Press Mention The Mecklenburg Times September 24, 2009
Topical Mention
North Carolina Clean Energy Economy Forum stirs green supporters
In this mention
The North Carolina Clean Energy Economy Forum held in Charlotte on September 25, 2009, brought together solar manufacturers, activists, nonprofit members, and policymakers to discuss clean energy adoption and small business participation. Panelists emphasized the need for unified advocacy, policy changes, and learning from European clean energy advances. SACE is not mentioned in this article.
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North Carolina Clean Energy Economy Forum stirs green supporters
by Austin Light
Dolan Media Newswires
CHARLOTTE, NC -- The information covered at the North Carolina Clean Energy Economy Forum on Wednesday at the Mint Museum was as broad as the audience, which nearly filled the 170-seat auditorium and consisted of solar panel manufacturers, activists, nonprofit members, lobbyists, county commissioners and staff representatives of state legislators.
Many of the discussion topics invoked passionate responses from the panelists and applause from attendees.
Panelists included Joel Olsen, president of O2energies; Joseph James, president of the Corporation for Economic Opportunity; Terence Fagan, professor at Central Piedmont Community College; and Alina Johnson, global warming policy liaison for the Conservation Council of North Carolina. Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton gave an introductory speech.
Small Business Green Growth
When panelists were asked how small businesses can grow their green participation, Fagan quickly encouraged the crowd to partner with CPCC.
"We have all kinds of resources and links to sustainable efforts. … We can train and retool you and give you the experience you need," Fagan said, echoing Dalton's suggestion that community colleges will play a large role in pushing the country forward in sustainability.
Johnson discussed resources available from the Conservation Council and encouraged attendees to visit the Web site, saying, "It's not that hard to get involved."
Catching Up with Europe
Olsen and James both pointed to advances made in Europe, particularly Germany, in clean energy integration. Olsen said that while he worked at solar panel part manufacturer Sencera, an overwhelming amount of their business was with Germany, mainly because it has a market for clean energy that the U.S. has yet to develop.
"The British are coming," James said, referring to England's advances in clean energy production. "If we don't step up, they'll be using our land to fund and fuel their efforts."
Catching up with Europe will only happen if policies are changed, Olsen said.
Banding Together
Olsen also noted that the evening's two-hour forum had an alarming number of sponsors.
"We need to combine together and become a unified voice if something is going to get done," he said. "We don't need to compete with each other."
Johnson said the forum was originally going to be a town hall meeting, but the format was changed for a variety of reasons.
"I think it worked out to our advantage because we didn't have any of that confrontation from those meetings. This was really about getting the information and getting it out to the public," she said.
Olsen said he hopes to see energy town hall meetings in the near future, and that he hopes the public's response to them is as passionate as it has been for healthcare.
"We need to be the ones screaming at those meetings," Olsen said.