3E Links readers are early adopters of sustainable policies, products, and practices, and the people who educate their friends and family about the benefits of sustainable development. Be sure to pass your issue of 3E Links along to friends and colleagues. Subscribe by e-mailing info@sustainablepittsburgh.org

Events

Resources

Outdoor Awareness and Usage Survey

Sustainable Pittsburgh and its Outdoor Recreation Partners are working in collaboration with Campos Inc. to better understand the region’s awareness and usage of outdoor amenities and recreation opportunities. You can help by Joining the Campos Voice of the Region (VOR) panel to voice your opinion on outdoor awareness and usage. In doing so, you will enlighten outdoor recreation service providers and help sustainable Pittsburgh and Outdoor Recreation Partners to better understand how to serve you.

This Voice of the Region survey, which will take approximately 10 minutes to complete, will help us better understand the Pittsburgh region’s attitudes about "enjoying outdoors” and participating in recreation activities.

We invite you to take part in this survey by becoming a member of the Campos Voice of the Region opinion panel. VOR panelists share their knowledge and opinions about regional issues, such as outdoor recreation, via online surveys and receive periodic updates on what other panelists are saying.

It's easy to join! Become a member by clicking on the link below or by calling the Voice of the Region hotline at (412) 471-8484 x409. Please feel free to invite your family, friends and colleagues to join the panel by forwarding them this email.

http://www.campos.com/vorforms/vor_011.asp

After completing the VOR panel sign-up form, you will be automatically directed to the outdoor awareness and usage survey. Thank you for taking part in this important opportunity.

Resources Continued

Wellness Workshops

Tuesday, February 27; Wednesday, March 7; Thursday, March 15
11 am - 3 pm
1910 Cochran Road - One Manor Oak, Suite 600
Pittsburgh
Questions: (412)563-8800 Click here to register

The American HealthCare Group invites you to participate in our Wellness Workshop, where you will have access to cutting edge wellness vendors and products. The workshops will include: Measuring Results and Return on Investment; Consumer Driven HealthCare & Wellness; and Introduction to the Path and Dr. Will Clower

Community Forum on School Board Leadership

Wednesday, February 28
5:30-8:30 pm
Northside Urban Pathways Charter School - 914 Penn Avenue
Downtown Pittsburgh
RSVP by February 23: 412-258-2660 or www.aplusschools.org/rsvp3.html

County Chief Executive Dan Onorato will give opening remarks about the importance of Pittsburgh School Board races to the future of the region. After Chief Executive Onorato’s remarks, Gregg Behr, Executive Director of the Grable Foundation, will speak on the role of leaders in shaping excellent organizations. Mr. Behr’s remarks will be followed by facilitated, small group discussions about community expectations of school board leadership. Participants will consider the role of School Board members as community leaders and as policy makers.

Green$ense 2007 Regional Conference

Thursday, March 15
7 am - 5:30 pm
Westin Convention Center Hotel - 1000 Penn Ave
Downtown Pittsburgh
Conference Website

GBA's annual mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley regional conference on green building will feature keynote speaker Susan Eastridge, developer for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's riverfront project. As chief executive officer and founder of Concord Eastridge, Inc., Eastridge is one of many nationally recognized experts from the green development field who will share their secrets to financial success through green building. Afternoon tours of Pittsburgh-area green buildings will show green development in action.

Global Warming 2007: It’s Time for Action

Saturday, March 31
9:30 am - 2:30 pm
Mercy Hospital - Sister Ferdinand Clark Auditorium
1400 Locust Street
Pittsburgh (Oakland)
Registration free but required: 1-800-321-7775 or Click here to register

Learn the latest on federal and state legislation, policies, and global warming science. Discuss what Pennsylvania can (and is) doing to slow global warming. Network with citizens across the region and state taking action on global warming. Hear experts and policymakers, including: United States Senator Bob Casey, Jr.; Angela Anderson, Director, Clear the Air; Jeanne Dworetzky, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority; Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, Climate Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists; John Hanger, President and CEO of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future; Sister M. Christopher Moore, Provincial Minister, Felician Sisters of Pennsylvania; State Representative Jake Wheatley, Jr. (District 19) and other experts in global warming and clean energy policy.

