The day long discussion was tempered by the magnitude, severity and complexity of designing, engineering and building communities that are ready for the future. Karen Weigert, Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Chicago, put the challenge the way Mayor Mayor Rahm Emanuel does, "you can't build a 21st century city on a 20th century infrastructure."
The good news, says Roger Duncan from the University of Texas' Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, is that "we are finally moving beyond energy systems developed in 18th and 19th century, toward decentralized fuel diversity." Still, he cautions, retrofitting communities for the 21st century is not for the timid. It is "not going to be easy, fast or cheap to balance interests and win consensus," says Duncan, "because the future brings unprecedented complexity."
CleanTECH CEO Jim Waring thinks communities can work through the complexity if leaders approach it the right way. "The fact that we have common problems means we can work toward common solutions," says Waring, "Reaching political consensus is pragmatic not idealogical issue."
Core to a pragmatic approach is making sure the public has a voice in the discussion, and creating a place to play for others who can help build the future. Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman chairs the Energy Committee in the House. She says it would be a mistake to overlook cities in their role as an entrepreneurially oriented energy provider. Likewise, Erin O'Connell-Diaz, a former member of the Illinois Commerce Commission, says communities should take more full advantage of public utility districts because they can be laboratories for designing essential services like energy and water.
For his part, Waring says CleanTECH "begins with assumption of no government funding and challenge the private sector to pay for new initiatives." John Kelly, Executive Director of the Perfect Power Institute, says pragmatic policy makers recognize the "need to give utilities a cut of the action as their business models shift in order to attract fresh investment and justify shutting down old facilities."
Many of the delegates talked of the generational implication of solving problems and doing the hard work now. Florida State Representative Alan Williams said simply, "I'm here so my kids don't have to be." Mayor Lisa Wong of Fitchburg, MA, noted that the delegates were speaking for those who were not in the room, "If we are going to talk about future structure, we need to talk about future kids." Their hope floats change.
