I just want to state for the record what my colleague brings to my attention. I meant that the whole hearing had minutes, not that 12 your testimony would be 20 minutes. 13
I'm sorry. Then 14 I will cut to the chase and try to 15 abbreviate this very quickly. 16 So we know that it's an 17 exciting space. That goes without 18 saying. Lots of investment going on. 19 Let me just give one last 20 example out of the financial sector what this could mean, the investment in a clean tech economy on a local basis, what the yield is. Let's just say, for example, for purposes of illustration that we 170 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 invest $150 billion in the next ten years in clean tech and energy efficiency technologies. What does that get us? What it gets us is a reduction of Middle Eastern oil needs, imported oil, by between 40 and 80 percent. It gets a reduction of CO2 emissions between 460 and 923 million tons in that ten-year period. That translates to $13.8 to $27.7 billion at current market value of tradable CO2. This does not take into account other greenhouse gases; for example, nox or sulfur oxide. And, most importantly, investing in the clean tech sector would create three million new jobs, which translates to approximately two percent of all current employment in the U.S. So, in other words, any region, any city, any municipality is going to overlook clean tech jobs and development at its own risk. Okay. Now, how does this translate into business activity on a 171 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 more local level? Let me give you some examples. We work with businesses, we work with homeowners, and we work with industries to talk about renewable energy solutions. What we do is, we provide a solution to what has traditionally been the Achilles heel in renewable energy production, which is variable production or intermittency. In other words, what do you do when the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow. You need a way to store it. What we do is, we take excess that's not being used, excess wind power, excess hydro power, excess solar that's not being used to satisfy loads, and we use it to generate hydrogen from a water source. We do that through the process of electrolysis. So we split the water into its base elements, hydrogen and oxygen. We put the hydrogen into storage. The hydrogen then -- it sounds scary, but it's not, because we say hydrogen, people think Hindenburg. We 172 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 have information on that to show that that's also a misconception, but I don't want to digress.
Hydrogen gets reconverted into electricity or used as a fuel for vehicles. Yes?
Let me just do this. A, I went to your house in New Jersey and it is the most remarkable thing I've laid eyes on, until I get to Kensington. So what I'm saying is, you use thermal, hydro, solar all in one system.
And it was a beautiful home that heated hot tubs and dishwashers.
My question -- and we're going to go to the question portion, because I have to go to the next panel -- could these things co-exist in one zone?
All of the things that you guys testified to. MR. McDONALD: Positively.
And would you feed off of one another, where we talk about the agro portion of this and --
And so my point in this hearing is that we should pick areas where you can use density, where you can use access to one another to create a synergy that is cost effective and beneficial to the public. So that's what we want to do.
I'm telling 174 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 you, I went out there, I rode in a hydro car. I didn't get in the hot tub, but I enjoyed all of the aspects of that complete home, which didn't produce a solar -- I mean, a carbon footprint at all.
Sent rebates back to the grid and made the electric company pay them money.
Which are salient points I think we need to put on the record. The question becomes, we need a beta testing zone so that we can do this again. You say it exists. I'm going to go take a look at it. But I want to put it in areas, not scattered out into the Hinterlands, but in neighborhoods in West Philly, East Falls, Roxborough, all over our city, so that we can look and measure these things over a period of time. 175 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508
It's eminently doable. And let me just add to that very briefly, that all of the systems that we put in, all of the equipment we use, is UL listed and is governed by existing building codes. We've done the heavy lifting in terms of inspection and permitting. So these systems can be put in anywhere at any scale desirable. You can scale it up or you can scale it down, right up to the utilities scale. In other words, I was at a PJM conference not too long ago and they were pulling their hair out trying to figure out where they're going to get additional generation to meet forward markets. Okay? And the question came up, Well, what about renewables? Because, of course, the renewable portfolio standard. How about we just expand the renewable portion of the energy mix? And here's the buzz word that came up: Asset reliability. In other words, if you put in a hundred megawatts of solar, you've 176 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 got to put in a hundred megawatts of natural -- I'm sorry; simple cycle natural gas to back it up, because the storage component is not there. With a hydrogen generation and storage, now you have load-leveling capabilities, storage capabilities, you can meet base load. Let's go back to something John said very briefly as an illustration of how you can use this to generate a revenue stream.
