Pittsburgh City Council Approves Clean Air Act

Via press release from Councilman Peduto's office:

CLEAN AIR NOW
City Council Approves Clean Air Act
PITTSBURGH – Today, Pittsburgh City Council approved two pieces of legislation sponsored by Councilman William Peduto that will dramatically reduce harmful diesel emissions to improve air quality throughout the City. The first requires publicly subsidized developments to retrofit construction equipment with the best-available technology to limit their impact on the City’s air quality. The second puts in place a 10-year plan for the City to retrofit all of their diesel vehicles.

Pittsburgh ranks among the worst cities in the nation for short-term particulate matter and ozone pollution and for year-round particulate pollution. Clear linkages exist between these environmental pollutants and serious chronic health problems such as heart disease, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses.

It is estimated the 25% of the City’s diesel particulate pollution originates from diesel construction vehicles and the technology exists today to reduce this pollution by more than 85%.

The Clean Air Act was supported by a strong coalition of labor unions, environmental organizations, faith-based groups, and community organizations. The coalition stood together on the principle that Pittsburgh cannot compete for jobs, residents, and businesses unless we commit to environmental quality and sustainability.

“Today is a critical step forward in the City’s battle to improve air quality for all residents and visitors in the City of Pittsburgh,” said Councilman Peduto. “The passage of this bill, along with the prevailing wage legislation and Clean Water Act previously passed by City Council is part of a new policy of triple bottom line economic development that City Council supports. This policy recognizes that all development should have a positive economic, social, and environmental impact.”

This was a preliminary vote and it passed 8-0.

URGENT ACTION ITEM: New Battle of Blair Mountain

A group of miners display one of the bombs dropped on them
Via Wikipedia:

The Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the biggest civil uprisings in the United States history and the largest armed insurrection since the American Civil War. For five days in late August and early September 1921, in Logan County, West Virginia, between 10,000 and 15,000 coal miners confronted an army of police and strikebreakers backed by coal operators during a struggle by the miners to unionize the southwestern West Virginia coalfields. Their struggle ended only after approximately one million rounds were fired,[2] and the United States Army intervened by presidential order.

Now, mountain top removal mining is about to decimate the site of this historic battle. Hundreds of marchers -- including Pittsburgh Sierra Club's Randy Francisco -- are retracing the steps of the miners to stop Blair Mountain from "becoming just another barren, flat-topped strip mine." According to Friends of Blair Mountain, "The March on Blair Mountain is a unifying rally involving labor unions, environmental organizations, scholars, artists, and other citizens and groups."

In 1921, the miners were stopped by private planes that "were hired to drop homemade bombs on the miners" and by "Army bombers from Maryland were also used for aerial surveillance, a rare example of Air Power being used by the federal government against US citizens." In 2011, corporations and the government are still in cahoots, but their methods are more subtle (via Pink Coat Communications):

Local authorities, "encouraged" by mining companies, have routed the peaceful marchers out of their campgrounds. For their safety marchers now have to camp miles and miles away forcing organizers to shuttle folks back and forth. With gas at nearly $4 a gallon this could kill the march.

The marchers are in urgent need of your help to continue their efforts:

YOU CAN HELP! Donate to the marchers at http://marchonblairmountain.org/ (click on the Appalachia rising paypal button) or at directly at Appalachia Rising's paypal site

They only need about $1500 to complete the march, but without it, their effort cannot continue safely! They are in and out of cell phone range and only sporadically able to post information so this has not hit the press yet. Its important that we help them now though as they are in imminent danger of being forced to quit.

UPDATE: Latest update @ The Pittsburgh Seam

Our air sucks!

Via the Post-Gazette:

Air quality in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area continues to rank among the worst in the nation, despite steady improvements in soot and smog levels.

Other regions throughout the nation are improving air quality at a faster pace.

In the American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2011" report released Tuesday, the Pittsburgh area ranked as the nation's third most polluted area for short-term particle pollution for the second year in a row. It ranked behind only the Bakersfield-Delano and Fresno-Madera areas of California.

Allegheny County received an an "F" for both particle and ozone pollution.
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Gov. Corbett: Favoring natural gas severance tax is "un-American"

According to Scott Detrow -- who covers state government and politics for Pennsylvania's public radio stations, including WITF in Harrisburg, WHYY in Philadelphia and WDUQ in Pittsburgh -- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett called the concept of a natural gas severance tax "un-American." (Even though that's what they do in every other state.)

This would be in a speech he made before the State Association of Township Supervisors yesterday. And, the tax he would be so opposed to would be on those who come to PA to extract gas from the Marcellus Shale via fracking -- a process which aside from producing mini-earthquakes -- creates millions of gallons of contaminated water. We aren't allowed to know exactly what chemicals are contained in that water as the Bush/Cheney Energy Bill exempted natural gas drilling from the Safe Drinking Water Act. And, we found out confirmation this weekend via the New York Times that:

Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats.

Hmm, now that sounds "un-American."

What also sounds "un-American" is Corbett's appointment of C. Alan Walker, "a coal industry cited numerous times for polluting streams and drinking water" to acting secretary for the state's Department of Community and Economic Development and to the state's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission. Most importantly, Corbett "gave him authority to expedite and influence permits at any state agency, including the Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates drilling in the Marcellus Shale."

