Hotline
The Hotline is GASP’s quarterly newsletter. We started archiving select Hotline articles online in 1997 (see links below in reverse chronological order). Starting with the Summer 2004 issue, the entire newsletter is available in PDF format. To view the PDF files, Adobe Acrobat is required. Download it here if you don’t have it already.
Now you can also view historical issues of the Hotline from GASP’s early days in the 1970s.
Summer 2010 (1.2 MB) NEW!
- The American Lung Association State of the Air Report: Pittsburgh 3rd Worst in Nation for Short-Term Particle Pollution
- Behind the Veil of Fragrance
- CMU’s President Cohon Speaks about the Hidden Costs of Energy
- RRI Cheswick Power Plant Update
- Clean Construction Legislation Introduced for Pittsburgh Projects
- Getting in the Door at the Variance Board
- Greening Your Bookshelf
- New Pediatric Environmental Medicine Center Addresses Childhood Asthma
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Zelda Curtiss
- Fall for GASP
Spring 2010 (815 KB)
- GASP Efforts Lead to Emission and Opacity Limits at Steel Plant
- Don’t Be Fuelish, Idling Makes No Cents! PA’s New Diesel Idling Law
- Updates on GASP Campaigns
- Marcellus Shale: Drilling Towards Financial Windfall or Environmental Heartbreak
- GASP and National Politics
- Earth Day 1970: 40 Years of Environmental Activism
- Hays Woods Update
- Greening Your Bookshelf
- My Time Interning at GASP
- Kudos to Two GASP Advisory Board Members
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Julie Burgo
- Save the Date
- Before You Flip That Switch: The Hidden Costs of Energy
Winter 2010 (1.3 MB)
- Air Quality Task Force Recommendations
- Media Matters
- Enforcement of Visible Emissions
- GASP Weighs in on Clairton Particle Pollution
- Reducing Diesel Emissions in the ‘Burgh
- 40 Years of Environmental Accomplishments
- Education and Advocacy in 2009
- GASP Celebrates 40 Years and 40 Environmental Heroes
- National Eco-Adventure Film Begins and Ends in Pittsburgh!
- GASP’s Progressive Roots
- Pittsburgh’s Green Buildings
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Jamin Bogi
- Seeking GASP Board Nominees
Fall 2009 (1 MB)
- GASP’s 40th Anniversary will Honor 40 Environmental Heroes
- $3.49 Million Recovery Act Funds to Help Cut Diesel Pollution in Pittsburgh
- The Public Hearings of the Fall of 1969
- Clarifying Clairton: Addressing Common Questions About Upgrades at the Clairton Coke Works
- Board of Health Tables the Air Toxics Guidelines
- GASPer Air Monitor is Back
- That All-Too-Familiar Odor: Hydrogen Sulfide
- Become a Smoke Reader
- News from the Environmental Protection Agency
- Green Eye Opens to Rave Reviews
- Three Rivers Bioneers
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Ted Popovich
- Tribute to Gerald H. F. Gardner, 1926-2009
- Congratulations to Rachel Filippini
Summer 2009 (636 KB)
- Local Physicians Help Pittsburghers “Make The Connection” Between Air Pollution and Health
- Healthy School Bus Campaign Wins Strong Protections for Kids’ Health
- State of the Air and PG Letter to the Editor
- 2009 GASPer Air Congress
- GASP Provides Comment on PADEP Proposed Guidance for Coal Ash Disposal in Mines
- What’s a Citizen Environmentalist?
