January 19th - AIR

Session #1 - (PDF) Why, What, Who

On January 19th, 2006, the Forum held its first event - Session 1, " Life and Breath in the Big City: Philadelphia's Air in the 21st Century".

Guest speakers included keynote speaker Brian Castelli from the Alliance to Save Energy; and speakers Joe Minott from the Clean Air Action; Morris Fine from the City's Air Management Division; and Penn transportation engineering professor Dr. Vukan Vuchic. Here is a summary of what our guests had to say:

Brian Castelli, Alliance to Save Energy
Brian gave us an overall picture of the links between air, energy and transportation worldwide; and how current policies and proposed changes would affect our future. He recommended the following:

  1. Change building codes so that buildings become greener and more energy-efficient (examples: Cook Co., IL; Santa Monica, CA)
    Implement well-thought out transportation and telecommuting initiatives with long-range goals in mind (examples: Denver’s 20-year growth management plan, Philadelphia’s free wi-fi initiative)
  2. Take advantage of existing tax incentives for energy efficiency (examples: federal incentives for energy efficient appliances and use of hybrid vehicles; NJ state incentives for installation of solar energy)
  3. Loans and rebates for installation of energy-efficient equipment (example: installation of LED-powered traffic signals in Austin, TX – a technology first developed in Philadelphia!)
  4. Encourage the public, and our political and business communities to get involved and take leadership in implementing programs

BIOGRAPHY LINK
(PDF) PRESENTATION LINK

Please see www.ase.org for more info.

Joe Minott, Clean Air Council
Joe gave an impassioned plea for a change in policies. He recommended the following:
  1. Increase Septa ridership
  2. Incentives and investments to continue the switch to renewable energy
  3. Clean up emissions from Philadelphia’s ports (ships are currently unregulated) and airports

BIOGRAPHY LINK
Please see www.cleanair.org for more info.

Morris Fine, Air Management Services’ priorities
Morris described the current condition of the air quality in Philadelphia, and the measures currently being implemented to bring the City into attainment for the 2 pollutants in non-attainment status: ozone and PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter). He also listed what the priorities currently are for his department:

  1. Reduce emissions from diesel vehicles, both on-road and off-road (See Diesel Difference program at www.cleanair.org/dieseldifference/index.html for more info)
  2. Take measures to meet EPA and PADEP requirements for attainment of Air Pollution standards for the two pollutants the region is now in Non-Attainment: 8-hour Ozone by 2010 and PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter) by 2013
  3. Get the City government to keep introducing and increasing the use of clean technologies, such as AMS using hybrid vehicles, City’s use of Philly Car Share program, etc.

BIOGRAPHY LINK
(PDF) PRESENTATION LINK
Please see www.phila.gov/health/units/ams/ for more info.

Dr. Vukan Vuchic, Univ. of Pennsylvania School of Engineering
Finally, Dr. Vuchic showed how our transportation policy affects air, energy usage, and most importantly our quality of life. He also showed alternatives that have been successful in other parts of the world, from Portland, Oregon; to New York City; to Germany and Japan; to (believe it or not), Dallas and L.A., which have built up from scratch and are continuing to expand transit systems to mirror (and perform better than) our own here in Philly. He recommended the following:

  1. Increase awareness among the public of transportation’s impact on our quality of life
  2. Treat transportation as an integrated system of different modes: highways and transit, but also parking, transfers, pedestrians, neighborhoods
  3. Increase transit use by establishing stable financing and reorganization of SEPTA, following worldwide innovations; and introducing customer-oriented services
  4. Increase Amtrak’s role
  5. Encourage pedestrian-friendly design
  6. Stimulate PhillyCarShare and other car-dependency reducing innovations
  7. Transportation projects should not define the shape of the city, but instead the vision of what the city can be should determine which transportation projects should be funded.

BIOGRAPHY LINK
(PDF) PRESENTATION LINK
Please see www.seas.upenn.edu/~vuchic/ and www.seas.upenn.edu/~urbtrans/ for more info.

Now, we want to hear from YOU !!!

What did you think? Did you agree or completely disagree with some of the suggestions our panelists had? And, perhaps most important, what should the Forum select as its # 1 Priority in the arena of Air, Energy, and Transportation?

Please let us know! You can join our blog at: http://phillysustainability.blogspot.com (And please be civil in your responses)