TRACK FIVE
Green Communities: Think Global, Act Local
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Track Chair: Lucy C. Edmondson, EPA New England
Conference Room: Cambridge
State of the States: State Policies to Accelerate Clean Energy
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Wednesday, March 12
Session Chair: John F. Moskal, EPA, New England
Session Speakers: David W. Cash, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Robert B. Wall, Connecticut Clean Energy Fund
The northeast states are working to break down the barriers to advancing clean energy and energy efficiency. Hear the latest on initiatives to advance clean energy from a panel of experts.
Energy, Climate & Values
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Wednesday, March 12
Session Chair: Joel N. Gordes, Environmental Energy Solutions
Session Speakers: Marty Bauman, Classic Communications
Brian F. Keane, SmartPower, Inc.
Solitaire Townsend, Futerra
While the emphasis on mitigating climate change has been mostly on deployment of efficient energy technology, some argue that it will take changes in lifestyle to achieve the ~75% carbon reduction goals set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Learn how cheap energy and marketing has led to a consumerist society and how we must harness the skills of marketing if we are to meet climate stabilization goals.
Cities on the Clean Energy Frontier
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM Wednesday, March 12
Session Chair: Missy Stults , ICLEI U.S.A. Northeast Regional Capacity Center
Session Speakers: Jeanette Brown, PE, Stamford Water Pollution Control Authority
Jeffrey Fournier, Carlin Contracting
Ellen Katz, City of Cambridge, MA
Bob Quinn, City of Quincy
Communities throughout New England are taking proactive steps to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Hear directly from community leaders about how municipal governments are making tangible progress in improving energy efficiency and reducing vehicle miles traveled within their communities.
Starting a Grassroots Climate Protection Initiative: Lessons from the Field
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM Thursday, March 13
Session Chair: Gordon MacFarland, MPA, Ceres
Session Speaker: Susan Butler, PhD, Green Decade Cambridge
Katherine Gekas, Neighborhood Power,
David Shakespeare, Melrose Energy Commission
Learn how three citizen-driven local initiatives are helping to make climate protection a priority in their home communities. Representatives from Green Decade Coalition/Newton, the Melrose Energy Commission, and Green Decade Cambridge will discuss (1) how and why they came together, (2) their outreach efforts and successes to date, and (3) key challenges they are facing. A Q&A period will provide opportunity to discuss how you might organize such an effort in your community.
Debate in the Green Communities: LEED® or Follow?
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Thursday, March 13
Session Chair: Nadav Malin, BuildingGreen, Inc.
Session Speaker: Chris Benedict, RA, Chris Benedict, RA
Bruce Coldham, AIA, Coldham & Hartman Architects
Christopher R. Schaffner, PE, LEED® AP, The Green Engineer, LLP
Considered by many to be the premier sustainability guideline, the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ®) standard has been adopted by many as the standard across the country. Critics claim that the system favors "point grabbing" over good building science, while supporters say it has become a tool of market transformation for the green community. Sit in on the discussion.
Marketing Clean Energy at the Community Level
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Thursday, March 13
Session Chair: Jonathan S. Edwards, SmartPower
Session Speakers: Martha Broad, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Renewable Energy Trust
Lucy C. Edmondson, EPA New England
Jonathan S. Edwards, SmartPower
Missy Stults, ICLEI U.S.A. Northeast Regional Capacity Center
Clean Energy is perhaps best implemented on a community-wide basis. Those communities that approach the use of clean energy as a “community pride” project often are those that realize a mainstream adoption of clean energy by residents, government and business alike. This panel will detail how to best market clean energy to all sectors and involving all stakeholders of sustainability in the process.
Carbon Markets & Carbon Taxes: Market-Based Solutions to Climate Change
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM Thursday, March 13
Session Chair: Fred Unger, Heartwood Group, Inc.
Session Speakers:
Gilbert E. Metcalf, PhD, Tufts University
Michael D. Stoddard, Environment Northeast
There is general political consensus in the US that market based solutions will be more effective than purely regulatory responses in addressing the challenge of climate change. This session will review fundamental concepts of two of the most widely suggested market-based policy solutions - Carbon Emissions Trading Markets and Carbon Taxes. We will review the advantages and disadvantages of both policy approaches and the political realities facing their implementation.