Very brief. Very brief. Smart metering. You take your stored hydrogen, you reconvert it back into electricity, sell it back to the grid at peak rates and then fill up your hydrogen tank in the middle of the night at off-peak rates and capitalize on the differential. It's a revenue stream that's generated.
And I think 177 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 what the -- and we're going to, if my panel has questions, we're going to move to the next panel. If not -- the thing that it was, integration. I think the one word --
-- that made sense. That's what I want to take a look at as we do these zones to figure out what the subtle right combination of solar, wind power, thermal and all of that working together in systems that can be mass produced.
But the point of it is, not to make that assertion and assumption citywide at first.
We're not only -- just one last sentence and then 178 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 I'll be quiet, I promise.
We not only provide custom solutions for multi-family units or things like this, but we're also looking to commercialize exactly the way you're describing, Councilman, so that we can mass produce and create the clean tech jobs that are connected with that. That's where we're going with our company.
Thank you, and keep doing what you're doing, because we're going to try to catch up with you by way of government. Thank you. Can the Clerk introduce the last panel.
We have Dennis Lee from American Cities; James White, the Policy Coordinator for Philadelphia Association of CDCs; Vanessa Brown, West Philadelphia Coalition; and Lindsey 179 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 Gilmour from --
We are going to ask this panel to condense and codify. Now, I'm going to say it again. Make short your testimony. So we can keep the written testimony on the record, but we want to get it in and be out by the next committee's hearings. Thank you all. Please come up and state your name for the record. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Thank you, and thank you for your patience. I appreciate -- we've gotten so much good testimony, and it's food for thought, but we want to make sure everybody gets on the record. Who is going first? Mr. Lee?
I guess I am. Good afternoon, and I will make my comments brief.
Your name again for the record. 180 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508
Good afternoon, Councilman Jones. Good afternoon, Councilman Greenlee. Good afternoon, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and to many friends, partners who are here with us today. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in today's hearing on sustainable development initiatives and strategies. My name is Dennis Lee, as I stated before, Director of Project NEAT, an environmental program of American Cities Foundation. American Cities Foundation through the Project NEAT --
Okay. -- (continued) focuses on educating the public about 181 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 environmental issues through the implementation of best management practices designed to revitalize and uplift Philadelphia communities. As a catalyst for addressing issues facing minorities, American Cities Foundation has created programs that combat those issues ranging from educational programs for youth, urban transportation issues and entrepreneurship to urban environmentalism, including environmental justice. I appreciate having this opportunity to comment about American Cities' contributions and its support for the City's sustainable developments and strategies. As a community advocate for over a decade, I've had the opportunity to be confronted firsthand with many issues from community residents about the need for more impactful revitalization and sustainable efforts in their communities. Since 1992, American Cities 182 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 Foundation has addressed this need. What differentiates American Cities Foundation from other community-based organizations is that we have actually developed a green workforce known as NEAT Team, comprised of residents who live in our inner city neighborhoods. These NEAT Teams are trained to implement physical improvement projects throughout communities in the Philadelphia region. These physical improvement projects include, but are not limited to, tree plantings, concrete cutting, rain barrel installations and debris removal. Through our outreach and survey efforts, we learned that residents were willing to incorporate some storm water best management practices in their communities in conjunction with other physical improvement projects being performed by Project NEAT. These green projects have now become the cornerstone for revitalizing communities. They have made a positive impact on the community 183 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 on so many levels. They have enhanced the physical appearance of these communities. They have encouraged residents to develop their own unique urban greening initiatives, and they have sparked an interest in the economic growth of the local business community. Like the Sustainable Business Network, ACF encourages communities to engage in the triple bottom line by creating community wealth through education and environmental responsibility. We've done this, and it works. ACF's promotion of environmental initiatives coincides with and strongly supports the objectives of the City of Philadelphia's sustainable development and strategies. With regards to creating green districts in the City of Philadelphia, we would like to suggest that neighborhoods that have demonstrated and encouraged greening initiatives, such as storm water management, green businesses, recycling, 184 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 green collar jobs, green building and educating the community on ways to increase their green footprint, should be given special incentives towards continuing these efforts. There is a need to continue to grow concept awareness in these communities. We have learned that in any community, one segment of the population will be quick to value the benefits and attributes of environmental initiatives. However, creating awareness among those who are not actively seeking knowledge and information in this area or are reticent to change behavior is vital to improving the urban environment. In the long run, this will allow such entities such as community groups, businesses and schools to spread the environmental message and expand their constituencies. It works. In our targeted areas, West, Southwest and North Philly, we have planted over a thousand trees with our partners. Trees enhance the physical 185 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 appearance of a neighborhood while reducing the amount of storm water runoff entering Philadelphia's combined sewer system.
