Water Matters: World Environment Day 2010
The oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico presents unprecedented
challenges to protecting the area's surrounding ecosystems. It's a topic
that was top of mind during conversations about water quality
issues in the Pittsburgh region and around the globe at
the United Nations' World Environment Day (WED) activities, hosted by the city earlier this month.
Carnegie Mellon played a key role in organizing the Water
Matters! Conference and invited professionals from government, industry
and academia to Pittsburgh, according to Professor David Dzombak, faculty
director of Carnegie Mellon's Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental
Education and Research.
The Steinbrenner Institute was a sponsor of the "Water Matters!"
conference held June 3 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center,
which featured thought-leaders from across North America.
The selection of Pittsburgh as the North American host city by UNEP
is a testament to the area's commitment to environmental and
sustainability issues—ranging from energy and resource conservation to
the protection of waterways, ecosystems and green spaces.
"The shrinkage of heavy industry in our region has spawned a variety
of new directions," said Dzombak, the Walter J. Blenko Sr. Professor of
Civil and Environmental Engineering. "Among [the new directions] was a
recognition of the value of our natural resources here and of
opportunities to use our natural resources in different ways for
economic development and not just for exploiting resources like coal,
oil and gas, all of which started here in western Pennsylvania. There's
been a real transformation in how our natural resources are viewed."
He added, "One of the challenges for the Pittsburgh region is fine
particles generated in the combustion of coal. Fine particles penetrate
deeply into the lungs and pose human health risk. At Carnegie Mellon,
we're a leading research center on fine particles in the atmosphere."
Three keynote speakers and three panels focused on "Water and Your
Health," "Water and Energy" and "Water as an Economic Driver."
Following on the heels of Pittsburgh's recent role as host of the
September 2009 G-20 Summit, World Environment
Day once again allows the region to showcase its successful
transformation from an industrial area to a present-day model of green
economy industries, organizations and initiatives.
Audio Highlights [.mp3]: