December 17, 2015
Sustainable Pittsburgh


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Events
In The Air - Visualizing What We Breathe

Biophilia: Pittsburgh January Meeting: Envisioning Biophilic Pittsburgh

Managing Uncertainty: The New Economics of the Power Industry

Resources
Introducing "(Re)Building Downtown"

Financing infrastructure through resilience bonds












Sustainable Pittsburgh Statement on the Paris Agreement – COP21

On December 12, 2015 nearly 200 nations formally acknowledged the challenges of climate change and agreed to take steps to “accelerate reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions” during the United Nations COP21 conference in Paris. The agreement (actually more a pledge) marks a consensus and historic shift towards a global transition to a low carbon economy and is a call to action for all nations—developed and developing.

Read Sustainable Pittsburgh's full statement on the Paris Agreement.


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Our Vision: Through the policy and practice of sustainable development, Southwestern Pennsylvania has a strong economy in which all people can live to their potential, are engaged, and prosper within the means of a clean and healthy environment. Invest in a more Sustainable Pittsburgh. Our name is our promise.
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Resources Continued
Energy Innovation

Letter opposing House Bill 1327 (P.N. 2650)

Sustainable Pittsburgh's Green Workplace Challenge winners reduced landfill waste, cut water usage and more

Global cancer hotspots: Burden of disease is shifting to developing world

Rating Pittsburgh's Transit Usage







In The Air - Visualizing What We Breathe

Open through February 26
Pittsburgh Filmmakers
477 Melwood Ave., Pittsburgh 15213
More information

Photographers Brian Cohen, Scott Goldsmith, Lynn Johnson and Annie O’Neill have spent the last year recording people and places that illustrate the environmental, social and economic effects of air quality in Western Pennsylvania. An accompanying book designed by Brett Yasko with essays by Reid Frazier will expand on and provide context to the visual work. In addition to the exhibition and book, the project will also have an online presence, air.thedocumentaryworks.org. This team has gathered materials that describe the variety of issues at the heart of the air quality subject; highlighting the relationship between the health of the community and the health of its environment.

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Biophilia: Pittsburgh January Meeting: Envisioning Biophilic Pittsburgh

Thursday, January 7
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm (Agenda available online)
Center for Sustainable Landscapes classroom at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Free to attend; advance registration required
More information

Biophilia: Pittsburgh is the pilot chapter for a global Biophilia Network of creative minds dedicated to strengthening the bond between people and the natural world through education, discussion and action.

During this meeting, join Phipps Executive Director Richard Piacentini and Director of Science Education and Research Dr. Emily Kalnicky at a visioning session for “Biophilic Pittsburgh.” Come for a lively conversation about all of the great biophilic initiatives already happening in the city and follow-up on the Biophilic Cities movement presented by Dr. Tim Beatley at the November meetup. Learn more about what Phipps and its partners are already doing, and get involved by having your voice and ideas be heard.

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Managing Uncertainty: The New Economics of the Power Industry

Wednesday, February 17, 2016
7:00 pm
Yost Auditorium, Burnett Center - Washington & Jefferson College, 60 S. Lincoln St., Washington, PA 15301
More information and Registration
PA, WV, and OH CLE credit is available for attorneys; W&J will provide certificates of completion of Professional Development Hours for applicable registrants.

Featured Speakers:
Dianne Anderson
Former Executive Director , Great Lakes Institute for Energy Innovation, Case Western Reserve University

Gregory F. Reed, Ph.D.
Director of Center for Energy and of the Electric Power Initiative; Professor at Swanson School of Engineering, U. of Pittsburgh

Energy experts will examine the issues that must be resolved to arrive at a new business model for the generation and delivery of electricity. The ultimate question is who is going to pay for the modern grid that we need? How do we set up the right incentives for those investments? Do we need to create new regulatory frameworks?

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Resources
Energy Innovation

Energy Innovation (EI) is a biweekly newsletter of the Energy for the Power of 32 initiative. It features news and events that are accelerating sustainable development for the power of 32. View the latest edition of EI using the link below.

Subscribe to Energy Innovation.

Read the latest issue.
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Letter opposing House Bill 1327 (P.N. 2650)

On behalf of more than one hundred thousand Pennsylvanians, we write to express our strong opposition to House Bill 1327, the Fiscal Code bill passed by the Senate on December 10. While there are several problems with this legislation, our opposition is based mainly on the eleventh-hour insertion of harmful provisions concerning the Clean Power Plan (CPP) and gas drilling regulations for “conventional” oil and gas well activities. Because these provisions are hostile to public health and the environment, contrary to public will, and likely unconstitutional, we urge you to vote against HB 1327 – and any other legislation that may come before you containing the same language.

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Sustainable Pittsburgh's Green Workplace Challenge winners reduced landfill waste, cut water usage and more

Winners were announced Dec. 2. Perhaps most impressive was the Top Legacy Performer award-winner — Conservation Consultants Inc. The South Side-based nonprofit is using 66 percent less energy than it did during the Challenge’s baseline year of 2010-11. (Even back then, this outfit, whose job is telling people how to save energy, was already using much less than the average for a building its size.)

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Global cancer hotspots: Burden of disease is shifting to developing world

Addressing this inequality is critical, the researchers wrote in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, because "a large proportion of cancers can be prevented through measures including tobacco control, vaccination, early detection, and promotion of healthy lifestyles."

"In addition, the burden of suffering can be reduced through appropriate treatment and palliative care. To apply these cancer control measures equitably around the world, a concerted effort will be required not only from individual country governments but also from international agencies, donors, civil society," they said.

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Rating Pittsburgh's Transit Usage

Metro Pittsburghers use public transit at a higher rate than residents of most other benchmark regions, according to recently released figures from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. The government figures, which unfortunately are nearly two years old upon their release, do not reflect any impact that the dramatic decline in oil prices since June 2014 have had on ridership. In this measure, we also include several regions not usually in our benchmark group including: Washington, D.C., Portland, Seattle and Buffalo.

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Introducing "(Re)Building Downtown"

Downtowns, Main Streets, and city centers across the country are witnessing a renaissance. As more Americans choose the convenience and connectivity of walkable neighborhoods, communities are seeing new businesses, restaurants, and shops open in areas that were formerly vacant or economically distressed.

This movement is an exciting opportunity for communities. But for many places, the work needed to create a vibrant downtown can seem daunting. A new guidebook is designed to help.

(Re)Building Downtown: A Guidebook for Revitalization, released today, is a new guide for local elected officials who want to re-invigorate and strengthen neighborhood centers of economy, culture, and history through a smart growth approach to development. The guide lays out in straightforward language seven main steps to take, and it’s designed to be used by any community, no matter where you are in the revitalization process.

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Financing infrastructure through resilience bonds

The linkage is designed to reduce risks, akin to how quitting smoking or exercising regularly lowers life insurance costs. In the case of resilient infrastructure, investing in coastal protection or seawalls helps avoid physical and financial disaster. Resilience bonds combine these two different types of investments by modifying traditional catastrophe bonds to provide insurance savings that can be captured as rebates to invest in resilient infrastructure projects.

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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 ($1,000 and up) in 2015 from:

Alcoa Foundation
Bayer USA Foundation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
BNY Mellon
FedEx Ground
The Heinz Endowments
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Henry L. Hillman Foundation
Levin Furniture
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Pashek Associates, LTD
PITT OHIO
The PNC Financial Services Group
UPMC


Special thanks to the SP Members

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