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Events

Climate Action Plan for Pittsburgh

As a member of the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative (formerly the Green Government Task Force), Sustainable Pittsburgh was recently involved in the resolution introduced to City Council that would generate a 20-percent reduction in Pittsburgh's greenhouse gas emissions by 2023. The Pittsburgh Climate Initiative is a coalition of local, state and federal officials as well as representatives from businesses, universities, foundations and non-profit organizations, developed the resolution and its Climate Action Plan.

The Climate Action Plan details specific actions municipal government should take while endorsing a series of recommendations for community organizations, businesses and institutions of higher education. A collaborative project of the Green Building Alliance, the Climate Action Plan will assist all sectors and their subcommittees in the implementation of recommended actions and ongoing monitoring of progress.

"Pittsburgh has a well-earned reputation for environmental leadership, and our decision to reduce greenhouse gas emissions locally sends a powerful message globally that we are committed to being good stewards of our natural resources," Mayor Ravenstahl said. "The fact the [PCI] enjoys broad support, from all levels of government and from a wide variety of institutions and individuals, is proof that reducing greenhouse gases and their impact on climate change is worthy of our city's support."

For more information and to see a copy of the Climate Action Plan, visit www.pittsburghclimate.org.

Read a related article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Climate action: Pittsburgh has a progressive plan for the future

Get involved! PCI will be presenting the Climate Action Plan to City Council on JULY 22, 2008 AT 1:30 pm at Council Chambers (400 Grant St., 5th Floor). Please consider attending to show your support. To register to speak during the hearing, call the City Clerk's office at 412-255-2138. You may have up to three minutes of comments. If you are unable to attend, consider contacting your council member.

Resources

Celebrate and Build Local, Sustainable Markets

Thursday, July 17
5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
121 7th Street, 6th Floor, Pittsburgh PA, 15222
(Cool warehouse space between Penn Avenue and Ft. Duquesne Blvd. in the Cultural District--next to Bossa Nova)
Registration Information
- $20 for C4S/ Sustainable Pittsburgh Members; $25 for non-members
More Information: www.C4SPgh.org/know.html

Come celebrate what our local market champions are accomplishing in our community—making the links that are good for business, for our neighborhoods and people, and for the environment. Seven of our region’s entrepreneurs will share their stories of how they are creating value by acting locally and sustainably. They are creators of new products, services, and jobs using innovative strategies for engaging with their neighborhoods and their surroundings.

Stay for opportunities to talk and network with panelists and other business leaders to learn how you can become involved in shaping our region with an emphasis on local markets. Discuss important questions on how you can help transform Pittsburgh through entrepreneurial action, sustainable practices, and support of local businesses.

Enjoy live music from Jim Donovan's Drum the Ecstatic, sample local beverages and food, and craft new networks on the local market scene!

Jim Donovan is a founding member of the former Pittsburgh band Rusted Root!

PROGRAM
5:30 pm – 6:50 pm -- Panel of local market entrepreneurs and champions
- Andrew Butcher, CEO, GTECH Strategies - Growth through energy and community health
- Danielle Crumrine, Executive Director, Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest - community connections to foster local business
- Janice Donatelli, Owner, ARTEMIS - New markets for high-quality, environmentally responsible, green building products
- David Eason, Owner, Isadore Foods - Supplying local foods from local farms
- Ward Payne, Owner, Simpatico Espresso - Organizing the local coffee trade scene
- Bonnie Siefers, Owner, Jonäno - Fair trade and organic clothing manufacturing
- Keith Somers, MD, Children's Community Pediatrics – GIL - Promoting children’s health and development emphasizing community
6:50 pm - 8:30 pm -- Meet and discuss opportunities for supporting and organizing the region’s local businesses and entrepreneurs with panelists and other businesses

Get Outdoors

July 17-18, 2008
Fifth Avenue Place, Downtown

Have you heard that Walls are Bad? Find out more on July 17th and 18th when leading outdoor and environmental groups will be gathered at Fifth Avenue Place to showcase ways that Pittsburghers can play outdoors this summer. Kayak Pittsburgh, the Rachel Carson Homestead Association, Venture Outdoors, Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau and other organizations will be on hand to educate Pittsburghers about a variety of activities such as urban bike tours, riverfront walks, kayaking, community gardening and lunchtime fishing. The Get Outdoors event is part of Fifth Avenue Place’s reTHINK - reFOCUS - reSOLVE environmental leadership campaign to encourage individuals to rethink their practices, refocus on their environment and resolve to lessen their impact.

