I am also involved in the group PASUP (Pittsburghers Against Single Use Plastic) which is trying to reduce consumption of single-use plastics which are mostly made from fossil fuels and are made from nurdles from cracker plants.

14th Ward Independent Democratic Club and

the Chatham University College Democrats

to hold the 2020 Barbara Daly Danko Political Forum:

“The Petrochemical Build-Out: Not What It’s Cracked Up To Be?”

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Doors Open 1:00 P.M Forum 1:30 P.M.

Eddy Theatre, Chatham University

Woodland Rd. Pittsburgh 15232

FREE TO THE PUBLIC

The 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club is pleased to announce that the Club’s Annual Meeting will host a panel discussion on Sunday, January 26th titled The Petrochemical Build-Out: Not What It’s Cracked Up To Be? The speakers will be Dr. Erin N. Mayfield and Dr. Patricia M. DeMarco, who have both received distinguished awards for their research.

On December 8, 2019, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featured as its front-page story the article: “Study: Shale gas job gains don’t offset the damage done: CMU Study finds build-out causes early deaths, affects environment.“ The 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club has invited the authors of the Carnegie Mellon University report to share their findings with the community. Recent analysis has indicated that the proposed building of additional cracker plants in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia may have serious environmental and economic consequences. With regard to the City of Pittsburgh alone, Mayor Bill Peduto in a Public Source interview said “there was no meeting that occurred that shifted our economic future away from the growing eds and meds to cracker plants . . . but that’s what happened.”

Erin N. Mayfield, Ph.D. is the lead author of the CMU Report. Dr. Mayfield completed her doctorate at CMU and is now with the Princeton Environmental Institute – Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.

Patricia M. DeMarco, Ph.D. is Resident Scholar at Chatham University, and is the author of the recently published Pathways to Our Sustainable Future: A Global Perspective from Pittsburgh. She will be available to sign copies after the Danko Forum.

The Barbara Daly Danko Political Forum is named after the late Allegheny County Council Member Barbara Daly Danko. Ms. Danko, a longtime member of the 14th Ward Democratic Committee and 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club, served as the Chair of the 14th Ward Democratic Committee from 2006 until 2012, and served on Allegheny County Council representing the 11th District. The Danko Political Forum provides a venue for candidate debates and discussion of important public policy issues affecting the 14th Ward and the City of Pittsburgh.

This year’s Danko Forum is intended to draw more attention to the trade-offs between the impacts, costs, and stated benefits of fossil fuel development and the expansion of the petrochemical industry in the region. Attendees are encouraged to bring their questions to help clarify the actual community consensus on these trade-offs and, if there is significant divergence from this consensus and current developments, discuss a political response.

The 2020 Danko Forum is co-sponsored by the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club, the Chatham University College Democrats and the 14th Ward Democratic Committee.

The event is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in the lots off Murray Hill Avenue.