SAVE THE DATE!
Business Strategies in a Carbon-Constrained World

Wednesday, April 18
1 - 4 pm
Carnegie Mellon University
Chosky Theatre, Purnell Center for the Arts
Reception 4 pm
Regina Miller Gallery, Purnell Center for the Arts
No fee to attend
RSVP by April 13
412.268.5280 or mmgrelli@andrew.cmu.edu

Host: Dr. Jared Cohon, President, Carnegie Mellon University

Featuring: Pete Engardio, Senior Writer, Business Week

Panelists:
Christopher Flavin, Worldwatch Institute
M. Granger Morgan, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University
William Rosenberg, Harvard University
And please check back for others soon to be confirmed…

For the Pittsburgh region, which is emerging as a leader in the policy, practice, and business of sustainable development, addressing climate change presents an economic opportunity and necessity. Challenge can create opportunity. The coming of a carbon-constrained future is drawing entrepreneurs at all levels and the Pittsburgh region is well-served to be out front of the changing landscape.

Business Strategies in a Carbon Constrained World will explore sustainable business strategies and highlight initiatives that address the challenges and opportunities inherent in climate change. Representatives from Environmental Health and Safety, Marketing, Public Relations, Finance, Research and Development, Real Estate, Strategic Planning, and Investor Relations departments are encouraged to attend.

Presented by The Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research at Carnegie Mellon in partnership with Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture), Sustainable Pittsburgh, and World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh.

Engineering Sustainability 2007 Innovations that Span Boundaries

April 15-18
Sheraton Station Square Hotel
Pittsburgh
Info

Conference Topical Areas will include: green building design and construction; sustainable distributed power for the built environment; design of more sustainable transportation grids; housing and water solutions for megacities; water solutions for the developing world; water intensity in industry; economics of sustainability; toward the "zero operating costs" building; and the intersection of technology and policy

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.

Save the Date! Great Outdoors Week 2007

Friday, May 18 - Sunday, May 27

Leading the region to healthy lifestyles and outdoor recreation one week at a time!

The sixth annual Great Outdoors Week begins on Friday, May 18 thru Sunday, May 27, 2007!

While Great Outdoors is a great communications campaign to highlight the amazing number of outdoor happenings scheduled throughout the week, it is also a great opportunity to sample many fun ways to start a healthier lifestyle!

2007 Great Outdoors Week partners include: Bike Pittsburgh, Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Rachael Carson Homestead, Rack ‘n Roll, REI, Sustainable Pittsburgh, Three Rivers Rowing Association, and Venture Outdoors.

Everyone is invited to participate! To explore how to engage your constituents in taking part in Great Outdoors Week and reap year-long benefits, call (412) 258-6646 or kadams@sustainablepittsburgh.org.

Save the Date: Venture Outdoors Festival

Saturday, May 19
Pittsburgh's North Shore
http://www.ventureoutdoors.org/

The seventh annual Venture Outdoors Festival is scheduled for Saturday, May 19, 2007. The festival is an all day event and is being held on Pittsburgh's North Shore - right in front of Heinz Field. As always, the goal of Venture Outdoors is to introduce as many people as possible to the wide variety of outdoor recreational activities easily accessible right here in Western Pennsylvania. Together with the region's abundant environmental assets & the rivers, the mountains, and numerous bike and walking trails - these activities demonstrate the terrific quality of life available to residents and visitors. We invite you to be a part of the excitement so please save the date!