Women Authors and Conservation

Saturday, July 19
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Borders Books, Center Ave, East Liberty
Hosted by the Sierra Club’s Member Engagement Chair, Stephanie Simmons
For more information, contact Stephanie at snsimmons@gmail.com

Featured Authors: J.K. Rowling, Rachel Carson, and Beatrix Potter. Excerpts from works by all three authors will be read aloud by Areya Simmons, aka ‘Dove’ of The Falcon and the Dove. The Falcon and the Dove podcast and blog will tape a podcast at the event and Ck1 Productions will film the event. There will be information on conservation, sustainability, native plantings, and how to join the effort to protect our wild spaces and grow green.

CNN Series:'Black in America with Soledad O'Brien'

July 23 - 24
9:00 pm both nights
Cable TV - CNN

Did you know that companies in the US have said they would hire a white man with a felony record and no high school education before they would hire a black man with no criminal record and a 4-year degree? This statistic and many others will be revealed during the CNN series, "Black in America with Soledad O'Brien." On Monday the series will focus on Women and Families and Tuesday is dedicated entirely to the plight of the Black Man in America. For more information visit, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/ .

cityLIVE! 10: Getting There ... From Here

Thursday, July 24
6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
New Hazlett Theater, Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh, 15212
RSVP to rsvp@citylivepgh.org
Speakers: Sanjeev Shah, Steven Bland, Chelsa Wagner

Is the auto the most convenient and efficient way to move people around our region? Can new technologies and policies help unite the region and contribute to our urban vitality? Can we use transportation to grow the city, and the region, in the right way?

The Pittsburgh region is ripe for innovation. New technologies present exciting opportunities to move people and goods around more efficiently than ever before. Light rail, extensive riverfront trails, an efficient bus system, car sharing are all heading in the right direction. But that’s just a start. Getting it “right” requires creative planning. Join us for a charged discussion on how to get from here … to there.

As a bonus, because we believe that everyone should have a hand in the planning process, we’ll unveil a project which will allow everyone in the region to have a voice in the role of land use and transportation planning, whether you are an urban planner, environmentalist, architect, policy maker, transportation expert, biker, boater or skater.

Buy Fresh Buy Local® Summer Farm Tour

Saturday, July 26
12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland and nearby Counties
Cost: $10/ carload [exact change preferred]

The Summer Farm Tour is an opportunity for the non-farming public to connect with farms in Southwestern PA that offer the best in healthy food raised using sustainable practices. The experience intends to leave participants with an understanding of how critical local and organic food systems are to preserving rural and urban landscapes in Southwestern PA. Featured farms for the 2008 Buy Fresh Buy Local® Summer Farm Tour will have products for sale and offer various activities depending on the farm (hayrides, picnic spots, educational talks, etc.). The list and map of participating farms, along with further information, will be available online at www.buylocalpa.org (click on the Western region link).

"Hard to Recycle” Collection to take place at the Mall at Robinson

Saturday, July 26
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Mall at Robinson (100 Robinson Centre Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15205) – Lower level parking lot near SEARS
Contact: Sarah Alessio at 412-488-7490 ext. 236 or email at saraha@ccicenter.org.

The Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) along with the Allegheny County Health Department and The Mall at Robinson will be collecting freon and non-freon appliances, e-waste, televisions, tires without rims, ink and toner cartridges, CFL’s, cell phone, mixed paper, and cardboard. All materials will be recycled and refurbished. There are fees involved for disposing of certain materials. Visit www.prc.org for details.

Bridging Our Past — Connecting Our Future, The National Land Conservation Conference

September 18–21, 2008
Pittsburgh, PA
Details

The Alliance chose Pittsburgh for Rally 2008 because the city has made great strides in poising itself as a green city. Greater Pittsburgh has undergone a dramatic environmental and economic renaissance. It is one of the top three cities in the U.S. for certified green building square footage. The city has evolved by expanding their urban trail system, cleaning up brownfields and planting countless trees. Pittsburgh has pledged to reduce their global warming emissions and has been ranked among the cleanest cities in the world.

Rally offers you four action-packed days of learning and inspiration with “how-to” seminars and workshops, thought-provoking plenary speeches and fun networking—all with the top conservation practitioners in the country! You will also learn how to tap into the Alliance’s many new resources, online trainings, policy campaigns and diversity initiatives. There is no greater central source than Rally for a comprehensive program of modern conservation education and training.