In the areas where we have planted trees, the results are visible and remarkable. We would also like to suggest that according to this resolution, these areas are a great fit for being classified as green districts within the strategies presented in this resolution. Classifying them as designated zones would illustrate environmental measures that promote sustainability in our city. One important example of a community which could have benefited from being a green district is the West Parkside community, which welcomed the construction of the Park West Town Shopping Center to their neighborhood. This construction project has encouraged economic growth in the West Parkside community and transformed the neighborhood's appearance. What you may 186 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 not know is that the shopping center is a 341,000 square foot center that has a rain garden basin that captures 70 percent of the storm water runoff. Let me say that again. It has a 341,000 square foot center that has a rain garden basin that captures 70 percent of storm water runoff. American Cities Foundation through Project NEAT, along with other partners, was instrumental during the planning of the Park West Town Shopping Center in getting this project to incorporate a storm water management plan in its design. Today, this project has become an outstanding educational model to community residents and students for its green building designs and water conservation initiatives. The Business and Technology Center, which is adjacent to the Park West Town Center, has begun to incorporate green initiatives in their 321,000 square foot building. Building managers are recapturing water from one 187 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 of their roofs, and they have container gardens in the parking lots, and there are plans to develop one of the largest green roofs in the City. This process has been slow because of costs and lack of incentives, not because of lack of desire. Another project that American Cities Foundation helped cultivate in the Philadelphia area is the Triangle Park project, not in Overbrook, but in Wynnefield section of the City. This will involve transforming a triangular-shaped lot into a beautiful mini park, enhancing the beauty of the neighborhood as well as incorporating several storm water best management practices, such as a porous walking track, trees and flowers and solar lighting in the design. These are just two of the many demonstration projects in Philadelphia's inner city neighborhoods being carried out by American Cities Foundation. We 188 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 believe that any one of these neighborhoods could be considered a designated zone for sustainable development. There is an urgent need for an expansion of these demonstration projects. Therefore, there should be some special interest and incentives given to those residents and businesses that look to explore and implement environmental measures that promote sustainable change in our city. We suggest a few recommendations. The creation of residential green districts such as neighborhoods the American Cities Foundation, community development corporations and other organizations have already worked with. Identifying and targeting communities for energy conservation and weatherization initiatives. Areas where there is a high ratio of vacant, abandoned properties to occupancy would 189 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 be prime targets for energy conservation and weatherization initiatives, given the row house structure of most neighborhoods. Creating green business districts in commercial corridors and provide tax incentives and low-interest loans and even grants through the creation and capitalization of a green fund. These incentives would encourage neighborhood businesses to recycle, practice storm water management and weatherize their retail establishments.
American Cities Foundation strongly supports your efforts and this timely resolution. Thank you again for the opportunity to present our testimony and to further the environmental sustainability of neighborhoods in Philadelphia. I believe that was within four minutes.
I just 190 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 wanted to point out that we grew up in the same kind of neighborhood together and I always was afraid of you. That's why I didn't cut you off. So I just wanted to state that for the record. But in sincerity, I want to thank you and American Cities for all you have done, not just in West Philly but throughout the City. I don't think short of Johnny Appleseed there are more private citizens and non-profits that have planted more trees than you have in the recent months, and we appreciate that. The first I ever heard the concept of rainwater runoff, I heard it from you and American Cities. So we applaud what you do. We want to encourage you to be a part of that. What you guys in this panel particularly represent are the bottoms-up approach to what this green thing will be. Not from the federal government but from communities, and so we appreciate 191 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 what you do.
Who is next? I didn't grow up with you, so you're going to condense that.
Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is James White. I am the Policy Coordinator of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, PACDC. PACDC is a citywide association of 80 community development corporations and other organizations that have extensive experience working to revitalize neighborhoods and meeting the community development needs of local residents. We would like to applaud the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities and the Committee on the Environment for providing a public forum to discuss the proposed creation of designated areas in which demonstration projects, environmental tools and 192 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 sustainability strategies such as renewable energy, green building design and construction can be advanced. PACDC believes that there are many opportunities for green infrastructure practices to be applied to revitalize and enhance our neighborhoods and provide benefits to our residents, and look forward to the opportunity to work with Council and other stakeholders in the development of pilot programs and incentives to advance sustainable development in Philadelphia. I would like to focus my testimony on the need to build a green infrastructure in Philadelphia and connect it to the work of CDCs, such as transit-oriented development and green affordable housing development. Transit-oriented development, TOD, is growing in popularity, but often the focus of such projects is on the environmental benefits and the innovative design. In addition, we need to look at 193 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 how TOD can serve the needs of working families by expanding access to affordable housing and/or jobs for community residents and providing a better transit linkage for community residents to commute to job opportunities elsewhere. In many cities across the country, TOD projects stimulate new higher density, mixed-use real estate development. However, such projects do not maximize their potential to benefit the community if all of the housing is upscale and the jobs are polarized between well-paying professional positions and minimum-wage service jobs. In order to ensure that Philadelphians reap all the benefits of transit-oriented development, the City needs to put zoning and other measures in place to support appropriate TOD. For example, the City should link proposed TOD projects to the City's affordable housing goals and initiatives, emphasizing investments in designated 194 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 areas where private sector resources and public affordable housing funds can be maximized when combined with sustainable development initiatives. Furthermore, TOD projects should be developed as gateways to communities and designed to increase local access to goods, services and products in communities. Several CDCs are currently working on such TOD projects at rail stations in their neighborhoods, such the Asociacion Puertorriquenos en Marcha, the Enterprise Community CDC/Enterprise Heights Real Estate Development Company, and the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation. My other point that I want to focus on here, and I'll be brief, is green building. A number of our CDC members are currently undertaking green affordable housing development in Philadelphia. This summer PACDC convened a working group with some of these members and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council staff to examine 195 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 barriers and solutions to advancing green building in Philadelphia, specifically as it relates to affordable housing development. CDCs recognize the benefits of green building both to the future residents of these homes and the environment and are working to integrate these practices into their development.
However, they are grappling with the issue of how to pay for very real additional upfront costs of the green building given the limited public resources for affordable housing development and the difficulty in accessing private sector green funding. As a result, they must value engineer some green building features out to make more affordable developments financially feasible. The working group researched what other cities have done to foster green building, including the City of Chicago. In the late '90s, Chicago 196 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 adopted a number of green infrastructure practices to facilitate sustainable development and encourage smart growth. The City Administration led by example by implementing new construction standards for all public buildings. The City's Department of Planning and Environment developed green building initiatives such as green rooftops on municipal buildings, including City Hall, and sponsored pilot projects such as the Green Homes initiative. Green Homes for Chicago demonstrated how energy-efficient and environmentally friendly practices can be incorporated into affordable housing design and construction. In 2000, the City of Chicago's Departments of Environment and Housing held a competition to solicit green single-family home designs. The purpose of the competition was to generate the most creative and resourceful applications of existing green technology and simultaneously make it affordable. 197 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 These outstanding pilot programs paved the way for Chicago to become recognized as a model city and an international leader for sustainable development. Like Chicago, we believe we need to put a more supportive infrastructure in place if we want to significantly advance green building and sustainable development strategies here. The proposed creation of green zones and related incentives would provide Philadelphia with an opportunity to pilot such initiatives and help create the environment to advance green infrastructure practices locally. PACDC and Pennsylvania Environmental Council invite you to join us for a workshop and discussion that we are sponsoring on advancing green building in Philadelphia on Wednesday, November 12, 2008. And I have attached to my testimony a flyer for that. Also attached you will find a description of what APM is doing around green building 198 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 on Sheridan Street. They proposed affordable homes that are costing us, due to the constraint of public funding, about 300,000 a piece to develop, but will be sold, because they're affordable homes, through the Housing Trust Fund at between 150 and 175 thousand. But what we need and what we hope that the Committee moves forward in doing when they make these designated areas is to consider to link them to existing community development projects and to bolster and provide incentives for all of green development in the community. Thank you.
