Dave believes that we should do everything possible to make our region a beacon of environmental sustainability, taking advantage of our natural advantages – our beautiful green hills and flowing rivers – which put Pittsburgh and Allegheny County among the most beautiful places on Earth.

Dave has always been an environmental champion. When on County Council, he sponsored legislation targeting Neville Island polluters and tightening air pollution regulations. Additionally, he sponsored other sustainability measure, like ordinances limiting diesel emissions and implementing the Smoking Ban in restaurants, bars and workplaces.

Dave also spearheaded the passage of two ordinances empowering the County to create a Countywide Riverfront Park, a transformative 10th county park… a linear park with bikeways that would run along one side or the other of every one of our 4 major rivers, with bridge connections and amenities all along the way, from county line to county line.  When constructed, this will be the greatest linear park in the world.  It will reclaim our riverfronts for the people to us.  It will allow us to commute by bicycle, lessen carbon footprint and take advantage of our riverfronts for the good of our region, not just the railroads. It revitalize all of our many riverfront communities which, in turn, will lessen the ongoing loss of greenspace in Allegheny County for new construction. Finally, the park would involve backing railroad tracks away from our rivers – our regions source of drinking water — to lessen the threat of potentially catastrophic damage from train derailments and spills.

Dave was an inaugural and long-term member of Riverlife, has long supported trail groups and land conservation organizations, and was fully endorsed by Clean Water Action when serving on County Council.