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October 4, 2007
Sustainable Pittsburgh
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412-258-6642
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3E Links readers are early
adopters of sustainable policies, products, and practices, and the people who
educate their friends and family about the benefits of sustainable development.
Be sure to pass your issue of 3E Links along to friends and colleagues.
Subscribe by e-mailing info@sustainablepittsburgh.org
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Events
Alternative Transportation Festival
Information
Forum: Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission - Understanding &
Intersecting with the TIP and CMAQ
Urban
Tree Planting: Making Large Shade Trees Sustainable
Good
People Gather, Charlene M. Tanner Speaker Series
Socially
Responsible Investing
Aging:
Preparing for the next workforce. Are you ready?
Planning
Together: Lessons Learned
Coordinated
Mobility: A Unified Transportation Management Solution
Global
Problems, Global Solutions: Saving our Earth and its people
Green
Building Products Summit
4th
Annual Regional Equitable Development Summit: "Most Livable Region By
Growing Opportunity for All"
YWCA Great
Pittsburgh 2007 Racial Justice Awards
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Sustainable Pittsburgh provides
input on transit funding to Allegheny County Council
This past Wednesday evening, Allegheny County Council held a hearing to
collect public input on the matter of levying two new taxes (per state
legislature authorization) to support public transportation.
Here's an article on the hearing:
"Tax on
drinks and car rentals seen as solution to transit crisis"
Click here to read the
statement Sustainable Pittsburgh made at the hearing.
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Resources
SEPTA
approves purchase of 400 new diesel-electric hybrid buses
Arctic
Melt Unnerves the Experts
Greater
Ohio releases 2007 Candidate Briefing Book
The Road
Not Taken
Green
Family Values: What's Your Child's School's Carbon Footprint?
Brave
New World
The
Green Standard?
The
secret greening of Calgary
Solid
waste deserves a regional approach
'Burgh
least livable, blacks tell city leaders
(School)
busing wastes money and encourages sprawl and walking is healthier, anyway
Wal-Mart
to Only Sell Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent
France
unveils blueprint for green revolution
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Friday, October 5
3 Different Locations
Schenley Plaza: 11am-1:30pm, 3pm-8pm
Market Square: 11am-1:30pm, 3pm-5pm
South Side Works: 11am-1:30pm, 3pm-8pm
www.cleancities-pittsburgh.net/atf
The Alternative Transportation Festival (ATF) is an event to raise public
awareness of alternative means of transportation and advocate for the
increased use of public transportation, car-sharing, biofuels,
fuel efficient, hybrid and advanced vehicles, boats, bikes and other
human-powered technologies.
The ATF is being organized by Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities with support
from Steel City Biofuels, Bike Pittsburgh, and
Restorative Events and is made possible by a generous grant from the Sprout
Fund's Engage Pittsburgh Program. Learn more about the innovative Scavenger
Hunt, which organizations are participating in the Festival, and how to
become eligible for prizes like $2,000 in GetGo
gift cards, Annual Port Authority Passes, free FlexCar
memberships, bikes, and and gear from REI.
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Information Forum: Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission - Understanding & Intersecting
with the TIP and CMAQ
Friday, October 5
10:00 am - 11:30 am
Regional Enterprise Tower,
31st floor
No fee to attend
Pre-registration to: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org
or 412-258-6642
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
(SPC), having recently completed Project Region and adopted The Region’s new
Long Range Transportation and Development Plan as a result, is now focused on
implementation mechanisms including development of the Transportation Improvement
Program (TIP) by JUNE of 2008. The TIP serves to determine a host of targeted
regional transportation investments in programs and infrastructure projects
within fiscal constraint. A visible element of the TIP development process
will be the recommended program of projects for the Congestion and Mitigation
and Air Quality Program (CMAQ).
Come learn about and how to navigate these important regional prioritization
processes and gain insight of how to intersect to advance your community
development and redevelopment needs in step with Project Region.
This information forum being presented by SPC is timely given that both TIP
and CMAQ development processes for selecting projects are just beginning. The
forum will begin with a video presentation of the region’s plan, include
staff TIP AND CMAQ presentations, and engage participants in Q&A.
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Friday, October 12
8:30am – 3:30pm
Penn State University, Greater Allegheny Campus, McKeesport, PA 15132
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: OCT 5, 2007
REGISTRATION FEES: INDIVIDUAL $125, TEAM (3 or more from same organization)
$100, MEMBER Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest $ 75
For a workshop brochure or more information, contact Mark Remcheck
at mar15@psu.edu or 724-228-6940.
This workshop is designed for those who help
plan redevelopment in towns and cities – from landscape architects and urban
planners to highway engineers and municipal officials. Henry Arnold, the
keynote presenter, has extensive experience designing urban tree plantings
using innovative site preparation techniques which address volume of root
space, porosity of the growing medium, drainage, and supporting pavement in
the root zone. He will illustrate how combining design and technical
expertise can result in populating our urban areas with large, long lived
shade trees.