That was the sound of the next Chairman saying they're going to get me if I don't move this along. No. Thank you for your testimony, and I really did underscore, as Councilwoman Brown talks about, linking it to existing projects, linking 199 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 this zoning to affordable housing and making sure that also a third link would be to green job opportunities at the community level that aren't all high-end jobs. So I took that from your testimony, and we'll make sure that's a part of the record.
Good afternoon. Thank you so much for this opportunity to address the joint committees today. My name is Lindsey Gilmour. I'm a Founder and Co-Chair of Green Village Philadelphia, and Green Village is a coalition of local business owners, socially responsible investment specialists, sustainable design professionals and business development experts whose purpose is to create a vibrant model of sustainable urban renewal and revitalization, developing underutilized land adjacent to an economically sensitive residential area 200 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 in a neighborhood near Central Philadelphia. The heart of the Green Village strategy is the development of a green business marketplace built around public common spaces that will be a diverse community of sustainable local businesses, mission-aligned non-profits and mixed income residents. The Marketplace will incorporate green public open spaces, house an incubator and accelerator for clean technology, green retail and triple bottom-line businesses. It will foster and support urban farming initiatives, but, most important, it will cluster in one accessible destination the goods and services and jobs of a local green economy. Now, you've heard a lot about the kind of development that we want to create and the benefits that it will provide to the City and to the City residents, so I don't really need to go 201 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 into great detail. But I will just point out a few quick things. This kind of clustered urban business marketplace development will benefit the City in the following ways. Not exclusively these ways, but it will include public transit-oriented urban development that reduces the need for personal transportation and dependency on fossil fuels; living landscapes on, in and around buildings that significantly absorb storm water and reduce urban heat-island effects; easier access to locally produced goods and services, keeping wealth circulating in the communities that need it most; local jobs and equitable land ownership, preventing displacement of marginalized residents. We're very concerned about this kind of development not simply being the typical gentrification effect on a community -- having the typical gentrification effect, and a safer, healthier and more beautiful urban 202 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 environment that encourages people to feel more connected and responsible to their neighbors and to their environment. Right now in terms of location we are looking for a vacant site approximately one acre in size for the Marketplace. The plan is to build and/or rehabilitate several buildings surrounding a central public marketplace utilizing 75 percent of the total footprint, and percent of the 13 available footprint will be reserved as 14 open green space for the community. 15 Total building square footage 16 of the development will be approximately 17 127,000 square feet. The built space 18 will likely comprise three or four 19 floors, divided between commercial and 20 residential space, with retail businesses 21 occupying the first floor, other 22 commercial tenants occupying the second 23 floor and residential tenants on the 24 third and fourth floors. 25 At this time, we are looking at 203 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 several different neighborhoods, but Green Village Marketplace would ideally serve as a bridge between a high poverty zone and the affluent business and residential zones closer to Center City. Locating the Marketplace on or near commercial corridors that create the borders between these communities would ensure a sustaining customer base for the businesses, while providing economic development opportunities for workers, entrepreneurs and residents in the less affluent neighborhoods. And the particular point here is that it will be very difficult for this kind of marketplace to survive in a very poor neighborhood.
It needs to have access to more affluent -- a more affluent community and provide services and jobs and so on for the less affluent community. Examples of such bridge locations include South Kensington and its connection to Northern Liberties and 204 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 Fishtown, Francisville and its connection to Fairmount and the Art Museum district, and Mantua and its connection to the Powelton neighborhood. As you've heard today, in the long term this kind of development will decrease the financial burden on City government for public infrastructure and services, as well as the cost to City businesses and residents. A crucial goal of this project is to ensure affordability, and we're hoping that we can work with concerned members of City Council to explore ways to expedite this process. Now, I have more in my testimony on suggestions for how this could -- suggestions for ways that City Council could expedite the process specifically from a developer's point of view. You've heard today about ways that City Council could help residents incorporate green design into their existing homes. This will be how can 205 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 developers creating new developments and rehabilitating existing buildings and infrastructure cut down on their pre-development and development costs and reduce the cost of the total development so that we can make a more affordable -- create more affordable spaces for people. So I'm going to stop there, because I know we have very little time. The pictures that I added included with this testimony are simply illustrative. They're not specific to this project. Thank you so much for your time and attention, and please don't hesitate to contact me about the project.
