Filed under: Radio | Tags: Belfast, Boxer, Braddock, Energy Orchard, Joby Fox, Music videos shot in Braddock, Northern Ireland, Pittsburgh, Rustbelt, Sailor Town
Joby Fox, the bassist for the Northern Irish band Energy Orchard, on the filming of the music video for their single “Sailor Town” in Braddock, PA, 20 years ago.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Carnegie Mellon University, Checkpoint, Ethnic Conflict, Israel, Jonas Moffat, Maternal Deaths, Mel Packer, Midwives, Oakland, Palestine, Pittsburgh, Roadblock, Students for Justice in Palestine, University of Pittsburgh
Israel-Palestine Checkpoint Action in Oakland
Checkpoint Palestine
Last Thursday, at 5:30 in the afternoon, about 15 people took to the streets of Oakland. Their goal: to make Pittsburghers aware of the regular hassles and dangers that Palestinian people face in their daily lives.
Produced for Rustbelt Radio
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Braddock, Braddock Mayor Race, Carmen Robinson, John Fetterman, Luke Ravenstahl, Patrick Dowd, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Mayor Race, Political Campaigns, Politics
Dowd + Fetterman Campaign in Braddock
Dowd at the Elks Club
Primary election day is fast approaching — on May 19th Pittsburgh will choose between three Democratic candidates for mayor — Luke Ravenstahl, Carmen Robinson, and Patrick Dowd. Braddock is also having a mayor’s race this year, and its current mayor John Fetterman hosted a party a few days ago, to promote his own campaign and lend his support to Patrick Dowd.
Produced for Rustbelt Radio.
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Catholic Church, Dance, McKeesport, Pittsburgh, Poland, Polish Americans, Polish Falcons, Priest, St. Winifred's
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Dance, Frania Urbaniak, Generations, McKeesport, Obedek, Pittsburgh, Poland, Polka, St. Winifred's, Waltz, WEDO
Frannie Frania
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Apollo Alliance, Barack Obama, Black and Gold City Goes Green, Cap and Dividend, Cap and Trade, Carbon Capture, Carbon Sequestration, China, Clean Coal Technology, Coal Fired Power Plants, Ed Rendell, Energy Crisis, Energy Efficiency, Green Jobs, Home Energy Audits, India, Jan Jarrett, Jerome Ringo, Joylette Portlock, Keystone Help Program, Lindsay Baxter, Maureen Guttman, Penn Future, Pennsylvania, Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh City Council Building, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, Power Plants, Sharon Pillar, Solar Energy, Stimulus Plan, Sustainability, Weatherization, Wind Energy
Penn Future – Pittsburghs Energy Upheaval
A Coal-Fired Power Plant
Over 200 Pittsburghers gathered at Phipps Conservatory Sunday March 29th to discuss the future of climate change action in the region. The group Citizens for Pennsylvania Future (Penn Future) organized the event – bringing together activists, government workers and scientists together – to talk about recent major developments in energy and the environment.
Pennsylvania’s a coal state – responsible for 1 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions – but now the state’s on the precipice of a new era for energy use and production. After decades of talking about climate change and the need for dramatic action, 2009 looks to be a watershed year.
Suddenly there’s lots of money for solar & wind energy production and for improving the energy efficiency of our buildings and infrastructure. But the big question remains: will people change their lifestyles in response?
Produced for Rustbelt Radio.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Annal Crops, Ben Evans, Cavemen, Climate Change, Dugout Dick, Energy System, Environmentalism, Green Movement, Idaho, Julie Evans, Kansas, Mark Dixon, Perennial Crops, Pittsburgh, Pollution, Salina, Scott Brusaw, Solar Energy, Solar Roadways, Sustainability, YERT
YERT's Mark Dixon
Mark Dixon overhauled his life a few years ago. He left his job in Silicon Valley, and with two friends — Ben Evans and Julie Evans, spent a year in an SUV hybrid traveling around the US, talking to all kinds of Americans about climate change.
Thus was born YERT – Your Environmental Road Trip. Mark, Ben and Julie filmed over 500 hours of footage, talking to environmental activists, scientists, and innovators. They met with a scientist converting annual crops to perennial ones, a 92 year old man who’s been living for six decades in an Idaho cave, and an engineer who wants to convert our highway system into a giant solar energy collection + distribution network.
And the YERT team lived by strict sustainability rules — the three of them together used only one shoebox of waste per month. It wasn’t easy, with every restaurant presenting a new tableful of challenges. They survived the voyage, and you can see YERT films here, and read more about the project too.
Produced for Rustbelt Radio.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: CMU, Compost Toilet, Eco-Art, Excrement, Gardez-Leau, Japanese Toilets, Joey Hays, Miller Gallery, Pittsburgh, Poop, Sewage Systems, Shame, Soil, Urine, Urine Diversion Toilet, Victorian Era
Joey's Gardez L'Eau
Pittsburgh’s sewage system is more than 100 years old, and it cannot handle the amount of waste the city generates. Since the sewage system is combined with the city’s rainwater system, when it rains, the system overflows and raw sewage ends up in the rivers. Carnegie Mellon art student Joey Hays has been studying the city’s waste problems — and for his Masters thesis this month, he’s built a special toilet– the Gardez L’Eau — that could be a first step towards a better way of dealing with our waste.
Read more at Joey’s site for the Gardez L’Eau, or see it in action at CMU’s Miller Gallery through April 18.
Produced for Rustbelt Radio.