- Stream Buffer Rule Key to Victory for Hays Woods
- Green Eye on Western Pennsylvania: GASP’s Juried Photography Exhibit
- GASP is Seeking 40 Environmental Heroes
Spring 2009 (1.1 MB)
- Healthier Buses for Pittsburgh Public Schools
- Board of Health Attempts to Limit Role of Air Quality Advisory Committee
- Federal Regulation of Coal Ash is on Its Way
- Findlay Township Residents Concerned About Landfill Gas Emissions
- A Personal Excursion Through Schenley Park
- GASP is Seeking Environmental Heroes
- The Black and Gold City Goes Green
- PA DEP Adopts GASP Recommendations on Use of Gypsum Wallboard in Agricultural Soil
- A Green Eye on Western Pennsylvania: GASP’s Juried Photography Exhibit
- Spotlight on GASP Staff: Sue Seppi
- Air, Heart, and Lungs: Making the Connection
Winter 2009 (1.6 MB)
- PA Diesel Idling Act Signed into Law
- Money Available to Retrofit School Buses in Allegheny Co.
- Asbestos and Large-Scale Residential Demolitions
- Diesel Particulates Dominate Air Toxics Cancer Risk
- Mullins Environmental Advocacy Competition
- GASP Recognized for Civic Leadership
- Could you be smoking out your neighbors?
- Decline or Extinction: How PA is Changing the World
- Donora Plus 60
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Peri Unligil
- Pesticides–Best Food Choices
- Become a Trained Smoke Reader
- Nominate YOUR Environmental Hero
Fall 2008 (1.1 MB)
- Reducing Diesel Pollution in Clairton
- Diesel Campaign Reaches Into the Community
- Women in Action: We are working hard to make our communities healthier by Teresa Heinz
- 2008 Good Government Awards
- Grassroots Outreach in 2008
- Do You Have Historical Photos of GASP in Action?
- Spotlight on GASP Staff: Joe Osbourne
- Bring the GASPer to Your Class
- GASP & Good Friends
- GASP Online
Summer 2008 (1.2 MB)
- Pittsburgh #1 Worst Air Ranking Shows Need for Action
- Ten City Waste Haulers Go Green
- Allegheny County Air Quality Program Remains Local
- GASP Explores the Burning Issue of Waste Coal
- Behind the Rhetoric: Clean Coal Technology
- GASP Has a New GASPer Air Monitor
- DCDG Features ZAP Cars and Smart Cars
- Transportation Update
- Get Involved: Join GASP’s Pollution Patrol Team
- Environmental Charter School Now Enrolling
- Roger Westman Honored
- Spotlight on a Board Member: David Eibling
- Save the Date for GASP’s Fall Party
Spring 2008 (2.1 MB)
- GASP Calls on the County Executive and Board of Health to Support and Strengthen the Local Air Quality Program
- GASP Files Suit Against Greene County Waste Coal Power Plant
- Air Pollution from a Coke Plant: a Billion Dollar Problem
- Heart Health & Air Quality: What’s the Connection?
- Energy: Lots of Players, Lots of Plans, But Is There a Clear Goal?
- Mercury and Reproductive Health, Part III
- Wood Smoke is a Severe Health Hazard: If You Can Smell It, You are Being Exposed
- Spotlight on GASP Staff: Michael Parker
- Support an Environmental Project by Fishing
Winter 2008 (1.1 MB)
- Allegheny County Air Quality Program at Risk!
- Watchdog, Educator, Litigator and Policy-maker: The many faces of GASP in 2007
- Environmental Quality Board Proposes Statewide Diesel Idling Regulation
- Third Community Meeting Held in McKeesport with CSX Railroad
- Coal and Our Future
- Old School… New School… Green School
- The Growing Scourge of Mercury Pollution, Part II
- Good Friends of GASP Gather for a Celebration
- Spotlight on GASP Staff: Lee Szymkiewicz
- GASP Tours a Cutting Edge Renewable Energy Project
Fall 2007 (848 KB)
- It isn’t just getting into your lungs: The link between fine particulates and cardiovascular disease
- Small Particles, Nanotechnology and Safety
- GASP Goes Grassroots
- Diesel Campaign Update
- The Growing Scourge of Mercury Pollution
- GASP at the Three Rivers Arts Festival
- Education Corner: GASPer Air Monitor, Teacher Workshops, Switchgrass Farm Tour
- Predictable Funding: Myth or Reality?
