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Events

Sustainable Pittsburgh continues its collaboration with SPC: comments on the Draft 2040 Long Range Plan

Tracking back to last September's 10th annual Smart Growth Conference which again served as a public input session for regional planning, last week Sustainable Pittsburgh (SP) submitted comments to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC). This was part of SPC's on-going process of civic engagement in the open public comment period for the Draft 2040 Long Range Transportation and Development Plan. SP’s letter outlined important elements of the plan for which SPC should be applauded, as well as areas for further consideration following the policy and practice of sustainable development to benefit the region.

SP touched upon the following: recognition of the plan’s addressing the need for “focused growth” in the region, the need for transparency in project prioritization, an assessment of plan performance based on goals and measures, and targeting investments and aligning land use planning with: alternate transportation choices, housing and jobs, energy independence, mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions, employment growth, and improving the natural environment.

Read Sustainable Pittsburgh’s comments here.

Resources

Improving Healing Environments:
Strategic Environmental Solutions

Thursday, July 21
7:30 am – 3:00 pm
Fairmont Pittsburgh, 510 Market Street, Downtown Pittsburgh 15222
Cost: $105 for C4S/Sustainable Pittsburgh Members
$125 Nonmembers
Students: Special Rate
Lunch and Coffee Provided
More information and registration

This workshop, the second of a five-part series on sustainability and healthcare, features interactive work sessions with healthcare experts in energy, waste, infection control/green cleaning, and green building operational areas.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, "[Hospitals are] major employers, with healthcare comprising approximately 16% of the national and regional economy. Hospitals operate all day everyday, making their environmental footprint large in many communities. Hospitals generate approximately 7,000 tons per day of waste, including infectious waste, hazardous waste, and solid waste."

During the workshop, each session will provide information on cutting edge solutions for health organization leaders in addressing the challenges of energy, waste, infection control, and facility design in practical and strategic ways.

What happened at the first session of this series?
Click here for highlights from the previous Sustainability and Healthcare session on June 2, "Making the Business Case."

About the C4S Sustainable Healthcare Series: Improving the Healing Environment
Sustainable Pittsburgh’s sustainable business network, Champions for Sustainability (C4S), in collaboration with the region’s healthcare partners, has launched this series of workshops that advances the mutually reinforcing agendas of sustainability and healthcare. The series is designed to build social capital and capacity in sustainability. The emphasis for each event involves articulating the health outcomes, healthcare benefits, and business case, as well as best practices, resources, examples, and how to get started.
Learn about the entire series here.

Managing Marcellus: An Evening of Deliberative Theater and Democracy

Wednesday, July 27
5:00 pm - 8:15 pm
WQED Studios, Oakland
More information

While the Marcellus shale is recognized as one of the greatest economic opportunities for Pennsylvania, the drilling and processing of natural gas poses significant challenges and threats to local infrastructure, the environment, and public safety.

What is the best role for communities to play in safeguarding local assets and protecting the environment? Is anyone doing it right? Managing Marcellus is a unique opportunity to explore the critical concerns of the Marcellus Shale and the various ways in which local leaders have sought to support the development of the industry with these concerns in mind.

The event is highly participatory and includes a reception, pre-reading and pre and post surveys, moderated small group deliberation, Q&A panel discussion and a special Deliberative Theater performance conveying the controversy and viewpoints of Shale drilling. Seating is limited and participants will be chosen by random, not first to sign up.

Learn about local initiatives at the SWPA Air Quality Partnership Spring Meeting

Tuesday, June 28
8:30 am (breakfast)
9:00 am – 11:30 am (meeting)
At the Waterfront Rooms A&B, Pennsylvania DEP, 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh 15222-4745
Washington’s Landing, off the 31st street bridge
PLEASE NOTE; The entrance from route 28 to the 31st street bridge is temporarily closed. PA DEP can be reached from Penn Avenue to the 31st street bridge or by River Avenue.
Please RSVP to Marlene Walsh at (412) 431-4449 x202, marlenew@ccicenter.org if you wish to attend.

