See a photo spread from the June 1 Press Conference held to announce the pro-environment legislation part of the Pittsburgh UNITED Economic Development Reform campaign.

In attendance were activists from Pittsburgh UNITED, GASP, the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action. City Councilman Bill Peduto introduced the Pittsburgh Clean Air, Clean Water bills that day in city council.

For more information about the Clean Air, Clean Water legislation, see the Pittsburgh UNITED website.

Audience at the
“Chill the Drills”event
at the Art Institute

A roomful of Sierra Club members and friends were given a solid dose of oil and gas drilling at the Art Institute in Pittsburgh on May 20. Erika Staaf of PennEnvironment opened with a description of Marcellus Shale drilling and what is being done to curb the environmental impacts.

See a photo spread from the event!

Moving further north, the Sierra Club’s Arctic expert Kit McGurn first made the point that warming of the Arctic ecosystem and the discovery of huge underwater mineral resources are causing the five“Arctic nations” to scramble for territorial rights. He next described the fragility of the Alaska’s North Slope, and the impact of expanding oil extraction on the ecology and the people of that area. Inevitably the question of deep sea drilling was raised after Kit’s talk, and he described the exploratory drilling by Shell Alaska.

The Allegheny Group’s Endangered Species Action Team deserves thanks for making the evening a solid success.

All photos courtesy of Phil Coleman.

From L to R: Allegheny Group volunteers Matt Aranda, Tom Wolper and Peter Wray; Pittsburgh staffer Rachel Martin; volunteer Phil Coleman; national Sierra Club Vice-President Robin Mann; volunteer Dick Neller; and Eastern Region Staff Director Lawson LeGate.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania students visiting the Sierra Club table.

Pittsburgh staffer Randy Francisco with national Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope.

Leo Gerard, President of the International United Steelworkers.

State Senator Jim Ferlo, a driving force behind the organization of the rally.

Updated: photos are now up on the Event Photos page.
The Blue Green Alliance, a partnership of the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Sierra Club with the Natural Resources Defense Council co-sponsored a rally on Saturday, May 31 in Braddock to promote the creation of green jobs by increasing investments in renewable energy as part of its Green Jobs for America campaign. The rally and picnic brought out nearly 200 people to hear music and speakers, enjoy a picnic, peruse information tables, and tour some local examples of clean energy solutions.

See some pictures from the rally!

The Green Jobs for America campaign focuses on a commitment to clean, renewable energy to make the U.S. more energy-independent, to help end our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and to create hundreds of thousands of green jobs nationwide.

A wide variety of local labor, environmental, community, government and faith based organizations participated in the rally and picnic lunch in Braddock.

USW District 10 Director John DeFazio remarked that solutions to environmental challenges are already driving economic development and creating successful and profitable businesses in Allegheny County and across the state of Pennsylvania.

“With so many activists and resources in the state, Pittsburgh is a natural fit for the Blue Green Alliance’s green jobs initiative,” DeFazio said. “Our union will continue working with the coalition to promote policies and investment that will help rebuild America’s manufacturing base while combating global climate change.”

In addition to DeFazio, other guest speakers at the rally were Allegheny County AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President Jack Shea, Allen Kukovich, director of Governor Ed Rendell’s Southwest Regional Office. Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, Father Jack O’Malley, Katie Edwards, Clean Air Council, Andrew Butcher, CEO, GTECH Strategies, and Claudia Kirkpatrick, Chair of the Sierra Club Allegheny Group.

Along with the United Steelworkers, the Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, groups co-sponsoring the event were ACORN - Blue Green Alliance of PA - Fossil Free Fuel - Grow Pittsburgh - GTECH Strategies - Heritage Health Foundation - Jobs with Justice - League of Young Voters - Mon Valley Unemployed Committee - PennFuture - SEIU Local 3 - Steel City Biofuels - UNITE HERE.

Special thanks to East End Food Co-op for their kind donation of fresh organic apples to the event, to Fossil Free Fuels and Grow Pittsburgh for offering tours of their facilities to rally participants, and to all the hard-working volunteers who made the event a great success!

Gas and diesel prices are soaring to record highs and so are Big Oil’s profits. Pennsylvania’s working families are suffering from crippling energy prices and are even paying more for basic items like bread and milk as a result of skyrocketing fuel costs.

On April 15, Sierra Club National Political and Public Advocacy Director Cathy Duvall joined the local Sierra Club for a Tax
Day rally, capping her tour through Pennsylvania to bring attention to the billions in taxpayer-funded giveaways to Big Oil and the need to reorient the nation’s priorities and shift that money toward clean, renewable energy sources, creating a clean, new energy future for America - and hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

“Pennsylvania leads the nation in developing clean, renewable energy, and has the new economic growth and jobs to show for it,” Duvall said. “But taking away the unnecessary subsidies from Big Oil in order to make a serious national commitment to renewable energy could do so much for both Pennsylvania and the nation as a whole. That’s why we’re asking Senators McCain, Obama, Clinton, Specter, and Casey to tell us if they support a bill recently passed by the House that would take away $13.5 billion in giveaways to Big Oil and use that money to help us build a clean energy future.”

Pictures of the event

The Sierra Club, along with Slow Food Pittsburgh, the PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture, the East End Food Coop and Sustainable Table sponsored “An Apple Festival for All Ages”. The event was a great success! Check out the Slow Food Pittsburgh site for a recap of what you missed, including pictures!