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Ancient Rome, Catholic Church, Faith Healing, Father Mullingar, Jesus, Martyrs, Murder, Pittsburgh, Saints, Skeletons, St. Anthony's, Troy Hill, Vatican
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Czech Republic, Dance, Dope, Exercise, Highs, Joseph Stanek, Marriage, Pittsburgh, Poland, Polka, St. Winifred's
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Abby Wilson, Cars, Cycling, Federal Transit Bill, GLUE, Great Lakes Urban Exchange, Highways, Mass Transit, PAT Transit, Pedestrians, Pittsburgh, Politics, Rust Belt, Transportation
Abby Wilson – Transportation Future
Bussing it in Pittsburgh
If Barack Obama can make discussions of weatherization popular, why not debates about transportation too? The issue of transit may seem one that only a policy-wonk could love, but Abby Wilson — a native Pittsburgher and a leader of GLUE (the Great Lakes Urban Exchange) — wants to change that.
Within the year, Congress will begin to debate the transportation reauthorization bill, which will shape national transit policy in the coming years. Abby and GLUE want to see less funding for highways, and more for mass transit, cycle paths, and innovative road policies that will encourage urban development and social justice — as well as saving people money.
In the run up to this debate, GLUE is looking to collect people’s stories about transportation in the region. Around Pittsburgh, Abby sees a major rise in people cycling, walking, and using mass transit — and she reasons that if legislators see this human face of transportation issues, more sustainable + equitable policy can be pushed through.
For more about GLUE, visit their website here, where you can also contact Abby directly.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Barack Obama, Braddock, Brownfields, Green Jobs, Heritage Health Foundation, Indiana Bats, John Fetterman, MOVE IT, Pittsburgh, Remediation, Rust Belt, Unemployment
- Rob Rogers in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The promise of green jobs proliferated on the presidential campaign trail and in the stimulus package. Now it’s come to Braddock, the quintessential Rust Belt town on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. Braddock’s been in the news lately, with its young tattooed mayor John Fetterman appearing on The Colbert Report & a long profile in The New York Times last month.
This burst of national attention comes after a rough past two decades. Since the steel industry petered out in the mid-1980s, no other industry has come into the town – and unemployment, drug use, and violent crime all remain high. A new program has started up in Braddock – the Mon Valley Environmental Innovative Training program (or MOVE IT) – to train area residents to be environmental technicians. The Pittsburgh area has plenty of post-industrial pollution problems, and MOVE IT aims to supply a new crop of ‘green workers’ to remediate brownfield sites.
The first group of MOVE IT trainees just graduated from the 9 week course – and what do they think now? Do they believe in the promise of green jobs? Do they care more about the environment? And are they optimistic about finding work in this economy?
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Barack Obama, Dan Gore, Democrats, Pittsburgh, Political Junkie, Students for Obama, University of Pittsburgh
Obama in Pittsburgh
Dan Gore founded the University of Pittsburgh chapter of Students for Obama two years ago, and spent the time since then running a massive drive to get the university vote out. The response was enormous in Pittsburgh, just as it was nationwide, but now that the campaign has given way to the administration, it’s not clear whether the mass political mobilization can be sustained. Dan reflects on the winding down of the campaign, the start of Obama’s time in Washington, and his own political future.
And if you want to enter the world of political junkie-ism, Dan’s got a few recommendations for online reading. For a more balanced perspective there’s http://politico.com or http://politicalwire.com. But if you’re looking for bombast or bias, he has some other picks. Leftists and liberals, head to http://dailykos.com, or http://mydd.com. And the Republicans – http://redstate.com.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: American Ireland Fund, Belfast, Dan Rooney, Department of Education and Learning, Derry, Exchange Program, Foreign Investment, Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh, Jim Lamb, Northern Ireland, Pittsburgh, Strabane, The Troubles, Unemployment, Walsh Visa, Wider Horizons
Jim Lamb – Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
As the Troubles have petered out, Irish-American groups find themselves in a difficult new landscape. Funds for cross-Atlantic programs have dried up, the Walsh Visa program has reached its end, and the groups have to redefine their missions to match the new political reality of Northern Ireland.
The Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh, with its president Jim Lamb, is taking this transition in stride. It remains one of the most active Irish-American groups in sponsoring exchange programs, and it’s expanding its focus to include new ventures to promote links between Pittsburgh and Ireland. The Institute aims to contribute to community developmenton both sides of the sectarian divide, and to export the lessons it has learned to other deeply divided societies.
Produced for The Politics Show
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Baltimore, Barack Obama, Barry Goldwater, Bureaucracy, Claire Hagan, Compassionate Conservativism, Gay Marriage, Green Tree, Health Care, Iraq War, John McCain, Lobbyists, Lyndon Johnson, Medicaid, Medicare, Paul Simon, Pittsburgh, Potomac Fever, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, Scrabble, The Revolution: A Manifesto, Third Party Candidates
- Ron Paul Humor
The election is long over, but the 2008 presidential candidates – and their supporters — persist. Republican Congressman Ron Paul didn’t make it on the ticket in November, but his appearances in the primary debates brought him a wide crop of new supporters – including Claire Hagan, a social worker in Baltimore.
After watching him face off with the other Republican candidates last year, she found him to be the only real conservative on the stage and has been a Ron Paul convert since. No matter his ‘out-there’ reputation, Claire believes in his program for cutting government agencies, pulling out of Iraq, and abiding closely to the Constitution. She’ll even buy you a copy of his book if you show any degree of interest in him.
Produced for The Politics Show.