Six afternoon break-out sessions will be offered on topics such as, caring
for newly planted trees and tree selection; and sharing examples of
successful planting projects.
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October 12-14, 2007
Mercyhurst College, Erie, PA
Winona LaDuke - 10/12, 7pm - Taylor Little Theatre
Derrick Jensen - 10/13, 7pm - Taylor Little Theatre
Vandana Shiva - 10/14, 1pm Lecture and 3pm Panel
Discussion with Derrick Jensen - Performing Arts Center
Free and open to the public; Hostel available
For more information contact: 814-824-2578 or cathy.pedler@gmail.com
The series will present lectures on our societal and environmental global crisis
and the urgent need for justice. This event will include primitive skills,
scenic hikes, art, earth and reflection workshops as well as an atlatl competition. To see full details, visit sustainability.mercyhurst.edu.
This event is being gifted in memory of Charlene M. Tanner by her loving
partner, Doris Cipolla. Because of their shared
interests in social justice, peace, and the environment, it is hoped that
this program will inspire others to help create a healing environment for the
world.
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Tuesday, October 16
5:30pm - 6:30pm
Location: The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Squirrel Hill Branch, Room
"C"
5801 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
To RSVP call 412-562-6781 or email diane.slepski@ubs.com
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. Sponsored by UBS Financial Services, Ellen M. Marcus.
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Friday, October 19
8:00am – 1:00pm
Regional Enterprise Tower, The Conference Center, 31st floor (Downtown
Pittsburgh)
General Registration Fee - $50.00; Fee for PHRA and PHRPS members is $40.00
Register through the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board website: www.trwib.org
You will need a special pass code to access the online registration form:
aging07.
Please call 412-552-7094 with any questions.
Learn from the expert perspectives of: Robert Romasco,
member of the AARP Board of Directors along with specialists in each of the
following subject tracks: ~Diversity (facilitated by Highmark
and PNC Bank); ~Attraction and Retention (facilitated by St. Vincent
Healthcare System, one of AARP’s best employers for workers 50+); ~Knowledge
Management (facilitated by Robert Guy, Chief Knowledge Officer, Giant Eagle);
and learn about the legal issues surrounding the aging workforce: Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl, Attorneys at Law.
Visit www.trwib.org for a complete agenda.
Event sponsored by Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board with support from
AARP, UPMC, Highmark, and Pittsburgh Human
Resources Association (PHRA).
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Sustainability and Smart Growth Forum
Monday, October 22
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Location: Fetterolf Room, 23rd Floor, Regional
Enterprise Tower, 425 Sixth Ave., Downtown Pittsburgh
Bring a brown bag lunch -- dessert provided.
Free to attend.
Register: email info@sustainablepittsburgh.org
or call 412-258-6642
Sustainable Pittsburgh is partnering with
the Local Government Academy
to focus in on multi-municipal comprehensive planning. Various municipal
leaders will share what's working, benefits, and lessons learned. Current
speakers include: Cindy Davis, Butler
Township; Chris Rearick, Consultant; Ray Reaves, Consultant; and Joy
Wilhelm, Mackin Engineering. More details to
follow.
Sponsored by:
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October 23-24, 2007
Pittsburgh, PA
Fee: Tuition shall be waived for federal, state and local government
employees who work in transportation or related areas. Fee for contractors
and consultants: $300.00
Contact: 732-932-1700 or msirleaf@nti.rutgers.edu
To register, go to www.NTIONLINE.com
and look under Management Development.
Presented
by the National Transit Institute, this course will provide a look at
creative approaches to resolving fragmented transportation systems to a more
seamless network with a customer-focused mindset. The objective of this
course is: --Identify ways to forge partnerships with community players to
coordinate multimodal transportation options around
the needs of the customer; --Develop an understanding of the customer travel
needs of today; --Create awareness of the opportunities; --Present elements
of mobility management and planning techniques; --Identify and promote the
benefits of mobility management for communities; --Identify funding resources
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October 26-27, 2007
Friday - 7:00pm; Saturday - 9:00am to 5:00pm
LaRoche
College, North Hills (9000 Babcock Blvd, Pittsburgh, 15237-5808)
Free admission
To register, visit www.laroche.edu/global
or call the Office of College Activities at 412-536-1071.
Space is limited; early registration is encouraged.
Conference
host La Roche College will join with other sponsor organizations to once
again bring to the public this free conference that focuses on awareness of
important global issues. This year, the theme focuses on U.N. Millennium Goal
No. 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability. Yet the vision for a better world
goes beyond global warming and the earth's sustainability issues. Individuals
must continue to affect change in such areas as gender equality, human rights
and poverty...This year's featured speaker is Erin Brockovich,
a former law firm file clerk who won one of the nation's largest class-action
lawsuits in history when she found that a public utility company was
contaminating a town's water supply and causing its residents to become ill.
