In this podcast, PennFuture's Christine Knapp talks to presenters at the final 2006 Philadelphia Urban Sustainability Forum. Christine speaks to Fred Conner, a graduate student in Temple University's Community Planning program, and Warren Karlenzig of SustainLane.

Fred Conner has been following the Urban Sustainability Forums and with the help of his classmates, compiled a report summarizing all of them. Fred describes their findings, highlighting Clean and Green by 2016 the ten-year plan they created to highlight opportunities for Philadelphia to become an even more sustainable city.

Warren Karlenzig describes why Philadelphia was chosen as the fourth most sustainable city in America in the SustainLane's 2006 City Rankings. He also mentions areas where Philadelphia needs to improve in the future.

To learn more about The Next Great City Initiative, e-mail us at podcastATpennfuture.org.

When it comes to the outdoors, "some sportsmen like to say that they were the first conservationists in the United States," says Ed Zygmunt, a board member with the Pennsylvania's Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs (PFSC), in this podcast with Heather Sage from PennFuture. Ed discusses the sporting community's opinions on global warming, and the serious impacts on the hunting and angling in Pennsylvania, detailed in a national poll and Pennsylvania-specific poll recently released. The Pennsylvania sporting community recognizes that global warming is human-induced, largely resulting from fossil fuel combustion, and feel that action needs to be taken at the state and federal level.

Ed believes it is critical for sportsmen and sportswomen to voice their concerns to their elected officials, on topics such as mercury pollution and global warming. 

To learn more about PennFuture's Cool Pennsylvania campaign, visit our web site or e-mail us at podcast@pennfuture.org. PennFuture offers an e-mail list serve for our Cool Pennsylvania Partners, with a weekly digest on timely global warming news of interest, and opportunities to get involved in supporting the efforts to reduce Pennsylvania's contributions to global warming. 

America's reliance on fossil fuels is creating serious economic and environmental hazards that are on the verge of overwhelming future generations. In order to combat this trend, government leaders and private industries are looking for efficient energy alternatives that will enable the United States to reduce its oil addiction and decrease its contributions to global warming.

One proven solution-- wind-- was on full display at this year's annual American Wind Energy Association conference, held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. Companies from around the world came together at the conference to sell the latest wind energy technologies and to collaborate on ways to make wind energy more widely available and accessible, to become America's leading energy solution.

In this PennFuture podcast, PennFuture's Pittsburgh interns Andrew Clearfield, D.J. Trischler and Tiara Wiles attend the AWEA conference and speak with leaders in the industry about the current state of wind energy in the U.S. and the future of wind technologies. They speak to Joe Jongewaard, Project Manager with the Iowa Department of Economic Development; Libby Dodson, Chief with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Energy and Technology Office; Suzi Pegg, Senior Director of Global Marketing with the Allegheny Conference on Community Development; Jorji Fredericksen and Andrew Lyle of Renewable Devices in Scotland; and Christine Real de Azua, Assistant Director of Communications with AWEA.

To learn more about how you can switch to a clean, renewable form of electricity like wind right here in Pennsylvania, visit www.cleanyourair.org. For more information about PennFuture's Center for Energy, Enterprise and the Environment, e-mail us at podcast@pennfuture.org or visit our web site.

PennFuture's Christine Knapp interviews speakers at the Urban Sustainability Forum's sixth event: "Redeveloping Healthy Neighborhoods." Christine speaks with Scott Paige, architect and urban planner at Interface Studio LLC about their plan for Transit Oriented Development in the Philadelphia area, specifically the Temple University Station. The idea will cultivate the hub of transit and connect the station to areas of developmental need.

In a conversation with Eva Gladstein, we hear about the progress that Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI) is making in cleaning up Philadelphia's neighborhoods. NTI was created in 2001 with a mission to revitalize Philadelphia's communities.

Christine then speaks with Sandy Wiggins, Principal of Consilience LLC and Vice Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council, about Philadelphia's status in the effort to create a greener environment. Sandy briefly mentions the idea of LEED Certified Neighborhoods.

Lastly, Christine talks with Samuel Assefa, Deputy Chief of Staff to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Chicago has become a model for sustainability in the United States. The Deputy Chief speaks about what Chicago has been doing to achieve success and what others cities, like Philadelphia, can do.

The Urban Sustainability Forum is a public forum focusing on important issues facing Philadelphia, with the goal of making Philadelphia the greenest, most livable city in America. To learn more about this or the Next Great City initiative, e-mail us at podcast@pennfuture.org.