Scribe: Charles Hendricks Convener: Eric Curren Location: Clementines Time: 11:00am
Attendees: Eric Curren, Lindsay Howerton, Richard Baugh, Charles Hendricks, Michael Wong, Nabila Nanji, Tip Parker, Thomas Degner, Tep Thomas, Sheree Boland, Susan Crosby, Leah Rosenwasser, Lallon Pond, Benjamin Meredith, Derik Trissel, Tom Owens, Bagsby Pharr, Larry Hoover, Sally Newkirk, Josie Henning
We need to take baby steps, talk to local government, work together to address issues as a group rather than waiting on local government.
The price of energy is going to go up. Peak oil has passed and we are going to have to adapt.
Even if price of energy was not rising, we need to deal with the climate change that is in front of us. This is scary stuff, what can local governments do to impact these issues and make the Valley an even better place to live. Interested in energy, quality of life, local food production, clean energy, green jobs, issues in the valley. How can we change the way we are viewed by our local delegates and the impacts of the issues that can enhance our quality of life in the Shenandoah Valley.
Green Jobs are everything from blowing insulation, to creating components for wind turbines, and production of solar panels. The issue of clean coal is a marketing tool that the industry has created. Have you ever seen a clean coal plant?
Sally: Vision of people creating their own energy, wind turbines on roof tops, solar panels on your home. What happens if your power goes off, if you have your own energy plant, you can protect yourself.
Van Jones is the Green Czar for Obama. Exhibit at the National Building Museum that talks about green development and green jobs. Solutions for wind turbines on small houses shown. Implementing curbside composting illustrated. How can we manage our waste and sustain our community? This exhibit starts to investigate these issues.
Green jobs is about creating jobs and putting people to work. There are great solutions that are just waiting to be taken to those looking for jobs.
There are many really good local opportunities for local jobs – geothermal is an excellent idea for our area. We need an incentive program from the local government that will allow for better more affordable sustainable solutions.
We need to find jobs and community ways to protect our streams and wildlife while we are creating these new industries.
There is a tradition of green jobs in the valley. People that have been and continue to protect our environment. Time have changes, would you eat a fish out of a local stream?
Can the green jobs movement create as many new jobs as the internet boom? We are past that peak, and there are still millions of jobs and opportunities. We know high tech, let’s be a world leader. Many local areas missed the internet boom in the valley. There are not a lot of high paying internet jobs in our area. People come here to retire here, but not for high paying jobs. Times are changing.
From a real estate perspective, this area is booming. The is a lot of red tape that is holding us back in the area.
Richard:We need to bug our local representative to make them understand the need to change the approach that we need to take on a larger scale. There is a tangled web of things that might hold back our change. There are government responsibilities that must be met, Harrisonburg has to stop their impact at the city line. How do you bring in all groups and get everyone on the same page. We need to make sure our elected officials stay on a learning curve and see the big picture. We need to make sure that they work for us and let us know who is responsible and can make change that is effective.
There are regional and federal boards that look at larger planning issues, but both groups struggle with what to do. There is progress that can be made getting government entities to work together.
Can we get city council to appoint a green task force to look at how to get all these local groups together and work towards a common goal.
We need unified action from the citizens to get movement to happen. Social change and government change is almost always revolutionary.
Benjamin:Micro / Macro conversation that is ongoing. We need a bridge between the two. Citizens can talk about the Macro, but they work on the micro level. What can I do tomm to create a micro job that is focused on green.
Eric:Take action for your own life. Recycle, rain barrel – good start, but not enough. We need government action to change the big picture. Local government is confusing – city, county, state – how do we understand who does what. In the 70s we had a chance to get off oil and we blew it. Solar panels were taken off the white house when the administration changed. If we had not blown it, we would have high speed rail, local food production, and local energy creation. This is our second chance to get it right. We have to find ways to get through the red tape. The building industry can have a major impact on this change. We can sell mcmansions to hummer clients, or we can look at issues of building local, join the Sierra Club, and organize to make citizens to what government needs to do. The Civil rights movement was not started by the government it was started by the citizens.
