On Tuesday, June 4th, Pennsylvanians will convoy across the state to Harrisburg to rumble the Rotunda with the call for dedicated funding for our public transit systems. You are invited to join us!

Governor Corbett’s transportation budget falls far short of what is needed to keep our public transit healthy and fully accessible. Unless our state legislature acts to pass funding legislation to make up that shortfall, we will face more damaging fixed bus route and ACCESS system cuts in upcoming years.

Reserve your seat on the bus or to sign the petition in support of the Transit Bill of Rights. For more information, contact Mike Pastorkovich at 412-512-8928 or Treesnrivers at yahoo dot com

Join our Public Lands Action Team in a two day camping, hiking, and river float outing to educate volunteers on issues, enjoy the onset of Summer, and to document and celebrate Photinus Carolinus and other firefly species in Kelletville and along the North Country National Scenic Trail. Organized by the Allegheny Defense Project. Meet at 3 pm, Friday June 21 at the Sierra Club office parking lot, N. Craig Street. For details contact Matt Peters at < mattnedludd at gmail dot com >.

Save the date for Center for Coalfield Justice’s 7th Annual DRYerson Festival on June 15 in Ryerson Station State Park, Greene County. This year’s theme is: It’s About Time. DAM IT! We are thrilled to celebrate that the lake is coming back but will still advocate that mineral extraction does not belong in a state park.

CCJ will have a volunteer night on Thursday, May 23, 2013 to mail postcards for DRYerson and there are many more volunteer opportunities to help in the planning of DRYerson and the day off. If you would like to volunteer please contact Veronica at 724-229-3550.

This campaign strategy meeting will be hosted by Marcellus Protest and led by Sam Bernhardt from the nonprofit group Food and Water Watch. All are invited.

1:00-3:00 pm, Saturday, June 1, 2013
Friends Meeting House
4836 Ellsworth Ave. Shadyside neighborhood
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

To protect our communities from the degradation of hydraulic fracturing, we need to organize and mobilize, but we must use our resources efficiently and strategically. How we can effectively select targets and design effective campaigns will be discussed, followed by a workshop to develop campaign skills..

For more information, contact Mel Packer at melpacker at aol dot com.

Sam Bernhardt is the Pennsylvania Organizer at Food & Water Watch, Based in Philadelphia, Sam coordinates Food & Water Watch campaigns on food and water issues around the state. His work in Pennsylvania centers around empowering communities to fight by training and organizing groups to hold their elected officials accountable.

As part of a national ‘preview’ tour Gasland Part II will be shown free to the public on Thursday, June 20, at the Soldiers and Sailors Hall in Oakland. Doors open at 6 pm with live music and the screening begins at 7 pm. Director Josh Fox will be present. Gasland Part II is an HBO Documentary Films release presented by Gasland Grassroots. It will premiere on HBO on July 8th.

As part of its ongoing series of talks on a green solution to the stormwater/sewage problem in Pittsburgh, the Clean Rivers Campaign invites you to the free public talk given by: :

George Hawkins, General Manager
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority

6:30 pm, Monday, May 13
Botany Hall – Phipps Conservatory
1 Schenley Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Special reception (with food and drink) at 5:30 pm.

Mr. Hawkins comes to us with more than two decades of experience in water, environmental, and smart growth issues. At DC Water, Mr. Hawkins is managing an ambitious agenda to improve aging infrastructure and comply with newer, more stringent regulatory requirements. He has also negotiated changes to DC Water’s consent decree to include significant green infrastructure components.

Please register HERE – space is limited.

The PA Division of Forestry has given 130 acres of state forest in Westmoreland County to a limestone mining company. Adjacent lands are managed as private nature preserve for its high-quality forest habitat, and the area is riddled with caves that bats rely on for winter hibernation. We will hike in and assess the condition of the area, at times probably off-trail. Wear sturdy shoes, long pants for protection from ticks and brambles. Bring water and a snack.

We will meet to carpool/caravan 10:00 AM Sunday, May 12 at the parking lot of the Sierra Club office, 425 N Craig Street 15213.