Now director of research for the same California
law firm, Masry & Vititoe,
Ms. Brockovich continues her fight against
environmental concerns.
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Green
Building Products Summit
Monday, October 29
9:00am to 4:00pm
Location: The
Regional Learning Alliance (Cranberry, PA)
Fee: $95 until October 1; $125 after October 1
To see the full agenda or to register, click here.
Green
Building Alliance's (GBA's) one-day conference will
feature a number of key speakers including Rebecca Flora, Executive Director
of GBA & Chair-elect of the US Green Building Council (USGBC), and Katie McGinty, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (Invited). Key sessions include: Overview of Life
Cycle Analysis, LEED®, and Green Building Product Standards; a Panel
Discussion including key PA manufacturers and the Regional VP of Home Depot
providing their perspectives on Green Building Products and what it means to
their businesses; a presentation by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company on
financial incentives/discounts they provide on insurance products related to
Green Building Products; Information on training & educational programs
on Green/Sustainable Building Products; How GBA’s
Green Building Products Initiative can provide assistance to you; a unique
opportunity to set up one-on-one consultation meetings with the various
speakers and panelists at the end of the program. In addition to the packed
program, this event will also provide attendees with opportunities to meet
with many other manufacturers, specifiers &
buyers of green building products (i.e. architects, engineers, contractors,
building owners) and other industry professionals.
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Friday, November 16
8:30am-12:30pm (8:00am - Registration and Continental Breakfast)
Twentieth Century Club, 4201 Bigelow Blvd., Oakland
Keynote: David Rusk, author of Cities without Suburbs, Baltimore
Unbound, and Inside Game/Outside Game, presented by the University
of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Annual Wherrett Lecture on Local Governing
Free and open to the public
Register: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org
or 412-258-6642
This 4th Annual Summit is intended to be a catalyst for engaging civic
leaders in helping to advance existing efforts in our region to accelerate
regional equity. Listen to how some of the region's leading champions of
equitable development are working to close the disparities gap. Get
involved—share your thoughts and ideas during the breakout sessions.
As explained by keynote speaker, David Rusk, right now, right here, some of
the nation's most innovative civic initiatives are unfolding to narrow the
disparities gap. Moderated by Sala Udin (Center for Civic Leadership), panel speakers
include Jane Downing, The Pittsburgh Foundation (Community Benefits
Agreements & Minority Contracting); Caren Glotfelty, The Heinz Endowments (Environment & Public
Health); Bob Grom, Heritage Health Foundation Inc.
(Access To Work); Aimee LeFevers, Good Schools
Pennsylvania (Education); Scott Smith, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (Affordable Housing); Tim Stevens, The Black Political
Empowerment Project (Racial Equity & Empowerment); Bill Thompson,
Executive Director, Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Investment Board; and Luis
Rico, Western Pennsylvania Diversity Initiative (Racial and Economic
Inclusion).
More information is available on Sustainable Pittsburgh's website .
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Friday, November 30
6:00pm
Omni William Penn Hotel, 530
William Penn Place (Downtown Pittsburgh)
Fee: $75 (Dinner Included)
For more information call 412-255-1257 or email specialevents@ywcapgh.org.
Join
the YWCA for the 16th Annual YWCA Greater Pittsburgh Racial Justice Awards,
for a night of admiration and recognition. The Racial Justice Awards
recognizes individuals and organizations that are making a difference in
promoting racial justice and equality throughout the community. Awardees
include: Ronell Guy, Community Empowerment; Valerie
Dixon, Community Service and Public Safety; Reed Smith, LLP, Legal; Larry E.
Davis, Ph.D., Education; Doris Carson Williams, Company and Business;
Councilwoman Brenda L.Frazier, Government; and
Pennsylvania Commission for Women, Government.
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Resources
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At its regular monthly meeting the SEPTA Board today [September 27]
approved the purchase of 400 new diesel-electric hybrid 40-foot low floor
buses...Adding the 400 new buses to the 32 diesel-electric hybrid buses
already in the Authority’s fleet will make SEPTA the operator of one of the
largest public transit hybrid bus fleets in the country. It will also mark a
significant step in SEPTA’s efforts to build and
maintain one of the greenest, most energy-efficient large-city public
transportation systems in the nation.
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The Arctic ice cap shrank so much this summer that waves briefly lapped
along two long-imagined Arctic shipping routes, the Northwest Passage over Canada and the Northern Sea Route over Russia. Over
all, the floating ice dwindled to an extent unparalleled in a century or
more, by several estimates... Astonished by the summer’s changes, scientists
are studying the forces that exposed one million square miles of open
water--six Californias--beyond
the average since satellites started measurements in 1979.