- Cleaner, Greener Transportation in Pittsburgh
- GASP’s Annual Fall Event
Summer 2007 (732 KB)
- Most livable city - least breathable ?
- Allegheny County’s Draft Air Toxics Guideline
- GASP in the Courts
- Improving Indoor Air Quality
- Drive Cleaner Drive Greener
- Global Warming: We Are the Cause, We Are the Solution
- The Problem with Carbon Dioxide
- McKeesport and the CSX Rail Yard
- Spotlight on the GASP Staff: Rachel Filippini
Spring 2007 (688 KB)
- Commuters Exposed to Air Pollution
- EPA Proposes Cleaning Up Locomotive and Marine Diesel Engines
- Effects of Air Pollution on Blood Pressure
- Childhood Asthma
- Hays Woods Update: Legal Maneuvers
- Are We Being Taken for a Ride? PAT’s Route Cuts
- GASP’s Spring 2007 Teacher Workshops
- GASP’s Particulate Monitor in Action
- Spotlight on the GASP Staff: Bridget Yupcavage
- Drive Cleaner Drive Greener 2007: Promoting Fuel Efficient, Clean Vehicles
- Help Wanted
Winter 2007 (838 KB)
- Year in Review: Highlights from 2006
- Introduction of Cleaner-Burning Diesel Fuel Facilitates the Use of Advanced Pollution Controls for On-Road Diesel Vehicles
- Updates on the PA Clean Vehicles Program and PA Mercury Rule
- GASP Legal Update
- Update: Reliant Cheswick Power Station
- GASP at the Gallery: Fine Art, Food, Folks, and Fun
- Hays Woods Update: Kudos to the DEP
- Mon/Fayette Toll Road: Is the End Near?
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Janis Johnson
- Sign Up for Free E-mail Air Pollution Alerts
- Port Authority Bus Service Slashed
Fall 2006 (829 KB)
- Allegheny County Board of Health Approves $500,000 Grant to Clean Up Local School Buses
- Bad Air Days
- Cleaner Emissions in the Forecast for the Cheswick Power Station
- GASP Receives Funding for Two Environmental Education Projects
- Alternative Energy Program Series
- Hays Woods Update
- R.I.P. Mon/Fayette Expressway
- GASP’s Fall 2006 Benefit (New Date!)
- Ride Your Bike to Khalil’s and Support GASP
- GASP Receives Bequest
Summer 2006 (372 KB)
- Comprehensive Campaign to Reduce Diesel Pollution Underway
- Getting the Mercury Out: The Pennsylvania Debate
- Scientists Sound Ultrafine Alarm
- GASP Legal Update
- Proposed COMs Regulation
- Envisioning a Revitalized Community: From the Mayor of Braddock
- Driving Cleaner and Greener with GASP
- PA Hybrid Rebate Program
- Join GASP Today
- Save the Date for GASP’s Fall 2006 Benefit Event
- Help Wanted: Treasurer
Spring 2006 (361 KB)
- Progress Continues in Cheswick
- County Considers Continuous Opacity Monitors
- GASP Members Speak at Public Hearing on Proposed Changes to PM Standards
- Federal Court Unanimously Rejects Rollback of Clean Air Protections
- Clean Air Fund Victory
- Air Pollution Studies at Carnegie Mellon University
- GASP’s Brown Bag Lunch Series
- Hybrid Buses in the Neighborhood
- Make a Difference: Volunteer with GASP
- Notecards for Sale
- Drive Cleaner, Driver Greener 2006
Winter 2006 (308 KB)
- 2005 Year in Review
- Curbing Diesel Pollution From Heavy Duty Equipment
- Pennsylvania Takes a Leadership Role in Creating a State-Specific Mercury Control Rule
- Campaign for Healthy Air 4 Allegheny County’s Air Quality in 2004
- EPA Ignores Health When Proposing New Particulate Standards
- Editorial: Keep it clean / A county pollution fund should be saved for health
- GASP Speaks Out About the Clean Air Fund
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Fran Harkins
- Notecards for Sale
- The Art of Supporting GASP
- Some Great Reading–For a Great Cause!