What are the specific things that government can do to make change? We need a local task force to look at what other cities are doing to implement best practices. Long term loans for doing energy improvements are a good idea. Those benefiting from the energy improvements will pay more taxes with some of their energy savings. They still come out ahead the system is funded through savings.
Eric: SB1212
Charlottesville Mayor – allows local communities to set up a loan fund for energy efficient improvements on your own properties. Loan fund – local government loans you money, you pay a small addition to your property taxes each year. You get the solar panels for free, you property value goes up, you create jobs.
Why not use a private bank?
Tax credits are out there but are not known about. How can we get the information? There are advantages out there that we can take advantage of.
Individual retirement plans are a source of funds. They buy bonds or stocks. There is no financing for those in this room to flow their money towards green initiatives. How can we create these income streams that will allow for solid stable income streams over the next 20 years.
Younger generation gets excited about issues like melting polar ice caps. It will impact us longer because we are younger generation. Green jobs are talking about opportunity that lifts all boats. We need to be inclusive. How can we get more people involved and allow anyone to participate? Can we take this meeting to Jim Webb and show them that this is a real idea and real movement that they need to understand and take serious.
Young people need to understand that this issue comes down to politics.
Access to all people is important. It is not just about a few people it should include everyone. Solar Richmond is a good example that had a bond initiative that allows for getting solar panels on homes that also trained those that needed a job a new skill. People that once did not have a bright future are now leaders in the movement and understand a specialized skill and are moving into a higher wage level. Sustainablesouthbronx is another group that is training young generations. There is a debate should they built more prison housing or implement more job training. Where should the money go?
This is about putting people to work and getting everyone involved.
We need to find ways to bring stimulus money into those communities that don’t necessarily trust politicians. Youthbuild could be a good means to introduce a new opportunity .
2525 at JMU – connection to agri development. Shenandoah Valley can be a demonstration community for the country to show responsible development. We have water, we are close to DC, we have solar potential. We need a work force that can implement this technology. We need to make education accessible to everyone.
Solar manufacturing plant is opening in Staunton. Taking cheap solar panels. Gets rid of up front cost limitations. Tax incentive will help make solar affordable for everyone. Trailer parks with solar panels. This can greatly impact the poor communities in the valley. The whole valley has good broadband capabilities that is just waiting.
Letter to the editor are a good source to get information out to the community.
Is there a way to tighten up the building code to encourage better weatherization. Seniors waste information because they need more lighting.
Richard: good example of a good idea. There are merits. That will involve many steps to get it to happen. What if – people in the community comes forward to push this agenda.
Citizens are now recognizing that we don’t have to do things we have always done it. We can think through issues and create community groups to force change. More votes are better than less votes. We as a community have the power to set the rules the way that we want to see them. The elected official is sometimes limited to make a change, but communities can make the change. You elected me to make things better, now make me do it.
Our economy is only a subset of the earth systems. If we cannot breathe or have safe water, it does not matter if we have more money coming into the economy. Are we going to find green ways to consume more energy. Or are we going to try to live well consuming less?
Growth vs no Growth is a false choice. We don’t need growth for growth sake. We see the results of that. It is our community, we have the right to set the rules to have the community that we want. Let’s be deliberate about what we want. Harrisonburg government has not have much will to say no to anything. You cannot get the train to stop on a dime. We need to manage our growth, listen to our citizens, and understand what is needed and desired. Our votes matter, those appointed officials matter. Growth is not real estate development. Growth is about all the things we do as humans in our environment. It is all related to our consumption. We need to get back to living simpler. We need to allow our habits to bother us and find ways to change them. We need to look at the production side and the consumption side.
Environmentalist are usually a group that looks at making you feel guilty. We should instead look for opportunities and talk about the positives of going green. If you are looking to transform, you need to start with baby steps.
