Readings of the Day 11 March 2010

China and India formally agreed Tuesday to join the international climate change agreement reached in December in Copenhagen, the last two major economies to sign up.

The two countries, among the largest and fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, submitted letters to the United Nations agreeing to be included on a list of countries covered by the Copenhagen Accord, a three-page nonbinding statement reached at the end of the contentious and chaotic 10-day conference.

China and India join nearly 200 countries that have signed up under the accord, which calls for limiting the rise in global temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, beyond pre-industrial levels.

Rock legend Bob Dylan (right) at the University of St Andrews Wednesday June 23, 2004, after he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Sir Kenneth Dover, Chancellor of the university. The American icon, whose hits include Like a Rolling Stone and Mr Tambourine Man, has only ever accepted one other honorary degree, from Princeton University in 1970. PA Photo: David Cheskin / POOL.

Bob Dylan looks rather disapproving in this photograph of him receiving an honorary degree from Sir Kenneth Dover of St. Andrews University.

The egg is the latest encouraging development in the slow recovery of the endangered birds in the regions they historically inhabited. The effort has been hampered by hunters and lead poisoning of the birds.

A female released in the park in 2004 and a male released the same year 30 miles west at Big Sur had been observed engaged in courtship behavior earlier this year, Carl Brenner, a park spokesman, said.

“They are now the proud parents of a small egg,” Mr. Brenner said.

“Shame on us if we can’t figure out a way to leverage what’s here historically with the future and the creation of those new jobs,” Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, D-Pittsburgh, said. [He continued] “We pledge to them today publicly that this is the beginning of the process and we look forward to working with them and the neighbors in the Strip to ensure that this process is one that preserves the history and also creates an opportunity for growth.”

Pittsburghers are hoping that a new location of the produce terminal will not be an option in the end.

“I think it would be absolutely tragic. I think that this is a landmark that’s critical to understanding the history of the Strip District,” Melanie Como Harris said.

“We don’t want to gentrify the Strip, we just want to enhance it,” Bob Stone said.

The six-and-a-half miles of riverfront property would offer housing and entertainment and would be similar to the redevelopment of the Mon Riverfront on the South Side.

The city is joining forces with the Buncher Real Estate Firm to redevelop the area from the Strip District to Highland Park.

There will be housing, commercial space, bike paths and parks. The plan is to start in the Strip and work north.

The entire project won’t be complete for several years. But when it is all said and done, the Allegheny Riverfront Plan will create some 5,000 jobs and potentially $6 million in new tax revenue for the city.