Sunday, December 16, 2018

Paris to Pittsburgh: The Film, The Future

©Reprinted by permission of ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION. All rights reserved.

What a week for Paris to Pittsburghers, and honorary citizens everywhere who are working to prevent and protect against climate change.

•    Last week, National Geographic aired “Paris to Pittsburgh,” about how localities in the U.S. are moving toward a green future. If you missed it, there’s still a few days to stream the movie for free on YouTube.

•    Just last night, the U.S. and 200 countries agreed on the “rule book,” the next steps in the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The U.S. was there even though President Donald Trump last year said the country was pulling out of the agreement—it hasn’t done so yet. (For more on that, see last week's post here.)

In the film, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto described his doubletake in June 2017 when his phone pinged with President Trump’s news that he was elected “to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris” as his reason to exit the Paris Agreement.

The film was for me was a horrifying but also hopeful look at what Miami, Pittsburgh, and Iowa, for example, are doing to move to combat climate change. For many, going green is making common and economic sense. For Miami, though, it may be too late.

----------------------
Like this blog post? Then please share! Don't like it? Please comment (nicely).
Want to follow this blog? Enter your email address into the “Follow by email” box.

Rose Marie Burke, an editor and journalist, writes a blog about her personal insights into life in Paris. After 20 years in the City of Light, she still calls her native Pittsburgh "home." You can also find her on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+.

Sunday, December 9, 2018

Paris to Pittsburgh: The Film

Source: ParistoPittsburgh.com


President Donald Trump famously said in June 2017 that he was elected “to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris” as the reason why the U.S. wouldn’t agree to a world-wide deal aimed at curbing climate change called the Paris Agreement. (Read more about that here.)

That has a nice ring to it, but global warming doesn’t care whether you’re from the Steel City or the City of Light.

That’s why cities like Pittsburgh across the U.S. aren’t waiting for Washington to wake up to climate change. They have been moving toward green futures and acting to save or protect their communities from extreme weather.

Their words and work are featured in the new documentary “Paris to Pittsburgh,” to be released at 9 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 12, in the U.S. as a National Geographic film. You can see the trailer here. Later the film will eventually make its way to Paris as well as 171 other countries.
Source: https://www.paristopittsburgh.com/

The mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto (pre-beard!), gets a lot of air time in the documentary. “There are now more jobs in renewable energy in the state of Pennsylvania than coal, natural gas and oil combined,” he states in the film, a factoid that made me take note. Who would have thought?


When I’m in Pittsburgh, as I was in October, one of my favorite places to hang out is the South Side. I enjoy taking walks along the South Side Riverfront Trail, all the way to Hot Metal Bridge, the last vestige of J&L Steel. The air is deceivingly clear.

I say deceivingly because Pittsburgh’s air quality is still one of the worst in the nation, with a major contributor being the Clairton Coke Works of U.S. Steel, which has long been in violation of air pollution rules. “The EPA ranks areas downwind … in the top 2% nationally for cancer risk from toxic air pollution,” according to the Clean Air Council. Why doesn’t the company invest and clean up the plant?

My native Pittsburgh and my adopted city of Paris both have a long way to go. Backwards is not a viable option. It’s true that Mr. Trump doesn’t represent the capital of France. But the U.S. is one of the top two polluters in the world, and when the smoke comes out of the pipe, it knows no borders.

Related post: Paris and Pittsburgh: Together Forever

Like this blog post? Then please share! Don't like it? Please comment (nicely).
Want to follow this blog? Enter your email address into the “Follow by email” box.

Rose Marie Burke, an editor and journalist, writes a blog about her personal insights into life in Paris. After 20 years in the City of Light, she still calls her native Pittsburgh "home." You can also find her on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+.