A Good Year for Pittsburgh

Come September, we may see Nicolas Sarkozy throw some fries on his sammy and Angela Merkel crack open an Iron City Light. The White House announced today that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will host the next G-20 Summit. Here’s the gleeful Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said the U.S. agreed to host the next summit during the London meeting earlier in the spring. Pittsburgh is “a good place” to hold the summit because of its recovery from the decline of the steel industry in the 1980s, he said.

[snip]

“With leaders already scheduled to be in the United States in September to attend the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama offered to host the Summit and leaders of the G20 welcomed the invitation,” a White House statement said. “Pittsburgh has demonstrated a commitment to employing new and green technology to further economic recovery and development. The summit will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh, an exemplar of that commitment. The facility is proud to have a LEED Gold Certification from the U.S Green Building Council for leadership in energy and environmental design.”

This has been a good year for the Steel City. Steelers win the Super Bowl, Pens make the Stanley Cup finals (for the second year in a row), Netroots Nation coming to town in August…and now this. I have no doubt that Pittsburgh’s 29-year-old mayor will rise to the occasion. Who knows, years from now history teachers may look back at the “Pittsburgh Agreement” as the moment the global economy got back on track?

Image from flickr. Creative commons n’at