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Events

Resources

SAVE THE DATE: Fourth Annual Regional Equitable Development Summit

"Most Livable Region By Growing Opportunity for All"
Friday, December 14, 2007
8:30 am - Noon
Twentieth Century Club
4201 Bigelow Blvd., Oakland

Presented by: Sustainable Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh GSPIA Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership

The Summit will feature reports by regional leaders on their vision for, current activities, and needs for assistance in achieving regional equity in housing, education, transportation, economic development, and racial and economic inclusion. Come participate and learn how you can help in advancing policy and practice for regional equitable development to expand opportunity and bolster the region's productivity and competitiveness.

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Resources Continued

Creating Community in the 21st Century

Sunday, August 19
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location: Squirrel Hill Library, corner of Forbes and Murray Ave. Free parking under the library.
Register: TPCHG@aol.com or 412-963-1971
Sponsored by the Pittsburgh Cohousing Group

A free introduction to Cohousing in Pittsburgh. Learn about creating, building and living in Pittsburgh's first Cohousing Community, a community that wants to have welcoming and cooperative neighbors, ecologically minded planning, energy efficient private and individually owned homes, child friendly designs with multigenerational and diverse families. Plus a Common House for activities like fitness, shared weekly meals, celebrations, after school activities, workshops, and arts and crafts.
www.PittsburghCohousing.org

PA Transportation Commission Accepting Comment on 2009 Twelve Year Transportation Program

Wednesday, August 29
Hilton Garden Inn, 1000 Corporate Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317
Pittsburgh/Southpointe

Every two years, a process to update the Commonwealth’s Twelve Year Transportation Program begins anew...Working together with the Department as well as Metropolitan and Rural Planning Organizations, we will be listening for ideas from the public that focus on key issues of smart transportation, intermodalism, economic development, sound land use, and community involvement...Input is solicited from the public and interested parties...In order to be considered for the 2009 Transportation Program, written testimony will be accepted up to, but no later than September 23, 2007...If you are interested in presenting oral testimony at the State Transportation Commission sponsored public hearings for the development of the 2009 Transportation Program, and would like a time slot on the agenda…each project that is being presented must be summarized using a “State Transportation Commission – 2009 Transportation Program Project Abstract Form.”
Project Abstracts are required no later than one week prior to the scheduled hearing.

Reclaiming Vacant Properties: Strategies for Rebuilding America’s Neighborhoods

September 24 and 25
Omni William Penn Hotel, 530 William Penn Place , Pittsburgh , PA
For more information, visit http://www.vacantproperties.org/reclaimingconference.html

Don't miss the first national conference focusing on helping realize the potential of vacant properties as community assets – highlighting strategies to ensure they benefit the residents, communities, and cities around them. This two-day conference will bring together practitioners, policymakers, and concerned citizens from throughout the country to share model practices and problem solve. Take advantage of this opportunity to design new strategies to prevent and revitalize vacant properties, which will consequently improve public safety and health, and spur economic growth.

Sponsored by the National Vacant Properties Campaign, a program of Smart Growth America, LISC, the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, and the Genesee Institute. Sustainable Pittsburgh is a conference partner.

Sustainability and Smart Growth Forum: GREENPRINT - A regional conservation agenda prioritizing land conservation for the public good

Wednesday, September 26
"Build it and they will come"
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Location: Davis Room, 23rd Floor, Regional Enterprise Tower, 425 Sixth Ave., Downtown Pittsburgh
Bring a brown bag lunch -- beverages and dessert provided.
No fee to attend.
Register: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org or 412-258-6642

Build it and they will come...We're not talking about ball fields and fans here – we’re talking about upstream development and floods. As upstream development continues, downstream flooding becomes more frequent and damaging, and more raw sewage pollutes our waterways. Aggressive development projects are breeching the wooded ridgelines and slopes along the rivers creating landslides and visible scars in the landscape. Fifty percent of the land visible from the highways following the three rivers is now developed. The region is at the tipping point of losing the natural character that makes Pittsburgh’s image unique among major cities in the world. The public health, environmental, economic and regional image implications of these problems are significant. A comprehensive approach including strategic land conservation is needed to solve these problems.

