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Events

Resources

SAVE THE DATE

4th Annual Regional Equitable Development Summit:

"Most Livable Region By Growing Opportunity for All"

Friday, November 16, 2007 (new date)
Twentieth Century Club
4201 Bigelow Blvd., Oakland
Keynote: David Rusk, author of Cities without Suburbs, Baltimore Unbound, and Inside Game/Outside Game

The Summit will feature the opportunity for community leaders to become involved in aiding the region's leading institutions in advancing goals to narrow the disparities gap. The Summit will feature reports by regional leaders on their vision for, current activities, and needs for assistance in achieving regional equity across a range of critical public services, investments, and governance. 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.

David Rusk will provide remarks and serve as master of ceremonies in facilitating deliberations. "He is the hottest urban expert in the nation today,” the Baltimore Sun commented in reviewing Baltimore Unbound. "Cities without Suburbs," the Congressional Quarterly wrote, has virtually become the Bible of the regionalism movement.” The Government Finance Review called Rusk’s most recent book, Inside Game/Outside Game, “a must-read for all practicing local government officials, elected or appointed, working in a metropolitan area.” Rusk combines strong analytical skills with practical political experience. He is a former federal official, New Mexico legislator and mayor of Albuquerque.

Presented by:
--University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs: Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership and Wherrett Lecture Series
--Sustainable Pittsburgh

Recent article on Rusk's work in York, PA

Resources Continued

Pittsburgh Climate Protection Initiative -- Public Meetings Scheduled

Meetings are scheduled for the following dates in different City neighborhoods:
Sept. 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
www.pittsburghclimate.org

Come learn about the impact of global warming and offer your ideas for reducing greenhouse gases locally. The Pittsburgh Climate Protection Initiative is conducting a series of meetings to solicit suggestions from City of Pittsburgh residents on how local government can lead the way in reducing greenhouse gases and their impact on the local economy and human well-being. Sign up at a meeting for a chance to win an energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulb.

Socially Responsible Investing

September 6, 2007
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location: The Pittsburgh Center for Complementary Health & Healing
1124 S. Braddock Ave Suite B (15218)
Sponsored by: UBS Financial Services, Ellen M. Marcus
To RSVP call 412-562-6781 or email diane.slepski@ubs.com

ADDITIONAL DATES:
September 12 - 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Room "A"
October 16 - 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Room "C"
Location: The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Squirrel Hill Branch
5801 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Sponsored by: UBS Financial Services, Ellen M. Marcus

Investors are making a difference by investing in socially and environmentally responsible companies. You are invited to attend an informal discussion and Q&A with Tim OLeary, Vice President, Calvert Funds. Refreshments will be served.

A Forum on Open Government

Saturday, September 15
1:00 pm
William Pitt Student Union, on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh
Free of charge; open to the public
www.openrecordspa.org

The focus of the forum will be an examination of Pennsylvania's current Right to Know Law and the pending RTKL amendments in Harrisburg. The goal is to present a free exchange of information and ideas to the public about one of the most important foundations of our republic: citizens' ability to access their government.

The following speakers have confirmed their attendance at the forum: Teri Henning, Pennsylvania Newspaper Association; Rep. Tim Mahoney, Uniontown and author/sponsor of HB443; Ron Barber, attorney for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; Senator Jim Ferlo, author of SB765; Beverly Schenck, Schenck vs. Center Twp., Butler County; Robert McNeilly, former Pittsburgh Police Chief; Jim Parsons, WTAE TV and Pa. Freedom of Information Coalition, PHEAA vs. Parsons, et.al; Tim Potts, Democracy Rising PA; James Manolis, attorney for New Castle News.

Reclaiming Vacant Properties: Strategies for Rebuilding America’s Neighborhoods

September 24 and 25
Omni William Penn Hotel, 530 William Penn Place , Pittsburgh , PA
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.

"GREENPRINT - A regional conservation agenda prioritizing land conservation for the public good"

Sustainability and Smart Growth Forum
Wednesday, September 26
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.
Free to attend.
Register: email info@sustainablepittsburgh.org or call (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 Oxford Development Company.

Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) Fall 2007 Teacher Workshops

WORKSHOP 1
Fueling the Future: Transportation Pollution & Alternative Fuels
Saturday, October 20th
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Wightman School Community Bldg., 5604 Solway St. Room 204, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Fee: $10
3.5 Act 48 hours
Additional Dates: October 27 and November 3 (at different locations)

WORKSHOP 2
Air, Art & Life: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Air Quality in the Pittsburgh Region
Saturday, September 29th
9:00 am - 3pm
Wightman School Community Bldg., 5604 Solway St. Room 204, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Fee: $10
4 Act 48 hours
Additional Dates: October 6 (different time and location)

To register for either workshop or to get a full description, contact Lee Szymkiewicz at (412) 325-7382 or lee@gasp-pgh.org

Resources

All-electric squad car makes quiet debut

The first all-electric powered police car in the country was quietly debuted Wednesday by its design engineers and those that will be using it on a day-to-day basis. Although it has been put into limited service by the Connellsville Police Department, the refitted 2000 Chevrolet Impala was moved from the municipal garage to center stage making very little noise as it was officially unveiled to the public.

PennFuture Launches Contest to Help Fight Global Warming

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) launched a year-long statewide contest this month to help educate, motivate and assist Pennsylvania residents to fight global warming. “Win Clean Wind Energy for a Year” is an online contest, with 12 monthly winners who will each receive six compact fluorescent light bulbs, and a grand prize of a year’s worth of clean wind energy. The contest is limited to those who pay for their own residential electricity, with one entry per person. PennFuture employees and their families and those with whom they live are excluded. This contest is part of PennFuture’s Cool Pennsylvania Campaign to fight global warming at home.