Please join the Southwest Pennsylvania Air Quality Partnership for breakfast, and to hear about:
- “Black and Gold Goes Green” – an initiative for Pittsburgh businesses in sustainability
- Work by EQT to increase natural gas use in transportation in PA
- Solar and renewable energy in PA

At the membership meeting the group will be electing officers for the next two years and giving the end of fiscal year report. The SPAQP operates on a July to June calendar. Come and help us thank Harilal Patel for his years as Chair, and recognize the outgoing Board:
Treasurer: Tom Lattner, ACHD
Director Al Depaoli, AES
Director Andrea Davison, NOVA Chemicals
Director Greg Chambers, Oberg industries
Past Chair: Ann Gerace, Conservation Consultants, Inc.,
Communications Committee Chair Betsy Mallison, Public Relations Professional
Technical Committee Chair: Jayme Graham, ACHD
Finance Committee Chair: Rachel Hoza, CPA

DIABETES: The Silent Killer
Self Management of a Chronic Disease

Wednesday, June 29
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Allegheny General Hospital, Magovern Conference Center, 320 East North Avenue, Northside
Free to attend; free parking
For more information, call: (412) 392-0610

A service of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania, this workshop features guest speaker, Dr. Lenore Coleman. Dr. Coleman is the African American Co-Author of the Book, Healing Our Village: A Self Guide to Diabetes Control.

Free diabetes testing and blood pressure screening available prior to the workshop. Call (412) 330-2535 by June 24th to schedule your testing (confidential).

Support Clean Construction in Pittsburgh

Wednesday, June 29
9:30 am Press Conference
10:00 am Meeting
City Council Chambers, 5th Floor, City-County Building, 414 Grant Street, Downtown Pittsburgh

Last week City Council held their post agenda hearing and are now ready to vote on the clean construction legislation. To show strong community support for this important ordinance, GASP invites you to attend the press conference and committee meeting where the preliminary vote will occur.

There is an opportunity to provide public comment in support of the legislation. Please limit comments to 3 minutes. Contact Rachel Filippini for more information at gasp@gasp-pgh.org.

Background
- Diesel emissions harm one's health, environment, and economy.
- Diesel soot cancer risk in the Pittsburgh area is 124x greater than EPA's acceptable cancer risk of 1 in a million.
- Pittsburgh area workers are projected to miss 5,666 days of work due to unnecessary exposure to diesel fine particulates.
- Black carbon, emitted by diesel vehicles, is one of the largest contributing pollutants to global warming.
- Publicly-funded development must be a partner in protecting our health and environment.
- This bill would require publicly-funded, large development in the City of Pittsburgh to have the Best Available Diesel Control Technology on a portion of the construction equipment and the use of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel.

Riparian Buffer Restoration

Wednesday, June 29
12:00 pm - 4:30 pm
A.E. Hunt Room, 23rd Floor, Regional Enterprise Tower, 425 Sixth Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh 15219
Cost: $95.00 (includes lunch). There will be a limited number of student discounts @ $50.00.
Seating is limited. To register, please contact Mary Ann at (412) 263-1000 or email mvf10@psu.edu.

The half-day technical session, part of The Penn State Center Technical Workshop Series, is facilitated by Kristin Saacke Blunk and will cover the following:

Lessons from the Land Webinar Series Success at the Streamside – PA Riparian Buffers that Work
Speakers: Diane Oleson, Water Resources Educator, Penn State Extension, York County; Diane Wilson, Chief, Watershed Support Section, PA Department of Environmental Protection

Riparian Buffers – Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Headed. Introduction to Technical Session – Goals and Approaches
Speaker: Kristen Saacke Blunk, Penn State Extension, State Program Leader – Natural Resources and Director, Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center

Regulations and Guidance – DEP
Diane Wilson, Chief, Watershed Support Section, PA Department of Environmental Protection

The Ecology of Riparian Buffers, Why They Work, Successful Implementation, Maintenance & Funding Mechanisms
Speaker: Dave Wise, Watershed Restoration Manager, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Riparian Buffer Design Considerations – including hands-on design exercise
Speakers: Lyle Sherwin, Director, Penn State Center for Watershed Stewardship; Kristen Saacke Blunk, Director, Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center; Western PA Nursery/Conservation Seed private sector partner

Pittsburgh Green Drinks: TerraShift

Thursday, June 30
5:00 pm-9:00 pm
Hofbrauhaus, South Side Works, 2705 South Water Street, South Side 15203
More information

Join Green Drinks organizers on the terrace at The Hofbrauhaus and learn about TerraShift and their focus in building careers in social enterprise and sustainability.

TerraShift is a for-profit social enterprise working to equip recent college graduates and young professionals with the skills, experiences, and support they need to build careers in social enterprise and sustainability. For the past year they have supported local groups and initiatives using teams of young professionals. These teams provide versatile, dependable, and affordable project staffing services, with a focus on supporting social enterprises and projects related to environmental sustainability. Their clients include Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, The Kingsley Association, Pittsburgh Pipeline, PlayPower, and Fourth Economy Consultants.

TerraShift is currently developing a one-year international career-accelerator fellowship for talented college graduates that are interested in the fields of social enterprise and sustainability. The program, which will launch in 2012, will place fellows with client organizations in Pittsburgh, and include an international excursion to Bangalore, India.

Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Training

Wednesday, July 13
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Blackberry Meadows Farm, 7115 Ridge Road, Natrona Heights 15065
The workshop is FREE and open to the public, however, pre-registration is required.
For more information about the workshop and to register online visit www.pasafarming.org/marcellusshalechoices.
Contact Leah Smith at leah@pasafarming.org or (412) 977-6514 with questions.

The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) has received a grant from the Colcom Foundation to develop action-oriented tools and trainings throughout western Pennsylvania to help farmers, rural land owners, and other citizens make informed, integrated decisions, understand legal issues, and engage in environmental monitoring and local organizing efforts related to Marcellus Shale Gas issues within their communities.

This second workshop in the Marcellus Shale Choices series, “Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Training” will be facilitated by staff of the Dickinson College Alliance of Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) and the Mountain Watershed Association. This training will focus on environmental monitoring. Participants will learn water quality monitoring protocols that have been developed for citizen projects with the goal of monitoring small streams and their watersheds for early detection of the impacts from Marcellus Shale gas extraction in PA.

Participants in this training will learn:
• The Science of Marcellus Shale Gas
• The Science of ALLARM's Water Quality Monitoring Protocol
• How to choose monitoring locations
• How to get information on well sites
• Visual Assessment of Natural Gas Activities
• Chemical Water Quality Monitoring Protocol

Monitoring Equipment will be available for purchase from ALLARM during the workshop. If you would like to purchase the monitoring equipment, please indicate your preference when you register. Information on equipment available is online.

Healthy Women's Expo

September 24–25, 2011
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown Pittsburgh
More information

This event, hosted by Pathways to SmartCare, features Cooking Demonstrations, Family Health Talks, Fitness & Physical Activity, Kid's Activities, Stress Management and Prevention, Financial Planning and more.

Save the Date! Building Change Conference

Building Change: a convergence for social justice
October 13-15, 2011
Senator John Heinz Regional History Center
More information

Join the Three Rivers Community Foundation (TRCF) for a conference like no other: skill-building workshops, panel discussions, community dialogues on key issues, speakers, actions, art, films, roundtable talks, networking, entertainment, and more!

Key issues being discussed: Disability Rights, Economic Justice, Environmental Justice, LGBTO Rights, Peace/Human Rights, Racial Justice, and Women, Youth and Families Issues.

TRCF is looking for more co-sponsors for the Convergence! Please spread the word to organizations and individuals working for social change. Direct interested parties to trcf@trcfwpa.org or (412) 243-9250.

Deadline for Arts, Films, and Performances has been extended to July 15th.

Resources

Climate of Denial - Can science and the truth withstand the merchants of poison?

We do have another choice. Renewable energy sources are coming into their own. Both solar and wind will soon produce power at costs that are competitive with fossil fuels; indications are that twice as many solar installations were erected worldwide last year as compared to 2009. The reductions in cost and the improvements in efficiency of photovoltaic cells over the past decade appear to be following an exponential curve that resembles a less dramatic but still startling version of what happened with computer chips over the past 50 years. Enhanced geothermal energy is potentially a nearly limitless source of competitive electricity. Increased energy efficiency is already saving businesses money and reducing emissions significantly. New generations of biomass energy — ones that do not rely on food crops, unlike the mistaken strategy of making ethanol from corn — are extremely promising. Sustainable forestry and agriculture both make economic as well as environmental sense. And all of these options would spread even more rapidly if we stopped subsidizing Big Oil and Coal and put a price on carbon that reflected the true cost of fossil energy — either through the much-maligned cap-and-trade approach, or through a revenue-neutral tax swap. . . The climate crisis, in reality, is a struggle for the soul of America. It is about whether or not we are still capable — given the ill health of our democracy and the current dominance of wealth over reason — of perceiving important and complex realities clearly enough to promote and protect the sustainable well-being of the many. What hangs in the balance is the future of civilization as we know it.

Adapting for a Green Economy: Companies, Communities and Climate Change

Drawing on the results of a 2010 survey of corporate signatories to the United Nations Global Compact and the United Nations Environment Programme Caring for Climate initiative, as well as on existing literature, this report makes the business case for private sector adaptation to climate change in ways that build the resilience of vulnerable communities in developing countries. It then offers actions that companies and policymakers can pursue to catalyze and scale up private sector action on adaptation. It is ultimately the responsibility of the public sector to meet the critical climate change adaptation needs of the poor and vulnerable; thus private sector engagement cannot substitute for critically needed public investment and policies. However, private sector investment can serve as a pivotal part of a comprehensive government led approach to addressing climate impacts. This report is a resource for companies with a national, regional or global reach that are interested in increasing their strategic focus on adaptation in developing countries where they have operations, supply chains, employees and current or potential customers.

