Pittsburgh joins other green cities across the nation that are committed to implementing global warming solutions to reduce energy consumption.
"I am proud to join my fellow mayors making Pittsburgh the 400th city committed to reducing our contribution to global warming," said Ravenstahl, who just signed the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement. "I believe Pittsburgh can continue to be a green leader through our current and future programs in our municipal operations and our neighborhoods."
The Sierra Club praised the Mayor for his commitment to reduce the City's global warming pollution. “Nationally, the Sierra club is urging cities to sign on and follow through,” says Rachel Martin, regional representative. “There are six other cities in Pennsylvania that have already signed on, and we felt it was important for Pittsburgh, the second largest, to join.”
Pittsburgh is already on its way to a greener future, having replaced incandescent traffic signals with LED lights, which saves the City $68,000 a year, while reducing global warming emissions. The City also plans to convert its diesel vehicles to cleaner-burning bio-diesel fuels beginning this spring.
Pittsburgh is ahead of the game, according to Martin, having completed its inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. This was done through the
Green Government Task Force, co-founded and co-chaired by Councilman Bill Peduto. “They worked with
Clean Air Cool Planet,
ICLEI.org, and a group of students at Heinz school at CMU," she says. "The next part is implementation.”
Writer: Sherrie Flick
Source: Rachel Martin
Photograph copyright © Jonathan Greene