- CODE RED! Broken Hearts in Pittsburgh: And This Time Cupid Can’t Help
Fall 2005 (239 KB)
- Update: Shenango, Inc. and the Law
- GASP Gears Up for Fall Event: “Transportation Solutions”
- GASP Legal Update
- Citizens Will Play Critical Role in Enforcing New Idling Regulation
- The Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program
- GASP President Responds to Inaccurate News Article
- Brewin’ Biodiesel
- Artist Gifts GASP with Powerful Environmental Image
- Interest Fuels Youth
- Long Live Wine
- Join GASP Today
Summer 2005 (293 KB)
- Shenango’s Pollution Problems
- Adopt a School Bus with GASP: Providing a Cleaner Ride for Allegheny County Students
- GASP Appeals Two DEP Actions
- GASP Events Showcase Hybrid Cars
- A Breath of Fresh Air: How a Mother of Six Is Fighting a Power Plant
- 2005 GASPer Air Congress
- 2005 Award Recipients of the William W. Mullins Environmental Advocacy Competition
- Status of Permit Application for Hays Woods
- The Forest in the City
- Generation Y: Changing the World
- Air Quality and YOU Teacher Workshop
- Save the Date for GASP’s Fall Benefit
- Corporate Environmental Responsibility Event
- Join GASP Today
Spring 2005 (500 KB)
- GASP’s Diesel Campaign Continues
- Breathe Easy. Stop Idling. We Can All Play a Part
- E-mail Air Pollution Alerts
- EPA Signs Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) Into Law; Clear Skies Dies In Committee
- When Can I Fill ‘er Up–With Hydrogen?
- What America’s High School Students Think About Their Freedoms
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Maren Cooke
- Join GASP Today
- Drive Cleaner Drive Greener 2005
Winter 2005 (776 KB)
- 2004 Year in Review
- Progress Continues on Anti-Idling Front
- Soot Designations: An Opportunity to Clean Up Our Air
- Electricty from Waste Coal
- GASP Annual Benefit Gazes into the Future
- Event Survey
- Health Impacts of Transportation Planning Policies
- Traffic Pollution and School Students’ Health
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Karen Grzywinski
- Join GASP Today
- Idling Violation Notice
Fall 2004 (640 KB)
- Spotlight on GASP Founder: Michelle Madoff
- For 35 Years GASP Plays Prominent Role in Region’s Fight for Cleaner Air
- GASP’s Key Accomplishments in 35 Years
- Smart Cookie Jeannette Widom to Join in 35th Anniversary Celebration
- GASP 35th Anniversary Event
- U.S. Senate Candidate Forum
- Closer Scrutiny Required
- Every Vote Counts
- School Bus Idling Comes To a Halt!
- Hays Woods Website
- HOLT Seeks to Acquire Land in Western Allegheny County
- GASP’s Moving Wish List
- GASP Job Opening
Summer 2004 (436 KB)
- Breathing Easier in the ‘Burgh: GASP Settlement Agreement
- Winds of Change Blow Through GASP
- Diesel Anti-Idling Ordinance
- Speaking Out Against Mercury Pollution
- GASP Introduces the Public to “Green” Cars
- Presentation of Environmental Advocacy Award at 2004 GASPer Air Congress
- Hays Woods Update
- Four New Board Members Join ACHD
- Haiku: Nature-Based Poetry
- GASP’s Moving Wish List
- GASP Job Opening
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Marla Ferrency
Winter 2004
- Year in Review: Over the 2003 Landscape with GASP
- Breathing Easier in the Penn Hills School District
- Anti-Idling Ordinance Moving Forward
- Clean Air Under Fire: A Stellar and Lunar Event
- Air Quality Data from the Pittsburgh Supersite
- EPA Proposal for Easing Controls on Mercury Pollution Brings Protests
- Update on the Hays Strip Mine and Racetrack
- Letter to the Editor/Mountaintop Removal
- Thank You!
