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Events

Corbett transportation funding report nearly ready

Article in The Times Leader reflects upcoming opportunity for transportation funding prioritization

As this Times Leader article reviews, we are approaching a profound moment in the Commonwealth. By month's end, the Governor will have a concise set of recommendations for addressing the long lived and growing transportation funding crisis. Shortly after release of the recommendations report by the Governor's Transportation Funding Advisory Commission, the stakes will be at their highest for the public to express opinions about a package of funding reforms.

Stay tuned to 3E Links for upcoming briefings and venues for appropriate response regarding your interests in funding solutions that hasten sustainable development and in particular, address the need for long term, reliable funding for public transportation.

Read the article here

REGISTER NOW!
Improving Healing Environments: Strategic Environmental Solutions

Register now for this dynamic workshop, scheduled for Thursday, July 21. The second of a five-part series on sustainability and healthcare, "Improving Healing Environments: Strategic Environmental Solutions" features interactive work sessions with healthcare experts in energy, waste, infection control/green cleaning, and green building operational areas.

“The healthcare industry is extremely important to the regional economy in southwestern PA. We need to be smarter in controlling costs and improving the quality of care, and that includes safe and sustainable practices that go beyond what happens in the doctor’s office. ‘Green’ practices are a part of the change that needs to be incorporated in how we look at the entire health care field.”
--Karen Wolk Feinstein, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation

Click here to learn more.

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 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.

Second Summer Institute on Black Male Gun Violence

Friday, July 15
8:30 am - Noon
20th Floor Conference Center, Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh
No registration is required to attend.
Three CEUs will be provided for this session.
More information

On Friday July 15, the Center on Race and Social Problems will hold a second summer institute on black male gun violence. During the institute, videos will be featuring showing two national experts who spoke at the first institute on gun violence on June 2, 2011. The institute will discuss actions Pittsburgh can take to address gun violence. Following is the agenda:

8:30 am - Continental Breakfast
9:00 - Welcoming Remarks - Ralph Bangs
9:10 - Black Male Firearm Violence (video) - David Hemenway, Professor of Health Policy, Harvard University
10:00 - Policies to Reduce and Prevent Black Male Gun Violence (video) - Al Blumstein, Professor of Urban Systems and Operations, CMU
10:50 - Break
11:00 - Action Plans for Pittsburgh
12:00 pm - Closing Remarks

Drop of "hard to recycle" items this Saturday

Saturday, July 16
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Pittsburgh Brashear High School, 590 Crane Avenue, Pittsburgh 15216

At this event, the public can drop off electronic waste, tires, batteries, cfls and more for recycling, and drop off medical supplies, usable building material and gently used furniture for reuse. Some fees apply. Visit the PRC/Zero Waste PGH website for details.

Backyard Composting Workshop

Monday, July 18
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Whole Foods Market, 5880 Centre Avenue, East Liberty 15206
Cost: $50 Single/$55 Couple (Includes one compost unit per registration)
Click here to register or call (412) 488-7490 ext. 226.

Composting is nature’s way of recycling. By utilizing the natural process of decomposition, organic materials often considered “waste,” such as grass clippings, food scraps, autumn leaves and even paper, can be recycled back into a rich soil conditioner. Through this transition, soil organisms, many of which are too small to see, break down the organic material in a compost pile so that valuable plant nutrients can be released for future generations of plants to use. Composting helps you reduce your waste stream, it improves the health of your gardens, and most of all its easy to do and enjoyable.

This workshop thoroughly covers the importance of composting, setting up a compost pile, proper maintenance and ways of using finished compost. Participants will receive an Earth Machine Compost Bin with attendance. This bin, approved across the state as an ideal bin for urban and suburban areas, has an eighty-gallon capacity.

Family Outdoor Festivals

Saturday, July 23 - McKinley Park
Saturday, August 27 - Allegheny Commons
All events run from Noon until 4:00 pm
Free to the public. More information

Venture Outdoors Family and Community Programs will host three FREE festivals this summer. Each event features fun beginner-friendly activities. Try scaling the climbing wall, paddling a kayak on Lake Elizabeth, using a GPS unit to find treasures, or biking around the park! At the June 25th festival, kids can create their own sensory touch box with recycled materials provided by the Outdoor Classroom, and make a Squonk marionette with the Children's Museum. Hula hooping, nature activities, food and music from Pittsburgh's favorite DJ, DJ Nick Nice, will be offered at the event!

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.

Green Drinks

Thursday, July 28
5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, 5738 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh 15217
More information

This Green Drinks is hosted by Carolyn Speranza and the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.

The American Jewish Museum of the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh's Anna L. and Irene V. Caplan exhibition "Too Shallow for Diving: the21st Century Is Treading Water," guest curated by Carolyn Speranza, includes sixteen artists and comprises painting, sculpture, video, installation, spoken word and photography. The artists' work inventively fuses aesthetic concepts with ecological observations as a catalyst for viewers to consider how human intervention impacts the future of water sources. Affirming their role in bringing unspoken conversations about our relationship with the environment to the surface, the artists created new work to facilitate dialogue regarding this most precious resource. The exhibition is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, The Buhl Foundation and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.