Energy & Green Business: Top 497 experts

Get the latest updates from and follow these experts.

Amid Texas Drought, High-Stakes Battle Over Water

The current drought, drier than any other October-through-May stretch in Texas history, has heightened the stakes in an already contentious long-term planning battle over water from these lakes, which feed the lower Colorado River as it runs southeast to the Gulf of Mexico. It has pitted fast-growing cities like Austin, which depend on the water for drinking and recreation, against rice farmers near the Gulf, who need vast amounts of water for irrigation. . . The L.C.R.A. is hunting for more water supplies. It recently got approval from state environmental regulators to store more water downriver from Lakes Travis and Buchanan and off the main Colorado flow, a key first step in potentially building new reservoirs. Groundwater, some of which is so brackish that it might require desalination, is also being considered by the L.C.R.A. To many participants in the water planning process, the bottom line is clear: Water habits must adjust to new constraints.

Corridor Development Initiative

Communities often find themselves reacting to a developer's proposal, rather than working to attract development that fits a local vision. MPC is reversing this dynamic through the Corridor Development Initiative, which helps local stakeholders learn to articulate their own clear vision of the development they'd like to see and approach developers with their proposal. This seven-minute video, produced by Metropolitan Planning Council and Free Spirit Media, explains the process for community leaders who may want to try this approach in their neighborhoods. The video features highlights of MPC's work in 2008 with Lawndale, a community on Chicago's Southwest Side.

More

Japan's First Green Snow/Ice Energy Certificate Issued to Five Facilities in Hokkaido

According to a questionnaire targeting public-listed companies all over Japan, 48.7 percent of the enterprises indicated that they are interested in green snow/ice energy certificates. METI Hokkaido held a seminar on snow/ice energy in Tokyo in March, with the aim to promote further use of the energy.

Marcellus Shale Boom Adds Less Than 10,000 Pa. Jobs

Overall, Marcellus job growth is small — accounting for less than one in 10 of the 111,400 new jobs created since February 2010, when employment bottomed out after the recession, the report finds. Even if Marcellus Shale-related industries had create d no jobs in 2010, the state still would have ranked third in overall job growth among the 50 states. To sustain Pennsylvania’s strong economic performance, policymakers should adopt a drilling tax or fee that helps finance job-creating investments in education and the economy, as well as providing resources to protect the environment and address infrastructure needs, the report recommends. Pennsylvania should also develop a Marcellus Shale economic development policy that includes training and placement of more Pennsylvania workers in high-paying Marcellus jobs; investing in industries that supply equipment, parts and services to the industry; enabling Pennsylvania manufacturers to benefit from low-cost natural gas; and setting aside revenue to seed a fund that will develop post-Marcellus Shale industries.

Getting the 'Appalachian Gold Rush' Right

Two things are certain: First, the Marcellus shale formation offers a tremendous promise of abundant natural gas to industries and consumers as long as it is managed and maintained effectively and responsibly. And second, everyone involved must be aware of their environmental responsibilities and be fully accountable for their operations. Developers must rigorously adhere to regulations, help develop safeguards and, whenever possible, initiate better technical and scientific standards. Industry and citizens must use energy more efficiently. And regulators must rely on sound science and take economic considerations into account...We can get it right. Indeed, we must.

Ocean life on the brink of mass extinctions: study

Life in the oceans is at imminent risk of the worst spate of extinctions in millions of years due to threats such as climate change and over-fishing, a study showed on Tuesday.

Most Aging Baby Boomers Will Face Poor Mobility Options

By 2015, more than 15.5 million Americans 65 and older will live in communities where public transportation service is poor or non-existent. That number will grow rapidly as the baby boom generation “ages in place” in suburbs and exurbs with few mobility options for those who do not drive. This new report ranks metro areas by the percentage of seniors with poor access to public transportation, now and in the coming years, and presents other data on aging and transportation

DEADLINE: June 30 - Call for Session Proposals - 11th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference

11th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference:
Building Safe, Healthy and Livable Communities
February 2-4, 2012 – San Diego, CA

Today, more than ever, we are faced with environmental and economic challenges that will define our generation, shape our future, and test our resilience as cities, regions, states and a nation. Join leaders from across the U.S. as we tackle these challenges head-on and demonstrate smart growth solutions that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create a green economy, assure a healthy population, and expand transportation and housing options for all Americans.

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 ($1,000 and up) in 2011 from:

Allegheny County - Dan Onorato, County Executive
Bayer Corporation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
BNY Mellon
Dollar Bank
FedEx Ground
The Heinz Endowments
Highmark
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Pashek Associates LTD
Pittsburgh Quarterly
PNC Financial Services Group
Port Authority of Allegheny County
UPMC


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