Reclaiming Vacant Properties: Strategies for Rebuilding America’s Neighborhoods

September 24 - 25
Pittsburgh
More Information: http://www.vacantproperties.org/reclaimingconference.html

The first national conference devoted to the transformation of vacant properties into community assets will be held September 24-25, 2007, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Reclaiming Vacant Properties will provide advocates, community development practitioners, financial institutions, and policymakers with the tools they need to prevent, acquire, and reuse vacant properties in ways that rebuild neighborhoods and revitalize communities.

Resources

Sustainable Dream Job: Administrative Assistant: Green Building Alliance

The Administrative Assistant will provide administrative support to the Executive Director and the Deputy Director. The Administrative Assistant will also be responsible for serving as the “front door” to all public inquiries and necessary responses.

2007 Banking on Business Information

For 2007, FHLBank Pittsburgh has approximately $7 million available in BOB funding to help small businesses in your area. This year, the FHLBank will open the program with registration periods beginning Tuesday, February 20, 2007 and Monday, August 20, 2007. Approximately $3.5 million will be allocated to each funding cycle.

Educators: Improve minority learning

Community colleges in Allegheny, Westmoreland and Beaver counties are studying ways to reduce the number of minority students who must enroll in remedial classes. "It's really important to our future," said Charlene R. Nunley, a retired president of Montgomery College in Maryland who will serve as a coach in the "Achieving the Dream" program at Community College of Allegheny County. "We really need to have this improved."

More

Constitutional convention reform hearing set

A Republican state senator plans to hold the first in a series of hearings on a constitutional convention to reform state government in Pittsburgh next week. Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, of Dauphin County, who chairs the Senate State Government Committee, said today he is inviting public comment about whether to convene a constitutional convention that could reform the Legislature and judiciary.

Business ethics and the bottom line

A recent study of the world's top 50 graduate business schools shows a fivefold increase in the number of ethics courses over the past two decades. And the subject is seen as so important that just over half of the schools in the survey have made ethics study a graduation requirement...Especially hot right now: programs in "sustainable" development. With climate change and other green issues suddenly on the radar screen, some employers are eager for B-school grads who can help soften their environmental impact.

Stern on Climate Change at Senate Hearing

The Senators spent a fair amount of time reviewing various options with the witnesses. In an almost plaintive way, they kept asking about this option or that, as if there were a single policy. Stern and the two economists, on the other hand, emphasized over and over again that the best approach would combine regulations with carbon taxes with cap-and-trade markets in carbon. Both economists emphasized how unfortunate it was that Congress was so tax-averse, given that carefully targeted taxes were a great fiscal tool for steering investments.

With big biz jumping on the green bandwagon, should activists cheer or jeer?

In practice we encourage people to take whatever actions they are capable of. Call it smorgasbord politics. For the pioneers and the early adapters, there will continue to be community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, off-the-grid energy, bike lanes, and co-ops. For the newcomers just beginning to think about the impacts of their purchasing decisions, buying organic frozen dinners at Whole Foods is at least a step in the right direction. By all means, buy local. But keep in mind that your neighbor might still need some convincing that the green economy is not a fringe movement anymore...No, we can't buy the change we wish to see, not when buying too much has gotten us in this pinch in the first place. But we can put a down payment on a future that will have no clear-cut forests, no starving children, no sweatshops, and no endangered species.

Beyond The Green Corporation

Now, sustainability is "right at the top of the agendas" of more U.S. CEOs, especially young ones, says McKinsey Global Institute Chairman Lenny Mendonca...Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank Securities (DB ), ubs (UBS ), Citigroup (C ), Morgan Stanley, and other brokerages have formed dedicated teams assessing how companies are affected by everything from climate change and social pressures in emerging markets to governance records. "The difference in interest between three years ago and now is extraordinary," says former Goldman Sachs (GS ) Asset Management CEO David Blood, who heads the Enhanced Analytics Initiative, a research effort on intangibles by 22 brokerages.

