The CLUB
Be a Volunteer
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), overall solar capacity increased from 500MW in 2004 to 20 GW this year. Next year, solar capacity is expected to double, reaching 40GW. Solar power in the U.S. now supplies enough electricity to meet the equivalent of the yearly demand of Hawaii, Rhode Island, Alaska and Vermont – just 46 more states-worth until we’re at 100%!
Despite these advances, the U.S. is lagging behind the leading solar nation – Germany – that during a day in July produced 78% of its electricity from renewables, with a large portion from solar. We wonder – could Pittsburgh be the new Germany someday?
Explore, Restore and Nature
On November 19, 2015, the Clean Rivers Campaign held a press conference on Allegheny Landing on the North Shore with an 8500 square foot black tarp covering most of the park to symbolize the devastation that even one of the proposed ALCOSAN drop shafts would wreak on our waterfront developments. If ALCOSAN is allowed to proceed with their all gray tunnel plan, they will need to build 18 of these drop shafts along our riverfronts. Each shaft is 100 feet in diameter and during construction each will be surrounded by a 2-3 acre construction site (an acre is roughly a football field without the end zones). They will be a long-term proposition while the tunnels under the river are built. In addition, ALCOSAN has proposed 18 drop shafts along our riverfronts that will be permanent structures. During construction, they, like the larger access shafts, would each be surrounded by a several-acre construction site. These drop shafts would be 20 feet in diameter and would be permanent structures on our waterfront.