Revitalization of the District

By John Paul Jones

This District has many selling points and we can engage in community and economic development, including participation in the "green" economy

With these conditions, we can make our business districts thrive and attract and retain working families in our neighborhoods. There are many state programs to attract and retain businesses that can be employed to do this. Our business districts can benefit greatly from resources to help plan and implement revitalization efforts. There are also state programs to encourage redevelopment of brownfield areas and to encourage new commercial and housing development.

We can create livable communities that offer a mix of housing types, amenities and services. This will take work. Governments at all levels must work together. Zoning and permitting issues must be addressed. Tax credits and housing finance assistance can be offered.

But government alone cannot revitalize the area. The private sector must be engaged as well. I have worked with developers and business people. I will bring together public/private partnerships to work with our governments and our citizens to revitalize this District.

I will introduce legislation for the sustainable financing of comprehensive long range community development planning for our region and district.

One component to revitalizing the 27th District is participation in the "green" economy.

Green Jobs

Protecting the environment means creation of a new market which leads to investment in workers and small businesses. These "green collar jobs" involve environmentally friendly products or services such as construction of green schools, solar panel manufacturing, energy efficiency retrofitting of buildings and homes, brownfield clean-up, and waterfront restoration.

Green collar jobs are largely found in areas such as the construction and manufacturing sector but are also found in the service industry. Green jobs are abundant in roofing, construction, landscaping, auto repair, auto parts, dry cleaning, hair dressing, nail salons, restaurants, dental care, medical practice, and printing. They can provide family-supporting wages, skill development, and career ladders. And they are often localized, which makes them harder to move overseas.

I am most pleased that the "Good Jobs, Green Jobs: A National Green Jobs Conference took place in Pittsburgh, PA March 13-14. Let's build upon this by ensuring that our students and employees are trained to take advantage of green collar jobs. I will work to ensure that our public schools, trade schools and universities are given the resources to do so

The Federal Green Collar Job Act that was signed into law provides for Production Tax Credit (PTC), and Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar, clean energy bonds, and other measures designed to promote energy efficiency. This Act will help to train 3 million new workers and we can ensure that our District is included by working together to get funding under the Act. Unions will play a major role in implementing the Act and we have several union training halls in the District which will position us well to take advantage of its provisions for our citizens.

In this time of expected economic turmoil, we need to invest in America and in our workforce. These green jobs create and grow local economies such as our District, and are strong enough to support working families, all the while reducing pollution and creating healthier cities for all Americans.

Energy conservation

Our District has many historic homes that are available for occupation. However, we need to ensure that families with children will be safe. I pledge to bring more money into the District from the public and private sector to refurbish homes that have low energy efficiency as well as lead related problems.

I will also provide incentives so that school and government buildings in Pennsylvania are retrofitted with solar panels. This will not only save taxpayer money but can be used to generate electricity for the grid. This policy has been used very successfully in Germany.

In order to protect our environment I will push for investment in Green Technology development in Pennsylvania. I will also help businesses in the District become green certified. I will work with the Pennsylvania large and small businesses and other lawmakers to promote green industries not only in our District, but in our State.

I believe that we must reduce our dependence upon fossil fuels. While I was the legislative director for the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS), we increased the state's purchase of energy from renewable sources from 10% to 20%. I also brought our energy procurement staff together with the staffs from local governments in Western PA to help them engage in similar purchasing efforts. DGS has engaged in Guaranteed Energy Savings Act (GESA) projects totaling over $250 million in energy reduction. I was key to bringing the GESA process to local governments and school districts in Western PA, including the City of Pittsburgh. Finally, I authored the Commonwealth's first policy on the use of hybrid vehicles in the state fleet.

Environmental protection

We have to preserve our State and National parks for our children. Let us concentrate on reducing our dependence on oil and gas so that we are not tempted to drill in our forests and parks.

I will introduce legislation to improve recycling in our state. I support Legislation such as HB 934 that grants authority to county governments to establish local recycling/solid waste fees for the purpose of recycling and other solid waste reduction activities.

I will also support legislation that provides funding to local communities such as ours, to conduct long range comprehensive planning and community development. This will allow us to better plan our future transport and fuel use needs.

The 27th District includes the western part of the City and the communities of Avalon, Ben Avon, Crafton, Dormont, Emsworth, Glenfield, Ingram, McKees Rocks, Neville Island and Stowe. Our District boasts affordable housing, easy access to downtown, the airport and other amenities, and existing infrastructure. We can be a green business innovation zone. And we can also protect our environment by encouraging our businesses and citizens to live here rather than moving further out to places which once had green fields and farms. Reducing sprawl will also help protect our environment for future generations.

Some facts about the energy and environmental industries:

Source: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/11/green_jobs.html

· "In 2006, the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors generated 8.5 million jobs, nearly $1 trillion in revenue for the United States. These jobs are good-paying jobs, and they will not be outsourced.

· The environmental industry employs 10 times more workers than the pharmaceutical industry. It is bigger than the biggest fortune 500 company.

· Employment created directly and indirectly by environmental protection will reach 6.3 million jobs and $448 billion in real expenditures by 2015.

· Renewable energy creates twice as many jobs per unit of energy than traditional fossil fuel-based generating technologies.

· Globally, the annual revenue for solar power, wind power, biofuels, and fuel cell companies rose to $55.4 billion in 2006 from $40 billion in 2005--a nearly 39 percent increase in one year. Market research firm Clean Edge forecasts that these four technologies alone will become a $226 billion market by 2016.

· Reorienting our antiquated energy infrastructure around the platforms of sustainability, efficiency, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions represents a great economic engine for innovation, productivity growth, and international competitiveness in coming decades. "