Host: Carolyn Speranza - "As an artist and the source of the "Too Shallow for Diving" project, I delved into water not as an environmentalist, but as a person who is really interested in the world working for everyone. This stance includes each person planet-wide having access to the basic resources necessary for life. Like most artists, I envision and dream; on the flip side, as an engineer's daughter, I implement, build and problem-solve.

I invite you, the people working to make Pittsburgh greener in the areas of business, policy, technology and activism, to connect with artists who have created new ways to communicate the issues you care about."

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

Greening Southwest PA: A blog from The Heinz Endowments Interns

The Heinz Endowments Program is an internship that grants 36 high-school students the chance to work to improve their community by developing and implementing a youth philanthropy project. The interns at Sustainable Pittsburgh have launched a blog as part of their project to highlight efforts that southwestern Pennsylvanian municipalities are doing to make their communities more sustainable. It is their hope that these creative ideas will inspire other municipal governments to start their own programs, as well as inform citizens how they can help with their efforts. The interns' philanthropy is focused on making municipal vehicle fleets more sustainable, either through education, alternative fuels, alternative transportation or through other means.

THIS WEEK'S FEATURE: "What makes a sustainable community" and Video featuring Connie Rosenbayger and Sarah Stroney from East Mckeesport, discussing their efforts to make their community more sustainable.

Rowing's popularity fueled by cleaner rivers, more opportunities for girls

But those in Pittsburgh's rowing community emphasized an increase in participation among men and women of all ages. Both Steel City Rowing and Three Rivers Rowing saw a boom in participation after coupon deals drew hundreds of people into novice rowing classes. Both clubs offer the classes and teams for adults. Randy Stalter, head coach of Steel City Rowing, said membership overall has grown about 50 percent in the past five years. Mr. Stalter sees it as a result of more people of all ages looking to get in better shape without feeling stuck in the stagnant air of a gym. It helps, too, that the rivers have been cleaned up, partly attributed to the advocacy efforts of rowing groups. And Pittsburgh's rivers, particularly the Allegheny, have ideal water for rowing. "The river has gone through a huge change," Mr. Brown said. "It's been cleaned up and there's less traffic." It's also a sport that rowing coaches say anyone can pick up, no matter their age or fitness level.

Fish commission to lease waterways for gas drilling

The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission said it plans to lease portions of its 43,000 acres of waterways for natural gas exploration to generate money to rebuild more than a dozen dams that are in danger of collapse. Williams plans to drill to 9,000 feet beneath the lake to extract gas. A permit application with the state Department of Environmental Protection indicates Williams plans to drill three to 10 wells. Drilling could start next year, Swan said. . . To move the gas to market, a 16.5-mile pipeline will be built between Indian Creek in Fayette County and Cook Township in Westmoreland. The pipeline will connect to a Texas Eastern line in the village of Mill Run, Fayette, and will transport gas extracted from Donegal Lake and other wells along the route. . . Environmental and conservation groups are concerned about the potential impact of drilling and the pipeline on watersheds. . . According to the permit filed with the DEP, the pipeline will involve 71 crossings into wetlands and 41 stream crossings.

Brookings Release - Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment

The report provides a first-of-its-kind metropolitan measurement of the clean economy and its growth for some 39 low-carbon and environmentally oriented industry segments across the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.

More

Australia unveils sweeping carbon plan in climate fight

Australia's scheme will cover 60 percent of carbon pollution apart from exempted agricultural and light vehicle emissions, with Treasury models showing it would boost the consumer price index by 0.7 percent in its first year, in 2012-13 (July-June). It could also aid global efforts to fight carbon pollution, which have largely stalled since U.S. President Barack Obama last year ruled out a federal climate bill his present term. Outside the EU, only New Zealand has a national carbon scheme. "Other countries will look at one of the most carbon polluting economies on the planet that has made one huge stride forward toward putting a price on carbon," said John Con nor, chief executive of The Climate Institute. Australia said it hoped to link its scheme, which would cost A$4.4 billion to implement after household and industry compensation, to other international carbon markets and land abatement schemes when its emissions market was running. Europe's system, which covers the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, has forced power producers to pay for carbon emissions, driving cuts where power plants were forced to switch to cleaner natural gas or biomass.

Italy solar capacity to hit 30 GW in 2020: Enel CEO

Italy's booming solar power market is expected to grow nearly four times to 30 gigawatts of capacity by 2020 as part of incentive-driven efforts to fight climate change, the head of Italy's top utility said. Italy's solar market, the world's second-largest after Germany, has rapidly grown since 2007 when the government boosted production subsidies, attracting the world's biggest makers of photovoltaic modules, which turn sunlight into power.

Radical Confidence: Leverage Points for Structural Change

Right now, our system is designed to reward short-term investment. If we want to change this, in addition to allowing the natural improvement that comes through technological progress, we also need to begin structuring our reward system for the longer-term: looking at sustainability as a "buy and hold" investment not as an operational expense.

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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