Last week Nancy Sutly, President Obama’s principal environmental adviser and Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, joined local business leaders in a roundtable discussion at the Melink Corporation facility in Milford, Ohio. The purpose of the discussion was to open a dialogue between local business leaders and the federal government regarding clean energy and jobs for Ohioans.
Local sustainability professionals on the panel included Melink Corporation President Steve Melink, Dave Yarborough of PNC Bank, Bob Knight of Emerson Design, Mark Fisher of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and Elena Pfarr of Macy’s. Business Leaders from Cintas, General Cable, the Maverick Corporation, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) and GreenSource Distribution also participated in the discussion.
Sutly focused on the government's desire to help communities and local businesses adopt clean-energy practices. “The government is the single largest consumer of energy,” Sutly says. “The Obama Administration challenges us all to avoid wasting billions of dollars by reducing our carbon footprint. How can the government help?”
Most participants agree that the key to challenging local businesses and the community to embrace clean energy is education. “Most retailers face a big challenge when building from the ground up," Pfarr says. "Incentives are helpful, but targeting education is key."
Others insist that policy changes are necessary. “It would help if somehow my boy Barack could get a national energy standard through Congress," Fisher says. "Without bills, growth doesn’t happen. Tell him I said that.”
Panelists also expressed concern about the future of workers in the construction industry during the transition to new practices and procedures. “Those who are in the construction industry should have the opportunity to be educated," says Yarborough. "The system should be directed towards trades.”
Others expressed an inability to expand hiring practices. “We can’t hire because our clients can’t plan,” says Knight. “The government should consider offering an incentive if a business adopts a clean energy feature [that] pays for itself in 10 years.”
At the end of the discussion, Sutly expressed great optimism about the future of clean energy in Ohio. “This is an important national conversation," she says. "There is a global race going on. What I’ve heard here is that today is that Ohio communities and businesses are having the same discussions.”
By Jamie White
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