Hmm, having the fox guard the hen house. That used to be considered "un-American."

Keystone Progress has a petition that you can sign to let Corbett know what exactly you consider to be "un-American."
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Rallies and Protests and Press Conferences, Oh My!

Looks like folks are awakening to the assault on, well, everyone (who isn't super rich)! Women, children, union members, the middle class, the working class and the working poor, public transit riders -- unless you're Donald Trump -- the Republicans have some plan to screw you.

We're not "special interests" when we are the majority!

Please attend any of these that you can:

THURSDAY, 2/24/11
Impacts of Proposed U.S. Budget Cuts on Pittsburgh Jobs & Families Press Conference (This is for the media)
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: WGF Office, Landmarks Building, 100 W. Station Square Drive, Suite 315
WHAT: Via press release [edited]: "Women and Girls Foundation hosts. Southwest PA organizations, their local workers and service recipients, would be directly impacted by the drastic cuts included in H.R. 1 which slashes billions of dollars of funding resulting in the elimination of millions of jobs and services for working families in our region. Federal programs impacted range from early childhood education and college financial aid to nutritional assistance for infants, veterans housing, public broadcasting, and reproductive healthcare. It eliminates federal funding for Planned Parenthood and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and it defunds the implementation of health care reform and EPA pollution enforcement. It now moves to the Senate for vote later this month. Representatives from the following organizations will speak: Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children, Fair Housing Partnership, Just Harvest, WQED Multimedia, Women’s Center & Shelter, PennFuture, Planned Parenthood, Adagio Health, The Arc of Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Community Services, Action United, ACLU Pittsburgh, SEIU, Women’s Law Project, New Voices Pittsburgh, National Council of Jewish Women, National Organization for Women, Pennsylvania Health Access Network, and Health Care for America Now. (Members of the media are asked to RSVP if you plan to attend.)"

MoveOn / Democracy for Pittsburgh: Invest in America!
TIME: 11:30 AM;11:45 AM
WHERE: Gather @ Aldo Coffee Shop, 675 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), PA 15228; Proceed to Office of Rep. Murphy, which is at 504 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), Pa 15228
WHAT: "We are going to go to Rep. Murphy and let him know that cutting billions from funding health care, education, and science will do nothing to turn our economy around, but it will hurt the other 98% of us that are barely getting through the worst recession since the Great Depression. We will go to the office of Rep. Murphy with our Invest in America message, and share our personal stories of why we need support for our broken economy and communities." Please RSVP for the event by clicking on the link below: http://pol.moveon.org/event/invest2011/112639

“Fighting For the American Dream” Rally
Stand in Solidarity with the Wisconsin Workers
TIME: Noon (lunch provided)
WHERE: USW International HQ, Downtown Pittsburgh, 5 Gateway Center, 60 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: "Our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and other states are in a fight for the very survival of their jobs and their union. This is our moment to stand and show solidarity with them and let their Governor and the extremist organizations financing these attacks know: WE STAND TOGETHER! "


FRIDAY, 2/25/11
People's Rally For Public Transportation
TIME: 8:30 - 11:30 AM
WHERE: Mellon Square Park, 6th & Smithfiled, Downtown Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: Protest the drastic cutbacks in public transit.


SATURDAY, 2/26/11
Rally to Save the American Dream, Harrisburg, PA
TIME: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
WHERE: Capitol Steps, 3rd St., Harrisburg, PA 17101
WHAT: "Americans who believe in the right to organize are standing up on Saturday. It's time to stop the dismantling of organizations opposed to the right wing agenda."
RSVP: http://www.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=112822&is_manage=1

Feed the Trees

Preserving Pittsburgh’s Trees:
Action and Recovery
Thursday, February 17, 2011, 6:30 – 8:00pm
Frick Fine Arts Building
University of Pittsburgh Campus
(Across from Schenley Plaza)

More here.
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When Palin wrote crib notes on her hand she was only trying to be green!

Apparently, when Sarah Palin wrote crib notes on her hand in ink for the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville back in February she was only trying to be green.

From Sunday's episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" (via HuffPo via Politico -- video at link):

"Conservationists write me these nasty letters because I support an industry like this," the former vice presidential candidate said, after taking a chainsaw to an Evergreen Timber tree. "They write me these nasty letters using their pretty little pencils on their pretty little stationary not realizing. Where do you think your pencil and your piece of paper came from, people? It came from a tree that was harvested."

The P-G's "Mapping mortality" Series: A must read!

Hopefully, you're all reading the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's "Mapping mortality" series. It explores how our region's high level of industrialization and reliance on burning coal coupled with our geography has led to higher than normal levels of cancer and heart and respiratory problems than one would expect to see (yes, it factors in this areas higher level of cigarette smoking).

You can find an index of this week's article, photos and videos here.

You can see how they actually mapped out incidence of disease vs. locations of refineries/plants/etc. here.

It's literally a matter of life and death.

Want to help?



Here's PennFuture's Breathe Easy, Stay Healthy campaign.

Here's the Sierra Club's petition to stop the Wellington coal plant.
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