Tom Hoffman opens June 1 press conference with Council members Rudiak, Peduto, and Shields.

With Pittsburgh chosen as this year’s national site for the UN World Environmental Day June 5, it was appropriate for Councilman Bill Peduto to introduce Clean Air – Clean Water bills in Council on June 1. The two pieces of legislation are the second part of the Pittsburgh UNITED coalition’s Economic Development Reform legislative package.

Speaking at a press conference preceding the Council meeting were co-sponsors Bruce Kraus, Natalia Rudiak, and Doug Shields. In addition, leaders from community groups, unions, and environmental organizations spoke in support of the legislation that will deal with diesel emissions at construction sites and storm water run-off. Details of the legislation are provided below, and we also have a photo gallery from the press conference.

WE NEED TWO MORE VOTES IN COUNCIL

TO PASS THIS IMPORTANT LEGISLATION.

If you are a resident of Pittsburgh and your member of Council is Darlene Harris, Theresa Kail-Smith, Daniel Lavelle, Patrick Dowd or Rev. Ricky Burgess, then PLEASE URGE THEM TO SUPPORT THE CLEAN AIR-CLEAN WATER LEGISLATION. (more…)

Please join Pittsburgh UNITED, GASP, the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action for a press conference on Tuesday morning, June 1st outside of Pittsburgh City Council chambers.

City Councilman Bill Peduto will introduce the Pittsburgh Clean Air, Clean Water bills that day in city council.

9:30 am, Tuesday, June 1st
City County Building, 5th Floor
414 Grant St, Downtown, Pittsburgh 15219

This pro-environment legislation is part of the Pittsburgh UNITED Economic Development Reform campaign. Since last Fall, the Pittsburgh UNITED coalition and it’s community allies have been working closely with Pittsburgh City Council to add increased accountability to publicly-subsidized economic development. In February the Prevailing Wage portion of the reform package was adopted by Council.

If you live in Pittsburgh, and cannot attend the June 1 press conference, please contact your Council Member and urge than to vote for the Stormwater Runoff and Diesel Emission legislation.  (See details below.) (more…)

In terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of $43,102 in 2007, the United States is the second wealthiest nation in the world. Yet according to a recent report, it falls way back in terms of environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. This raises the question of wealth, national priorities, and commitment to environmental stewardship, as discussed later.
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It has been some time coming, but Allegheny County is finally getting with the energy conservation program. On October 27, County Executive Dan Onorato signed into law the Sustainability Policy for Allegheny County.
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Sustainable laundry drying, Donald L. Gibbon

The term ‘Sustainability’ is readily bandied about by politician’s and community leaders, but what does it really mean, and how can individuals and communities make it happen?

As a Prelude to the G-20 Meeting, ‘Sustainability” will be the topic of an Open Forum held by the Sierra Club on Sept. 9. Leading the discussion will be Court Gould of Sustainable Pittsburgh and Bill O’Driscoll of Pittsburgh’s City Paper.

With all that is taking place in Pittsburgh, it is understandable that elected officials like Mayor Ravenstahl and County Executive Onorato are happy to don the garland of Green. But to support any claim of Green supremacy, some benchmarking is in order.

The 2008 Smarter Cities Study (a project of the National Resources Defense Council) is a benchmarking effort that could be very useful for local officials. The study ranks cities large, medium, and small, and uses the criteria of Air Quality, Energy Production and Conservation, Environmental Standards and Participation, Green Building, Green Space, Recycling, Transportation, Standard of Living, Water Quality and Conservation.
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In a New York Times blog entitled “Blue is the New Green”, Sunset magazine editor Allison Arieff has some interesting thoughts about the value of water. Arieff’s background is design and popular culture, but her blog covers the integration of water conservation and architecture with sections on Living Roofs, Living Walls, Greywater, and Water Harvesting. With plenty of links to more in-depth sources, this blog is well worth visiting.

by Donald L. Gibbon

The back cover of the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of Sierra Magazine headlines “Are
You Tired of Being Hit Over the Head by a Lobbyist With Your Own Club?”
The Club they’re referring to is the AAA. I’ve been a member of Triple-A
for 23 years. I’ve valued their services: opening my locked car, starting
my car, fixing my wife’s flats, providing maps and passports. But… and
here’s the big BUT… over ten years ago I noticed in their obnoxious
ad-filled industrial-tourism newspaper that they were lobbying Congress on
behalf of their members, claiming that 500,000 members (or however many of
us there were) supported their lobbyists’ positions. And those positions
were DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED to mine!

“Hey,” I wrote the president, Richard Hamilton, at the time, if I remember
correctly. “I’m a member of this organization. You never asked me what I
wanted you to say in my behalf. When is the Membership Meeting at which I
get to express my opinions?” They never wrote back, in spite of my
repeated attempts to get a conversation going. And they NEVER hold
membership meetings, never conduct surveys to discover what the members
want. (more…)