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Jonathan Nadle
Fall 2003
- Donora Tragedy Sparks Clean Air Standards
- Changing our Idling Ways
- October 7 Deadline for Mining Permit Comments
- Bush Administration, Environmentalists Battle Over “New Source Review” Air Rules
- Why is the Automobile Like a Smokestack?
- GASP Survey Results
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Walter Goldburg
Summer 2003
- May 6th Proclaimed “Stop School Bus Idling” Day
- Remembering Patricia Pelkofer: Tenacious Environmentalist and Founding Member of GASP
- 2003 GASPer Air Congress
- GASP Announces Environmental Advocacy Competition
- Proposed Land Development in Pittsburgh
- Valuing the Lives of Our Senior Population
- Ode to Rachel
Spring 2003
- GASP in Lawsuit Settlement — Delivers Additional Clean Air Protections For the Pittsburgh Region
- GASP Joins in Legal Actions Against Rulings of EPA
- What Am I Breathing Today?
- The Viability of Hydrogen Powered Cars
- Biodiesel: an Alternative Fuel
- Mercury Rising: How Bush’s Clear Skies Initiative Will Raise Pollution Levels
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Beth Toor
Winter 2003
- GASP 2002 Year in Review from the Executive Director
- “Drive Cleaner, Drive Greener” a Moving Event
- The Emerging Threat to the Clean Air Act (New Source Review)
- Better Fuel Economy Standards Needed
- Facts About Energy Use
- Court Orders Expanded Vehicle Emissions Testing in Pennsylvania
- Haze Cuts Two Ways
- Chatham Students Use GASPer to Monitor for Diesel
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Michael Kaizar
Fall 2002
- The Citizens’ Plan: An Alternative to the Mon Fayette Toll Road
- The Pittsburgh Supersite: Studying Air Quality in Schenley Park
- EPA Report Cites Diesel Fumes as Probable Cause of Cancer
- Owning a Hybrid
- Alternatives to the American “Lawn” Part IV: Just Do It!
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Edward Gerjuoy
Summer 2002
- So What’s a Little Haze in the Air?
- Having a Bad Air Day?
- Critics of Bush EPA Policies Challenge Easing of Air Quality Rules
- 2002 GASPer Air Congress
- Citizen Smokereaders
- Blue Vinyl: A film by Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Kate St. John
Spring 2002
- Environmentalists Attack Bush Plans as Weakening of EPA’s Clean Air Controls
- How Do You Like the Deciview?
- Diesel Pollution and Our Health
- Lost in the Smoke (and Mirrors)
- Automobile Emissions Inspections in Pennsylvania
- Recycling and Spring Cleaning
- Alternatives to the American “Lawn” Part III: Let Your Landscape Work for You (Not Vice Versa)
- Spotlight on a Board Member: David Fowler
Winter 2002
- GASP Position on the Mon/Fayette Toll Road
- GASPer Program Starts Sixth Year in Area Schools
- Proposal on Odor Monitoring
- Another Cost of Coal
- Alternatives to the American “Lawn” Part II: Pesticides
- Spotlight on Health and Government
- Spotlight on a Board Member: Marilyn Skolnick
Fall 2001 (Mon/Fayette Special Edition)
- Mon/Fayette Special Edition Introduction: Economic Savior of the Mon Valley or Billion Dollar Boondoggle?
- Looking at the Toll Road through Seven Lenses
- The Mon/Fayette and the Southern Beltway — Boon or Boondoggle?
- Benefits of the Mon/Fayette Toll Road to the Mon Valley and Pittsburgh Region
- A Better Way Into, and Out of, Town
- Public Participation an Issue in Transportation Spending Decisions
- Are There Alternatives to New Toll Roads?
