financial stability, and the long term value of any firm is now inextricably linked to its environmental achievements.

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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 2007 from:

Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Dollar Bank
The Heinz Endowments
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Roy A. Hunt Foundation
University of Pittsburgh


Special thanks to the SP Members

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