Come to learn how Allegheny Land Trust is working to identify the lands that represent the region’s highly functional natural infrastructure that naturally helps to manage storm and floodwaters while maintaining the region’s scenic character and biodiversity. Landowners, planners, municipal staff and elected officials can benefit from this presentation which includes ideas about how they can be part of the solution not part of the problem.

Presentation by Roy Kraynyk, Executive Director Allegheny Land Trust - www.alleghenylandtrust.org

Sponsored by:

Rachel Carson Legacy Conference

Sustaining the Web of Life in Modern Society
September 29
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Adults: $25 College Students: $10 High School: FREE
Limited Seating
Register online at www.rachelcarsonhomestead.org.

This 2007 inaugural Rachel Carson Legacy conference will address the topic of “Sustaining the Web of Life in Modern Society.” E. O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus, Department of Entomology, Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, will present the keynote address. Sessions include: Global Warming; Perspectives on the Health of our Oceans; Environmental Leadership; and Changing the Way we Live.

Resources

Greening the Neighborhoods

Perhaps you long for a greener, more cosmopolitan lifestyle; say, a diverse urban setting where you can shop, play, eat and even work within short distances of your home. Fewer trips in the car. An energy efficient home. A community that values sound environmental practices. In a movement called “Green Urbanism”, greening whole neighborhoods is catching on in cities such as Portland and Denver—and now, Pittsburgh. A LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) pilot project is about to certify master-planned neighborhoods that define sustainable living and two projects in Pittsburgh have qualified for it.

The New Environmentalists: How to Make the Green Movement Less White

The driving force behind the country's new green economy is almost entirely white. But people of color have much more directly at stake in the greening of America.

Europe: Greener cities – Urban warriors leading the climate battle

Cities across the world are using their own powers to confront climate change, sending clear signals to industry through their procurement and planning systems, their ability to shape public behaviour and their co-operative initiatives with other cities.

Linking region involves politically sensitive decisions

Merging systems can improve efficiency, as Chicago found when suburban bus systems were united in the Pace network, RTA Chairman Karl Ostby said. But even without regional oversight, local transit systems have coordinated some efforts, including: current route links, future route links, fares and transfers, joint management, and joint marketing.

Report says renewable energy would lift economy

The estimates for Pennyslvania's economic growth potential are conservative, said steering committee member Allen Rider, because the state has "many acres of timberland" that were not included in the University of Tennessee analysis.

Morgan Stanley, DNV Launch Carbon Bank

Morgan Stanley will partner with Det Norske Veritas (DNV) to help clients become carbon neutral, the companies announced Tuesday. The Morgan Stanley Carbon Bank will offer integrated carbon verification and offsetting services, helping clients take an emissions inventory and determine their carbon footprint using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative. Morgan Stanley plans to spend $3 billion on initiatives related to greenhouse gas emission reductions during the next five years. It has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by between 7 percent and 10 percent below 2006 levels by 2012 through energy efficiency and new green buildings. It plans on becoming carbon neutral by 2008 by using carbon offsets to neutralize emissions from office operations and employee business travel.

Merrill Lynch Offers New Energy Efficiency Index

Merrill Lynch's (ticker: MER) new index identifies companies where less is more, at least in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The Merrill Lynch Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) was recently launched with a universe of 40 global companies found in four sectors that should benefit from improved energy efficiency. With this new index, Merrill Lynch adds to its list of "green" indexes, as well as to a growing list of "clean" energy and climate change indexes offered by other index providers..."When widely recognized firms like Merrill Lynch consider energy efficiency in evaluating investments, it indicates that the conventional investment world is echoing the social investment community in acknowledging the correlation between environmental and financial performance."

Edwards addresses sprawl, taxes

Edwards said urban sprawl is a common problem when development is not targeted and deliberate. He said urban sprawl creates negative impacts on quality of life, land use and even water and air quality. By using a planning model like the smart growth initiatives, Edwards said the negative impacts of development are diminished and entirely eliminated in many areas...Initiatives in Smart Growth have been implemented in cities such as Pittsburgh, Pa.; Arlington, Va.; Davidson, N.C.; and Southern New Jersey.

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 2007 from:

Dollar Bank
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
The Giant Eagle Foundation
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