Climate change threatens to have very negative effects on our region, such as increased severe weather events and flooding, higher prices and even shortages of basic goods, and a higher rate of illness and heat-related health problems.
On February 9, 2007, Mayor Ravenstahl signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, pledging to implement local global warming solutions that will save taxpayer dollars and reduce energy use.
This commitment followed the completion of the City's first greenhouse gas inventory. A greenhouse gas inventory measures how many heat-trapping gases are being emitted from an entity and from what sources. It is a useful tool to target actions to the areas where they have the most impact.
The City's first greenhouse gas inventory was completed in December 2006 by graduate students at the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University.
The inventory, which uses data from 2003, accounts for municipal and community emissions. Municipal greenhouse gas emission sources include buildings, street and traffic lights, vehicle fleet, water and sewer, and solid waste. Community-wide emissions include greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle-miles traveled, waste generation, and the use of electricity, natural gas, and steam.
In October 2010, the City released its second greenhouse gas emissions inventory, which measures emissions from 2008. Total emissions were 6.79 million tons CO2 equivalent, of which municipal operations accounted for 3%. The entire inventory is available online at www.pittsburghclimate.org
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As part of the Pittsburgh Climate Protection Initiative, the Green Government Task Force (GGTF) was responsible for developing the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan. This Plan was adopted by City Council and Mayor Ravenstahl in July 2008, thus completing the commitment of the GGTF. The Action Plan is intended to be a working document, which will evolve and be re-written over the years.
The Action Plan presents recommendations for municipal government, citizens, institutions of higher education, and the business sector, for living and operating more sustainably, with a goal of reducing emissions 20% below 2003 levels by 2023.
In September 2010, Pittsburgh became one of only 18 U.S. cities since 1993 to be recognized with a Milestone Five Award through ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability, for its progress on implementation of the Climate Action Plan and for completing a follow-up inventory
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To learn more about the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative, please visit www.pittsburghclimate.org.