Green Chemistry: Solutions for a Healthy Economy

Saturday, September 20
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh PA
Details

Environment and Health Connections - The Green Chemistry Solution • Innovations in Products and Processes • Design for Non-toxic Results • Business Strategies - Risk, Investment and Insurance

Resources

Neighbors join to redevelop East End

"We're trying to think a lot harder about how the neighborhoods can improve their economic situation without displacing people," Mr. Swartz said. . . She said she believes "this is the model that we should all be doing, but not everyone wants to. You have to want to share your plans, share your revenues" and not worry about who gets credit.

Great Allegheny Passage follows 132-mile rail-trail through mountain scenery

The 10-foot-wide trail of packed stone goes past coke ovens, iron furnaces, coal mines and even a steel mill. It passes a state park and a paddling mecca. It goes through towns like McKeesport, Connellsville, Ohiopyle, Confluence and Rockwood. . .It is a recreational trail but it brings economic promise. Little towns in Pennsylvania and Maryland are learning to cater to money-spending bicyclists and hikers. It's a wild and green countryside, with long-distance vistas of the Allegheny Mountains and ridges.

More

Gov. Rendell OKs $650 Million Bill to Promote Renewable Energy, Conservation

"Families are having to make the difficult decision of whether or not to stay in their homes because they can barely afford to fill up their gas tank or go to the grocery store where higher energy prices have pushed up the price of food," said Gov. Rendell. . ."We're putting new resources in place that will help consumers lower their energy use and generate their own power in a cleaner and increasingly more cost-effective manner."

California's Climate Solution Act Will Set New Development Standard, Says Ventura City Manager

Confident that California's lead in cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, as required by its landmark Climate Solution Act (AB 32), will speed up changes in American development patterns and lifestyles necessary to achieve sustainability, Ventura City Manager Rick Cole told the Los Angeles-based Planning Report that even when the global economy slows down and gas prices decline somewhat, "we can't put long-term policies at the mercy of immediate crises," stressing, "It's not today's gas prices that will force adoption of a smart growth model -- suburban sprawl is doomed by the triple witching hour of heating up the planet, running up unsustainable debt, and running out of cheap energy."

Exelon plans huge cut in greenhouse emissions

The largest nuclear power operator in the United States plans to make its operations more efficient, cut the energy use of its electricity customers and build low-carbon generators that would displace older and less-efficient plants, many operated by rivals, the newspaper said on its website. . .The company will help the factories that it serves do the same work with less electricity so that some generating stations, owned by Exelon or others, will burn less fuel. . .The company expects some of the improvements to cut costs up to $70 a tonne of carbon dioxide saved after expenses. Some of the nuclear changes would earn $60 a tonne net of expenses, the paper said.

Jeffrey Sachs, economist and eco-problem solver, chats about his plans to save the world

In Common Wealth, Sachs argues that a new era of global cooperation will be needed to stabilize the world's population, spread sustainable technologies, eradicate disease, and lift billions of people from poverty. More pragmatist than eco-purist, Sachs advocates solutions ranging from solar power and ultra-efficient cars to advanced coal technologies, chemical fertilizers, and genetically modified seeds.

Brownfield to become new 78-acre sports and athletic complex for Allegheny County

Located across the Ohio River from Neville Island in Moon Twp., Coraopolis and Robinson Twp., the recreational destination will feature nontraditional athletic fields for rugby, soccer and lacrosse, recreational programming, trout fishing, and a mile-long extension of the Montour Trail.

America's most walkable big cities

With gas prices sky-high, the pedestrian friendliness of your city or neighborhood becomes a pocketbook issue. A new survey by Walk Score has ranked the largest U.S. cities by their walkability.

Audio of Chris Leinberger's Keynote at Smart Growth Conference

Christopher Leinberger was the keynote speaker at the 8th annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Smart Growth Conference held in Pittsburgh May 16. Leinberger is a metropolitan land use strategist and a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution focusing on research and practices to help transform traditional and suburban downtowns to places that provide “walkable urbanism.” He is also the director of the Graduate Real Estate Program at the University of Michigan which focuses on downtown and suburban town center revitalization and transit-oriented development. Special thanks to WDUQ-FM for making this recording.

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

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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 in 2008 from:

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Dollar Bank
The Giant Eagle Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Roy A. Hunt Foundation
Richard King Mellon 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