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Greater Ohio releases 2007 Candidate Briefing Book
The program ideas outlined in this briefing book includes changes the
voters are looking for and your community needs—-changes that will bring the
smart (i.e. quality) growth and development Ohio needs to become great once
again...Ohio is fortunate because it has many older cities and towns that are
worth preserving and already have walkable town
centers. They already have the potential to act as growth centers that
promote economic vitality...Recognizing the value of these existing
communities and shaping policies that direct funds to reconstruct and
revitalize them, rather than spending dollars on new developments that impose
costs on taxpayers and have none of the assets or “spin off” benefits, is the
challenge.
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Governor Rendell and clean energy champions in
the state legislature are doing all they can to lead Pennsylvania toward a clean energy future,
where the way energy is made and used is changed forever. The road diverges
here. Will we finally have the courage to take the road not traveled--the
clean energy road? That will make all the difference.
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Knowing a school’s carbon footprint may be the first step in promoting change.
Faced with such staggering statistics, school boards are more likely to make
decisions that will reduce carbon emissions, and children will be motivated
to do what they can in their own classrooms. Parents can easily be involved
in the process, and fundraisers could be held to purchase offsets.
Furthermore, schools can make the necessary changes to lower their own carbon
emissions and students can be involved in offsetting carbon emissions on the
school campus by planting trees and switching light bulbs, for example. In
fact, you may even be able to get a carbon credit company to take your
child’s school on as a project.
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While Dubai continues to catch the
headlines, it is worth more than pausing to appreciate Abu Dhabi's 2030 plan. Its stated goals are
interesting less for their housing and transportation projects--impressive
though they may be--but more for the attention to its cultural and
environmental goals.
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The
Green Standard?
The business case isn't just that green building saves money on energy.
It's that LEED certification sells buildings to high-end clients and
governments, gets architects and builders sparkling free publicity, and
creates a hook for selling new products, materials, and systems to builders.
It's a whole new commercial ecosystem. "Here in DC," says architect
Russell Perry, who's active in the Green Building Council, "for a
speculative developer to go out and advertise their property as being Class A
[the highest-quality commercial building], they've got to have a LEED rating.
The brokers need that as part of their pitch. People who would have been
ambivalent about that as a moral issue are finding that it's a commercial
necessity." Rob Watson, the so-called father of LEED, seems to agree.
"Over the last 10 years, the gravity of the global environmental
situation has become more obvious," says Watson, reached in China, where
he's consulting on green buildings for the government and private developers.
"And so I think, if anything, we need to
redouble our efforts, and not only go for greater market share but increased
stringency at the same time."
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Canada's
oil capital may be damned as an eco-villain. But don't let that fool you:
This boomtown isn't just tilting at windmills--it's
harnessing wind power and making radical cuts in emissions to become 'the greenest
city in the world'.
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Though the modern landfill is light-years of difference from the municipal
dumps of just a couple of decades ago, it’s still basically digging a hole in
the earth, squeezing in as much trash as possible and covering it up again.
As each of us is part of the problem, each of us must be part of the overall
solution. Region 2000 has been studying the concept of a regional solid waste
initiative for several years and thought a stop-gap solution to the long-term
problem of trash disposal had been devised. By forming a regional authority
and utilizing landfills in Lynchburg, Amherst and Campbell on a rotating
basis, planners hoped to gain a 20-year bit of breathing room, time to
develop new, high-tech, cost-effective ways to deal with solid waste well
into the 21st century.
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That ship, speakers at the summit argued, needs to feature more quality
jobs, safer communities, better education, health care and affordable
housing...In terms of employment, salaries, poverty, single-parent families,
home ownership, enrollment in schools and many other measures, local
African-Americans are "among the most disadvantaged people in
America," Dr. Bangs said. "We have one of the biggest problems to
deal with in urban America."
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Pennsylvania
school buses travel more than 381 million miles annually at a cost of more
than $1 billion. That's nearly 75 percent of the cost of the state's urban
and rural transit authorities. Although the state provides about half the
funding for both systems, school districts are automatically guaranteed a
subsidy based on their aid ratio and miles traveled, no further questions
asked.
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The move to sell only concentrated liquid detergent will save more than
400 million gallons of water, 95 million pounds of plastic resin and 125
million pounds of cardboard, the company said.
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France unveils blueprint for green revolution
Green taxes on gas-guzzling cars, lower speed caps on highways and eco-labels
on supermarket food: French campaigners and businesses on Thursday unveiled a
blueprint for a green revolution ahead of a high-profile environmental
summit...."We have no alternative but to radically change the rules and
bring about an environmental revolution," Jean-Louis Borloo,
the minister for the environment and sustainable development, told
participants as they unveiled their findings.
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Member of Sustainable Pittsburgh, please visit our website.
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Click here to access the
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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 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
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