I really think some of the illustrations, we have to figure a way technologically to make sure people out there that are watching and looking at these can see some of these --
I actually have a little travel drive with some really crazy-looking pyramid farms and all kinds 206 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 of things.
Okay. We're going to get to our final testimony, Ms. Brown from the West Philadelphia Coalition.
It started good morning, but now good afternoon, and I'll be very brief. Actually, I just want to say I'm looking forward to bridging a very strong relationship with our Councilmembers and especially my Councilwoman, Jannie Blackwell. And I'm here today to really speak from my heart about what I feel is happening in the community where I live as far as our engagement in sustainability and the whole green culture that's coming very 207 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 soon and very quickly. What I realize is that the people who live in my neighborhood that come from low-income communities bear the burden of the crisis. When the crisis hits -- or for many of us, it has already hit -- we have less options when it comes to paying our utility bills, repairing our homes. We don't have as many options as many other people do who are participating in a lot of the initiatives and the tax credits that are available right now to build the infrastructure of their home, to include solar panels, to do the geothermal, waterless tanks, all of the different improvements that are on the table right now. We have the least options to retrofit our homes. So it's important that we give a voice to those communities when we talk about this process. Often I see when I attend the conferences that we're very underrepresented in those venues, and as 208 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 we move forward and we talk about creating legislation, I hope that we would just think about how do we inspire those communities to not only participate, but some type of mandatory reforms that would level the playing field for those communities, because in the near future, I would like to see more of the folks that I represent being the presenters and coming up with these innovative ideas and technologies, and the only way we're going to do that is as we move forward, we put the incentives in there and make sure that we have minority participation, make sure that we have programs that inspire young people today to be a part of this process. I'm not going to sit here and take a lot of your time, because we will be working together for a long time on a lot of these initiatives, and just to know that this is where I'm coming from. I always want to make sure that we're inspiring the next generation to come up 209 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 and make sure that we're there. So I just want to say thank you so much for that opportunity.
Well, Ms. Brown, thank you for that testimony, and you were the only one who followed -- no. I won't say that. You also followed instruction. I don't know if it's a sexual orientation thing, but I'm just glad you did. But let me say this: I am encouraged by the possibility of you at the Harrisburg level taking this interest there, and it is only through state, federal and local synergy that public policy will have an ability to impact what's already going on around us. And if we learned anything from the testimony today, that things are happening around us, and sometimes it takes government a little longer to catch up to what the private sector and non-profit communities are doing, but what we don't want to be 210 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 is obstructionists. We want to figure out ways to get out of your way to help you along and to facilitate more resources, not less, but more resources so that you can continue your good works at the local level. So I look forward to working with you in the near future. Now, do my colleagues have any questions?
My only closing comment -- a couple of things. I want to first commend the Chairman of this Committee for the breadth and mix of panelists that came before us, number one. Number two, it is important to have those in the trenches, like some of you are, on the front line who are aware of the issue. Number three, you should know that I called for hearings on how we indeed educate consumers across the board on this new phenomena called green jobs 211 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 and the green economy. And then, lastly I will say, government can't do it alone. Government shouldn't do it alone. It's going to take all of us that have participated here today to reach to the constituencies that we represent and care about to share, pass on, educate, inform, enlighten and then let them know where the opportunities are around this. So we have to do our part, but CDCs have to do their part and non-profits have to do their part, the elected officials have to do their part, and the experts, the gurus on this issue, have to do their part as well. Government cannot do it alone. Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, I will follow your lead and be brief. I just second everything Councilwoman Brown said, and thank you for everything you did.
Well, with 212 10/28/08 - TRANS & ENVIRONMENT - RES. 080508 that, I again thank you. All of this will result in -- we will compile a report taking the salient points out of here, things we've learned, and also if there is an opportunity to propose a bill 7 that will create these green zones, it will be based on this testimony and shaping it and guiding it. So I want to thank you all for your contribution and your patience. This Committee will stand adjourned -- recessed. I'm sorry. I'm new. I'm still new. We're at recess. Thank you very much. (Joint Committees on Transportation and Public Utilities and the Environment adjourned at 1:30 p.m.) - - - 213 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on October 28, 2008, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)