Jan 31: Police accountability rally

One year ago, Port Authority police took the life of Bruce Kelley Jr.  The Distirct attorney ruled it justified.  Port Authority of Allegheny County placed the officers back on duty with zero accountability! Join a gathering in Wilkinsburg at the Gazebo on Wood Street in  support the family of Bruce Kelley Jr. as they remember his life and continue to fight for justice.  As we know, by watching Jordan Miles' case just end after six years, this can be a long process.  Let's give them our support on thier journey for justice and brave the weather to retrace his last steps with them. APA, along with many other groups and activist are committed to seeking justice for Bruce Kelley Jr. and will be relaunching our campaign to end the use of police dogs to attack people, demand adequate disability-led training and systems for police interacting with people with disabilities, and inclusive hiring practices and promotions based on officers being community minded and culturally familiar opposed to the number of arrests made.  We demand transparency and an accountability system that the people can trust!

6 p.m. at the Gazebo in Wilkinsburg (619 Wood Street Pgh, PA  15221) There will be song, and poetry, and love on his family.

Jan 26: Natural gas impacts in SW PA

Community Perspectives: Natural Gas Impacts in Southwest PA

Your neighbors are gathering to meet their elected officials as well as religious leaders, air quality and public health experts, and other community leaders.  There will be opportunities to share your story with decision-makers and on video!  We will be recording stories to share with Governor Wolf, the incoming Environmental Protection Agency, and Senators Casey and Toomey. 

Check Out the Event Invitations on Facebook and/or Eventbrite!

The program will run through two parts, both particularly focused on the critical issue of air pollutants. 

The first hour will feature story-sharing.  Neighbors will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with one another and with their elected officials and community leaders to share their thoughts and experiences regarding the oil and gas industry.  Everyone in attendance will have a chance to document their words, as as well. 

During the second hour, a panel comprised of a broad selection of community leaders will hold a powerful conversation on the issue of methane. 

Share your thoughts and experiences.  Make a difference.

6-8 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe.  Free and open to the public.

This event is being organized by a coalition of public health, community advocacy, faith, and environmental organizations.  Clean Air Council, Moms Clean Air Force, Evangelical Environmental Network, Sierra Club, Southwestern Pennsylvania Environmental Healthnetwork, Earthworks, GASP, and the Environmental Defense Fund.

Jan 21: Women's Marches in D.C. and Pittsburgh

Speak out!  You choose how, and where -- join hundreds of thousands of people of all genders marching in Washington, D.C., or participate in one of two marches happening right here in Pittsburgh.  The "Sister March" starts at 11 am at the City/County Building on Grant Street downtown and ends at Market Square, while an "Intersectional Women's March" begins at 11 at Penn Plaza in East Liberty (5704 Penn Ave., 15206) and winds up at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary at 1 p.m. where you can join in the Summit Against Racism.  

Jan 21: Summit Against Racism

The 19th Summit Against Racism will be at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary this year, hosted by the Metro-Urban Institute and the Black and White Reunion.  The conference will provide a forum for discussion about the current state of race relations in the U.S., what we have learned so far, and pathways to deeper understanding, healing and social action.

More info and online registration here, and you can also check in on Facebook.  Note that early-bird discount goes through December 25th.

Jan 20: "Merchants of Doubt" at Phipps

• Investigate the science behind our greatest environmental threats with the film Merchants of Doubt.  This satirical comedy will both amuse and illuminate its audiences, unveiling the secretive, silver-tongued group of pundits-for-hire who aim to spread maximum confusion about public threats such as climate change.  Inspired by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway’s acclaimed book of the same title, Merchants of Doubt has been dubbed “an intelligent, solidly argued takedown of America’s spin factory” by critics and is sure to spark a stimulating group discussion afterwards.  Conversation will be led by a panel of environmental professionals, including staff from Phipps Conservatory and (I have it on extremely good authority), air quality and climate scientist Neil Donahue.

  7 - 9 p.m. at Phipps Conservatory.  Note: Attendance to these screenings is free with Phipps admission, but tickets are required; please pick up your free tickets in the Welcome Center starting at 5 p.m. on the day of the film.