Pennsylvania residents can join the contest at PennFuture’s website, www.pennfuture.org.

Read and "Scoop Up The Savings" in the latest version of The Scoop

The Scoop is an information flyer from the Port Authority of Allegheny County about upcoming street closures, bus and automobile detours, and other news related to North Shore Connector construction. Check out the latest edition: August 2007, Vol. V.

As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes

No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big dollops of public wealth to undo. But just as the speed and scale of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents. Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. And it is not clear that China can rein in its own economic juggernaut.

RTA still on fast track to cutbacks

There are only 20 days to go before the CTA partially shuts down on Sept. 16 if the state fails to approve additional subsidies to erase a $110 million budget deficit...There is still time to avert the threatened service cuts, the fare increases and what would be an accelerated shutdown of Chicago-area mass transit next year. The optimistic viewpoint argues that transit is too important to the region -- and to the state economy -- for politicians to stand idly by as witnesses to a train wreck...

Montana Smart Growth Coalition's Urban and Suburban Neighborhood Development Endorsement Criteria

The Montana Smart Growth Coalition has created a quantitative checklist of criteria to determine if a development project is truly smart growth and deserves MSGC's support during permitting and marketing. A developer may use an MSGC endorsement for marketing purposes after the development is half built out.

State reaches settlement on gas emissions

San Bernardino County, one of the fastest-growing regions in the nation, will be forced to measure how much it contributes to global warming and set targets to begin cutting its greenhouse gas emissions in the next 2 1/2 years, according to a legal settlement announced Tuesday. The case, brought by Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, had opened a new front in the battle against climate change, which has so far been dominated by efforts to regulate power plants, industrial factories and vehicle tailpipe emissions. Counties across California are grappling -- some voluntarily and others reluctantly -- with the realization that local decisions about where to allow new subdivisions and roads, and how buildings are constructed, are factors in the climate changes that are depleting the water supply, fueling forest fires and amplifying air pollution in the state...The attorney general argues that California's 1970 Environmental Quality Act, which has traditionally addressed the air and water pollution effects of development, also covers carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Bring on some hard truth about transit

“As strange as it may sound, our congested roads do not reflect a failure of transportation. They reflect a failure of land use. We are so spread out that our communities have become dysfunctional. No transportation system can adequately serve such a dispersed development pattern. It is time we stop blaming our secretaries of transportation and start blaming our land-use planners and the local officials who make land-use decisions. They let this happen. “It only makes common sense for us to return to the more traditional compact cities and towns that were the norm in this country until after World War II. If common sense doesn’t convince us, then the two serious and inescapable tectonic shifts that we now face may. The first is climate change; the second is the increasing cost of fuel.

Vermont's green impulse doesn't translate into greener transportation

The Governor's Commission on Climate Change, charged with formulating a climate-change action plan for the state, is due to present its recommendations early next month. Vermont's self-imposed goal, as set out in 2005 legislation calling for such a plan, is to reduce statewide emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012. Vermont's total emissions in 2005 were estimated at about 9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. The total in 1990 was about 8 million metric tons. Reaching the state goal of 6 million metric tons in the next five years would require significant reductions in emissions from transportation and other economic sectors, including residential/commercial fuel use (to heat buildings, for example), agriculture and waste management. A draft recommendation by the commission's technical work group on transportation proposed reductions of about 1 million metric tons by 2012 through a variety of measures, most of which would require state or legislative backing. These include "smart growth" planning that locates residences closer to workplaces, promoting more ride sharing and transportation alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles, and instituting pay-as-you-drive insurance.

Wind Turbine Manufacturer Gamesa Agrees to its First U.S. Union Contract

Gamesa, a Spanish wind turbine manufacturer, has hammered out its first-ever U.S. union contract with the United Steelworkers (USW). Workers at two Gamesa facilities in Pennsylvania voted to approve their first contract with 80 percent in favor of it. The agreement lays the foundation for a stronger partnership between one of the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers – and the only one that makes its blades, nacelles, and towers all in the U.S. – and the 850,000 member union.

Shiga Bank Launches Loan Product Linked to CO2 Reduction, Fish Protection

A regional bank in Japan launched a new loan product dubbed the "Carbon Neutral Loan" on April 19, 2007, with a special twist: borrowing money will help to protect the environment of Lake Biwa. Under the program, when a customer installs a photovoltaic generation system using one of the bank's green financing plans, the bank donates funds to stock Lake Biwa with Carassius auratus grandoculis, the lake's indigenous crucian carp.

Planners hear debate on Mon-Fayette's future

It got plenty from both sides on the expressway, the partially built, limited access highway that is planned to connect West Virginia and the Mon Valley with Pittsburgh and Monroeville. Money has not yet been committed to build the Allegheny County section from Route 51 in Jefferson to the Parkway East. Public officials, including legislators representing the Mon Valley, spoke favorably. But Braddock Mayor John Fetterman called the project "environmental racism," and Andrea Boykowycz of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future said the highway would actually make it easier for traffic to bypass Mon Valley towns, rather than bringing the promised economic benefits.

Steelers, Eagles on same team on childhood obesity

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles announced yesterday that they are teaming up with the state of Pennsylvania to fight childhood obesity in middle schools statewide. Participating schools can compete to earn prizes, including tickets to NFL games, autographed merchandise and player visits to their schools.Dr. Calvin B. Johnson, state health secretary, said the program and other initiatives are "long-term investments that will be paid back when our children grow up to be healthy adults."

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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