For more information contact Matt Peters at ( mattnedludd at gmail dot com )

Concept of a Passive House, a house that does not require furnace nor much energy to feel comfortable will be introduced at the Green Building Alliance Lunch and Learn Program on 6/26 11:30-1:00.

11:30 am – 1:00 pm, Wednesday, June 26
33 Terminal Way,  Suite 331
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Lucy de Barbaro and Ayres Freitas, together with their design team, Dunn and Associates, and passive house expert John Semmelhack, will describe how they have adopted the Passive House concept for a new duplex project in Squirrel Hill, one side of which is to become their dream home.

Registration HERE.

For more information contact Lucyna de Barbaro at lucyna dot debarbaro at gmail dot com.

Join Global Solutions Pittsburgh, local experts, and community members for a panel discussion and Q&A about the effect that climate change is having in the world today.

6 pm to 8 pm, Thursday, April 25
Union Project
801 N. Negley Ave.
Pittsburgh PA 15206

On the panel for this discussion:

• Dr. Stan Kabala, Associate Director of the Center for Environmental Research and Education at Duquesne University
• Tiffany Hickman, Western Pennsylvania Outreach Coordinator at Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture)
• William Luneberg, Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Register HERE

Want to safely dispose of that old computer or other electronic equipment? Commonwealth Computer Recycling is holding several events around the area: Baldwin-Whitehall, April 16; Indiana IUP campus, April 19 Shadyside, April 20; St. Vincent’s, April 21; Washington, April 25; and Belle Vernon, April 27, with more events in May. No charge, but small donation appreciated, and hard drives removed and destroyed for $10. See full details HERE.

The Thomas Merton Center has organized a four-part film festival around the topic of ‘environmental justice’.

The Last Mountain: Tuesday evening, April 9, 7pm
The Price of Sand: Saturday evening, April 20, 7pm
Triple Divide: Monday evening, April 29, 7 pm
Transition 2.0: Tuesday Evening, April 30, 7 pm

For more about the films and the screening location visit HERE.

A backpacking trip is planned for the Minister Creek area of the Allegheny NF. Part of the time will be spent maintaining the North Country National Scenic Trail that passes through the area.

Sponsored by the Student Conservation Association and the North Country Trail Association. For more information contact Matt Peters at ( mattnedludd at gmail dot com )

The 1921 miner’s war on Blair Mountain in Logan County WV was commemorated last year by a march of Mountain Top Removal protesters. Here in Pittsburgh in May the Blair Pathways program focuses on the 92-year old battle as the root of the ongoing struggle for labor rights and environmental justice in West Virginia.

6:00 to 7:30 pm, Wednesday, May 8
The Big idea Bookstore
4812 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh 15224

For more information contact Randy Francisco at ( randy dot francisco at sierraclub dot org ).

Penn State’s Center for Private Forests will host the first statewide Private Forest Landowners’ Conference:

The Future of Penn’s Woods
May 10-11, 2013
Blair County Convention Center
Altoona, PA

Conference registration is $75 per person and includes two breaks with food on Friday, and two breaks and lunch on Saturday. Additionally, participants may attend up to two field tours on Friday morning ($15 each) and the keynote banquet on Friday night with Dr. Doug Tallamy ($30). For details check HERE.

The Clean Rivers Campaign and Chatham University’s School of Sustainability and Environment invite the public to a talk:

“Save the Rain: Balancing Green and Gray Stormwater
Infrastructure Solutions in Syracuse”

Matthew Millea, Onondaga County, New York

6:30 pm, Tuesday, April 9
Eddy Theatre –
Chatham University
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
(Use the parking lot on Murrayhill Ave.)

Special reception (with food and drink) at 6:00 pm.

As Deputy County Executive Mr. Millea oversees the operations of nine county departments and assists the County Executive with the development and implementation of the annual county budget. Matt has been charged wiht managing the County’s “Save the Rain” effort, which is a multi-million dollar public works program using both grey and green infrastructure approaches to mitigate sewer overflows into Onondaga Lake.

Please register HERE.