  Watch the Trailer 

  About the Series
  Phipps' Environmental Film Series is an exciting monthly event inviting community members to come together to view environmental films and documentaries.  Each viewing will be followed by a dynamic discussion with film producers, scientists and environmental advocates, enabling attendees to share thoughts, consider various viewpoints and hear the experts’ perspectives.  The series aims to raise awareness of our relationship with the natural environment, and to use film as a platform for conversation, education and positive change.  Screenings for the Environmental Film Series will take place on the third Friday of every month from 7 – 9 p.m. in the Botany Hall Auditorium at Phipps.  Please pick up your free tickets in the Welcome Center starting at 5 p.m. on the day of the film.

Jan 14: Sustainability Salon Winter Film: Plastic Paradise and the Petrochemical Plant

We're five years in!  The 60th Sustainability Salon will take place on January 14th, commencing our annual Winter Film Series.  As followup to our discussion of the planned Shell ethane cracker plant at last month's salon, we're going to take a closer look at the myriad environmental and health impacts of plastics with the film Plastic Paradise.  
Following the film, we'll have a panel discussion with people working on what could be our region's contribution to the problem, if the Shell petrochemical plant and its probable companions are given the go-ahead.  Speakers will include energy policy expert Patty DeMarco on the big picture around fossil energy and industrial development, Matt Mehalik of the Air Quality Collaborative with an update on the cracker plant situation, Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, executive director of Women for a Healthy Environment, and local documentary filmmaker and air quality activist Mark Dixon.  Mark will share some poignant and never-before-seen footage from his YERT travels down around Louisiana's "Cancer Alley" (his image at left:  a region we don't want to emulate!).  
If you'd like to weigh in on the Shell plant, there will be more opportunities.  The Potter Township Board of Supervisors just approved the Conditional Use Permit for the plant.  There is lots more information, along with Mark Dixon's telling video of expert testimony from the wee small hours of the morning at last month's hearing, on Mark's Blue Lens blog.  Traffic, noise, and light emissions are issues that will mainly affect people nearby, but the plant itself (and more to come after it) will affect air and water quality for the whole region (and promote even more fracking and fossil fuel use by enhancing the marketability of Marcellus wet gas) -- and as we learned from the mountaintop-removal mining and racetrack development project in Hays, even one permit rejection can stop a major project from moving forward.  Hays is now Pittsburgh's largest park.

With the upcoming change in the White House, there is a real danger of mass firings and loss of scientific data from Federal agencies more or less immediately after Inauguration Day.  This happened at the DOE and EPA in 1981:  President Reagan did more than remove the solar thermal panels from the roof of White House;  he attacked research (and researchers) on conservation and renewables.  This time around, there are concerns about DOE, EPA, NASA, NREL, NETL, USDA, and perhaps other agencies as a new administration that is patently engaging in climate change denial comes in.  Google software engineer Greg Kochanski is part of a volunteer effort to archive data and publications accessible online, to avoid an even greater loss of accumulated research than occurred in 1981.  Greg will fill us in on the situation and how it is being addressed, and see whether folks in the Sustainability Salon community can help rescue controversial information.

We'll also take a look at some of the fantastic ideas submitted to the Sprout Fund's 100 Days of US grant program;  several of the applicants will be with us to talk a little more about their projects.  You'll be able to vote for as many as you want;  awards will depend on community support.

While we're all together, why not keep your hands busy knitting or crocheting a hat for the Pink Pussy Hat Project?  For you or a friend or someone else through the PPHP to wear in Washington, DC next weekend?  Root through your craft supplies for that pink yarn, folks!  If you have pink yarn but aren't using it, bring it along -- perhaps others have skills but no yarn of the right color.  

The 61st Sustainability Salon will take place on February 11th, continuing our annual Winter Film Series.  