PA Strengthening International Partnership to Spur Alternative Energy Development, Secure New Foreign Investments

"Pennsylvania is on the forefront developing and commercializing renewable energy resources and energy conservation technologies and practices," the Governor said. "Pennsylvania's growing clean-energy industry is gaining attention, which is leading to economic opportunities for the state. This agreement will help attract national firms and global businesses that will bring new investments, and make our existing businesses more competitive and create thousands of new jobs."

Companies Pressed to Define Green Policies

Like most corporate hit lists regarding global warming issues, the Ceres list is heavily weighted with energy companies. In addition to Dominion and Massey, it includes Exxon Mobil, Allegheny Energy, Consol Energy, Conoco Phillips and TXU. In each case, the investors are complaining that the companies do not pay enough attention to the impact of climate change on their bottom lines — and thus share prices. “Renewables are the fastest growing segment of the energy market, and ConocoPhillips is letting an important market opportunity go by,” said Shelley Alpern, director of social research and advocacy for Trillium Asset Management Corporation. Conoco could not be reached for comment.

President Bush’s FY 2008 Budget Proposal and Its Impacts on Growth, Development, and Sustainability

President Bush's FY 2008 Budget includes a wide range of cuts that would make it much harder for communities to handle future growth, revitalize neighborhoods, and protect natural areas. In particular, public transit, community development, and the federal government's key smart growth program are all slated for major reductions.

A space to grow without sprawl

"It's a 25-year plan," says David Caplan, Ontario's minister of public infrastructure renewal. "What we have put in place is a blueprint for how we're going to grow over the next few decades. The first thing we've done is say where you don't want growth to happen – that's absolutely critical – then we've said where we do want it to grow."..As Ontario's minister of municipal affairs and housing, John Gerretsen, points out, "It's about controlling gridlock as well as sprawl. It's easy to do greenfields development; municipalities like that. But what we're talking about is greater intensification along transportation routes. Farmland has to be protected. So now the province has set the ground rules for development. It's up to municipalities to update their Official Plans so that they're in line with the new provincial policies."..In addition to this, cities now have the power to get more specific about the form that growth will take. This also means architectural control implemented through mechanisms such as a design review panel.

Windmills considered for Hopewell

"If you look at what we're spending, we're talking about possibly eliminating an expense equal to one-and-a-quarter mills of property tax," Leone said. "In the sewer department budget, that figure is about 8 percent. It would be nice to be able to pass those savings on to our residents."

Fairfax County Planners See Ballston Neighborhood as Model For Transit-Oriented Overhaul of Sprawling Business Center

The way to reduce traffic and improve the quality of life in Tysons Corner and the rest of the million-person county, they say, is to cluster thousands of high-rise apartments and offices into areas near public transit...The results are the envy of transportation planners worldwide. After declining in the 1970s, Arlington's population has expanded by a third since 1980 to nearly 200,000, with much of the growth in the corridor. Yet the county has seen only modest increases in traffic on local streets. Metro ridership, meanwhile, is surging, with a 36 percent increase in the county in the past decade. In the corridor, only 40 percent of residents drive alone to work, compared with 70 percent in other area suburbs including Fairfax and Montgomery, and homes in the corridor average one car each, compared with 1.75 in other suburbs.

Covenant with Black America

The Covenant with Black America is a national plan of action to address the primary concerns of African Americans today -- from health to housing, from crime to criminal justice, from education to economic parity. The frustration and angst felt by Black Americans post-Hurricane Katrina, from California to the Carolinas, is palpable. As we move toward the national elections of 2006 and 2008, Black Americans are entitled to have questions answered and visions shared of where our leaders want to take this country and a blueprint for how we get there.

For information on becoming a Member of Sustainable Pittsburgh, please visit our website.

3E Links is sent as a service to Sustainable Pittsburgh Members and interested parties and is being distributed for informational purposes. The information above was provided by or obtained from the organizing institution or one of its representatives. Our distribution does not imply endorsement. To unsubscribe, reply to this e-mail and type UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Click here to access the 3E Links Archive. Use "Search" on SP's homepage for a great resource.

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

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
E-mail SP