Last night was the first of several town hall meetings being held across the state on green jobs and clean energy sponsored by the C-campaign. Congressman Bobby Scott spoke to a crowded room (estimated between 100-170 people!). Other speakers included:
Mr. Karl Bren, founder of Green Visions Consulting;
Mr. Michael Schewel, Chair of the Corporate Development Department at McGuireWoods and former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade;
Mr. Glen Besa, Director, Virginia Sierra Club;
Dr. Thad Williamson, Professor of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond; and
Dr. James Wetzel, Professor of Environmental Economics, Virginia Commonwealth University.
After the panel spoke, they opened the floor for questions. People were really excited about green jobs and wanted to know more. One gentleman said he’s been looking at workforce development training and couldn’t find anything closer than NYC. He stated that the price of that particular program keeps going up and up too. He wanted to know why there wasn’t any training for him here in Richmond. A gentleman from a vocational technical school said they implemented a program last year to train troubled youth how to build solar panels. They felt it was more important to get the program up and running then to sit and wait for funding. He said that with the signing of the stimulus bill, they are planning to expand the program and start doing adult training programs as early as next month.
One of our friends at the Back Porch Initiative asked a great question about energy efficiency and how if implemented correctly, would replace the need for new generation (she sited the Wise plant). Glen did a good job answering her question siting the ACEEE study but another gentleman on the panel (I believe it was Mr. Schewel) said we weren’t going to get off our dependence on fossil fuels without nuclear.
There was a big discussion on nuclear. Some panelists were for it and the audience wanted to know why. One woman asked when nuclear became safe and the “in” thing to support.
Overall, it was a great event. There were people there from all walks of life. Everyone is interested in green jobs thanks to the election and its prominence in the stimulus bill.