Salons run 3-10 p.m. at Maren's house in Squirrel Hill.  Please don't arrive before 3 p.m.  We usually aim to start the program not long after 4, after folks have had a chance to meet, mingle, and tour around an interesting and productive urban permaculture site -- this time we'll start right around 4, since we have a film as well as several speakers!   Please email me (at maren dot cooke at gmail dot com) with salon in the Subject line to RSVP (yes or maybe), or click on the link in your EventBrite invitation (if you're not already on my list, please email me to be added!).  

July's salon with Bill Peduto

Please RSVP each time -- it helps greatly in several ways.  Among other things, attendance varies widely, and these events have been so successful that we need to begin limiting attendance.  So RSVP early if you can, to ensure your participation!  The free virtual "tickets" on Eventbrite may run out (you don't need to print any tickets, by the way, just be on the list).  Also, weather and such can be unpredictable and it's good to know who to contact if there's a change -- and I'll send directions and/or a trail map if you need 'em on Friday or Saturday.  Be sure to include salon in the Subject line, as I receive a ridiculous amount of email every day.  And if you're new, please let me know how you heard about the Salons!

Bring food and/or drink to share if you can, along with musical instruments if you play.  Check back on MarensList (where you can find information on all sorts of environmental and social justice events) for updates.  And if you aren't yet on my list, if you're interested in Sustainability Salons (and our occasional house concert, simply contact me and I'll put you on my email list.  

As always, I'll be sending out directions and such, and any late-breaking info, to all the RSVP'd folks by the morning of the salon if not before.  So if you don't have it yet, please be patient!  One of these days I'll streamline this process a bit, but for now it takes a while to to dot all my i's and cross all my t's.  (All the extraneous requests for the address don't help;  I have lots of other stuff I send out with it, but don't like to let them go unanswered so it adds hours to my prep time.  If you RSVP properly (see above), you should get the info by the morning of the salon!)

For the uninitiated, a Sustainability Salon is an educational forum;  a venue for discussion and debate about important environmental issues;  it's a house party with an environmental theme.  We usually have featured speakers on various aspects of a topic, interspersed with stimulating conversation, lively debate, delectable potluck food and drink, and music-making through the evening.

Past topics have included visualizing air quality, the City of Pittsburgh's sustainability initiatives, fossil energy infrastructure, getting money out of politics, community solar power and the Solarize Allegheny program, the Paris climate negotiations (before, during, and after), air quality (again, with news on the autism connection), reuse (of things and substances), neighborhood-scale food systems, other forms of green community revitalization, solar power, climate change, environmental art, environmental education (Part I & Part II), community mapping projects, environmental journalism, grassroots action, Marcellus shale development and community rights, green building, air quality, health care, more solar power, trees and park stewardship, alternative energy and climate policy, regional watershed issues, fantastic film screenings and discussions (often led by filmmakers) over the winter with Rachel Carson and the Power Of One Voice, Triple Divide on fracking, You've Been Trumped and A Dangerous Game, A Fierce Green Fire, Sustainability Pioneers, films on consumption, Living Downstream, Bidder 70, YERT, Gas Rush Stories, and food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food, and more food (a recurrent theme;  with California running out of water, we'd better gear up to produce a lot more of our own!).

Quite a few people have asked me what sorts of food to bring -- and my answer, as always, is whatever inspires you;  I believe in the "luck" part of potlucks.  Tasty noshings for the afternoon, hearty main dishes or scrumptious salads and sides for dinner, baked goods from biscuits and breads to brownies or baklava -- and/or beverages of any kind:  wine, beer, hard or sweet cider (the latter we can mull if you like), juice, tea, whatever.  The more the merrier!  Local fare is always particularly welcome, whether homegrown or boughten.  Dishes containing meat or dairy are fine, though if it isn't really obvious please make a note of it.  

If you haven't been here before, you may enjoy checking out our roof garden and solar installation (and now apiary!) as well as the many other green and interesting things around our place.  

And if you like to make music or listen to homemade music, don't forget the evening sing -- we typically run the gamut from Irish fiddle tunes to protest songs to the Beatles, and a fun time is had by all.  Bring instruments if you play, and/or pick up one of ours.  Conversations will continue through the evening, as well.