Green Government Task Force

With the Green Building Alliance as a key catalyst, the City of Pittsburgh formed a Green Government Task Force late in 2006 to create a plan for reducing the city’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The task force is led by co-chairs Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto, and Pennsylvania State Senator Jim Ferlo.

As the first step toward a plan, students in the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University prepared an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the city for the task force. According to the inventory, the city generated more than 6.6 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2003.

The students, working under the direction of Rebecca Flora, Executive Director of the Green Building Alliance and adjunct professor at the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, delivered their report in December 2006.

The task force, a coalition whose membership spans government officials, educators, business people, environmentalists, and concerned citizens, is now working on an action plan of recommended steps that both city government and individual residents can take to reduce energy consumption and emissions. The task force expects to present its plan to Pittsburgh City Council in late 2007.

The action plan is closely tied to Pittsburgh’s Climate Protection Initiative, part of a larger program, the Cities for Climate Protection, which Pittsburgh has joined. The goal of Cities for Climate Protection is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the effects of global warming worldwide.

Click here to learn more about Pittsburgh’s Climate Protection Initiative.