Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Hey G-20: Don't Hate Us Because We're Beautiful

Just caught this photo on the popular, eclectic local message board, Never Tell Me The Odds (h/t Jennie Roth of 37 Roses). Is this really real? I almost feel like somebody doctored the image. I get the creative, in-your-face environmentalism, but at the same time whaaat?

(Pictured: Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato)

"Pittsburgh Green: We Feel Your Envy."

15 comments:

  1. Do people actually BELIEVE this sh*t? Pittsburgh is now "Green"? I've heard the ads. Pure BS.

    Of course, maybe the fact that automobiles have essentially been banned from dahtahn makes it "true".

    Me? I firmly believe most, if not all, of this "green" stuff is feel-good horse pucky. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

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  2. Did you notice the 'customizable area for additional messaging' at the bottom? I'm thinking:

    Pittsburgh Green. We feel your envy. We thrive on your pain.

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  3. Conservative Mountaineer - A third of the people truly believe it.

    A third of the people affirmatively disbelieve in it, like you CM.

    A third of the people are hedging their bets, are relieved to see green initiatives flying around, and will switch maybe to spiral light bulbs now that they're not too expensive, or sell some green widgets and buildings, hooray.

    MH - Sounds like a classic Steelers slogan!

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  4. Pittsburgh Green: We keep raw sewage out of the river.*

    *Unless it rains

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  5. I do not like the "we feel your envy" sentiment.

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  6. Well, just so you all actually are aware, Pittsburgh is the greenest city in the country, regardless if you feel that it is or not. And no, those are not legit posters. I've been downtown and there are no signs that say "we feel your envy". Everything is "Pittsburgh Green!" and "Pittsburgh Welcomes You!" in like 14 different languages.

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  7. everything in pittsburgh is green during the annual st. patrick's day parade.

    the other 364 days a year? ummm not so sure....

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  8. G-20 update: http://carbolicsmoke.com/

    And note the third story on Sept. 23: Carbolic continues to allow Bram to use our picture of Carbolic's Bob Haas, taken at Epcot several years ago.

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  9. Anon @8:45:

    Do you have any sort of a link to support that? Or at least some indication of what standard you are using. I'm sure it is true for some definition of 'Green' (perhaps LEED certified buildings?), but not for other reasons that seem more plausible. For example, we really do put a fair bit of raw sewage in the river when it rains. See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4602953

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  10. I thought Pittsburgh Green was the spigot of so-called free money we get from the state and federal gov'ts.

    CM: "green" is marketing differentiator. Much like "new and improved". Now can someone explain "best practices" and "sustainable"?

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  11. "Best Practices" means doing what research has demonstrated to be the best course of action. That way, instead of being inefficient because you keep doing things the way you've always done them, you are inefficient because nobody in charge paid attention to internal validity or generalizability when they looked at research findings.

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  12. When we talk about whether "we're" the "greenest", it also makes a lot of sense to look at what residents are doing in addition to government and business. How do we commute, what kinds of cars do we own, how many containers do we reuse. Inside Agitator is mostly right to divide "green" and "environmentally conscious" as two distinct though somewhat overlapping concepts.

    Also, I know that's a white dove coming out of the river in the center, but it suggests geese.

    Tim Murray - We continue to appreciate the participation of both Bob Haas and Noah Swayne, on behalf of the whole Commonwealth.

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  13. You should hope it suggests geese. Other than feather color, a dove a pretty much the same thing as a pigeon.

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  14. The Trib had a story about this debate over the weekend.

    http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_644068.html

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  15. Oooops. Didn't reprint.

    OK, click name.

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