- Why a CANTR Member Opposes the Mon/Fayette and Southern Beltway Toll Roads
- Traffic Congestion and Urban Development
- Completion of the Mon/Fayette Expressway is Essential for Our Future
- Oakland and the Mon/Fayette Toll Road
- Resolution in Opposition to a Proposed Mon/Fayette Expressway Bypass Through the Township of Wilkins
- Planning for the Future in Hazelwood
- Mayor Tom Murphy’s letter to Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
- Northern vs. Southern Routes of Mon/Fayette Toll Road
- Nine Mile Run Watershed Association
Summer 2001
- The Mon/Fayette Toll Road: the Environmental View
- Perspectives: Not quite there on clean air
- Benzene and the Case for Hazardous Ambient Air Monitoring in Allegheny County
- Your Home Landscape - Armed Warfare, Part I
- An Update on Automobile Emissions Inspections in Pennsylvania
- “Avoid disclosure. Deny liability.”
- State OKs Building of Power Plant Burning Coal Wastes in Indiana Co.
Spring 2001
- The Cost of Coal
- Shenango Violations Lead to New Penalties as GASP Urges Closer Monitoring, Cooperation
- An Appalachian Tragedy
- Title V: Is that local factory belching or smelling? Now is the time to get involved!
Fall 2000
- LTV Suffers Major Setback in Federal Court Action
- Local Control of Air Quality Regulations Jeopardized
- Title V Training
- Clean Up at the Coke Plant
- Presidency of GASP Changes Hands
Summer 2000
- County Air Quality Regulations in Jeopardy
- Air Pollution Committee OKs Smokereaders Proposal
- Permits to Pollute
- Municipalities Planning Code Amendments
- Criminal Acts
Spring 2000
- Supplemental Environmental Projects Urged in Shenango Settlement
- Pennsylvaniais Power Plants Ranked Worst in Nation
- Book Review: Environmental Risk Communication
- Solar Energy Right Here in Pittsburgh
- Letter to the Editor and GASP Response
Winter 2000
- GASP Pursues Interests In Cases Involving USX, Shenango, LTV
- Ozone in Allegheny County
- Biotechnology - Discovering the Parallels
- Dioxin: Unwanted and Unnatural
Fall 1999
- GASP and EPA Take Action Against Shenango; Prospects of Coke Produceris Merger with Antaeus Apparently Disappear
- Out of Breath: Health Effects from Ozone in Eastern United States
- Fall Foliage and Acid Rain in Pennsylvania: Where Have All the Colors Gone? Asks the Clean `Em Up Campaign
- The Future of Transportation in our Region
- Port Authority Public Hearing on Project Changes to Martin Luther King, Jr. East Busway Extension
- Mercury on your Dinner Plate
Spring 1999
- Public Concern Grows as Plans Emerge for New Neville Island Coke Production
- Has the Sun Set on the LTV/Sun Coke Hazelwood Plant?
- Dirty Dinosaurs: Power Plants and Pollution
- Unsafe At Any Speed
- As We Usher in the 21st Century, We Should Usher Out Nuclear Power
Fall 1998
- Status of the Proposed LTV/Sun Coke Plant
- Electricity Deregulation: What Should I Do?
- EPA NOx Reductions
Summer 1998
- The Proposed Non-Recovery Coke Plant in Hazelwood
- Gypsy Moth Reflections
- Patience is a Virtue… They Say
- Green-e: Renewable Energy In Pennsylvania
Winter 1998
- Problems with the LTV Mill are Old and Bad
- LTV Swan Song Scenario
- Making the Connections: Dr. Judith Johnsrud Speaks at GASP’s Annual Meeting
- 1997, First Session 105th Congress Environmental Voting Scorecard
- Why Should Environmentalists Be Concerned About Transportation?
Summer 1997
- The New Ozone and PM Standards: Will we breathe more easily?
- Protecting Public Health
- GASPER Air Congress
Winter 1997