Baltimore, the city made infamous by the Wire, has started on the path toward a new energy economy -- Green Baltimore -- it is a path that will become the norm for urban America; and which may be its savior.
A standing-room-only crowd attended, demonstrating the vast interest in Baltimore going green. Audience members asked about green jobs, greening abandoned and dilapidated homes, rebuilding communities and creating new industry.
The commission understands the significant economic impact of a green Baltimore. Its six working groups, which cover all aspects of urban life, will consider the economic opportunities in what they promise will be a “premier sustainability plan.”
Clean Tech, which monitors financing of the new economy, reports that investment in solar will grow from an $11.2 billion industry in 2005 to $51.1 billion by 2015. Investment in four clean-energy technologies (solar, wind, hydrogen and biofuels) is projected to increase from $40 billion in 2005 to $167 billion within the coming decade. Private philanthropy is already investing more than $10 billion annually on climate change.
In 2007 the federal government’s Green Jobs Act authorized $125 million for an initial pilot project for green jobs. More was added this year, and the fund will grow to billions annually in the future. Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain both agree millions of green jobs are needed to respond to climate change.
Most green jobs will be created in the building and trades industries — retrofitting old buildings with products to make them efficient, installing solar panels to create electricity or putting in geothermal for heating and cooling. Similarly, new buildings will be built green, needing green workers to accomplish the task.
If the city commits to going green, there will also be opportunities for new economy entrepreneurs. A host of small businesses will meet the needs of green building. With tens of thousands of homes installing solar energy, a solar manufacturing plant in Baltimore would have a consumer base and could become the solar supplier for all of the East Coast. And the rooftops of industrial buildings could become solar power sites, providing clean energy and reducing the cost of electricity.
Baltimore’s schools can develop research programs for urban greening to help Baltimore, but also provide information for other cities. Schools can also develop training programs for green builders and tradesmen. Johns Hopkins University announced a sustainability initiative last summer.
Critical to a green Baltimore is transit. This begins with building livable and walkable communities. A walking street for pedestrians and bikers will get people out of their cars and could connect the waterfront to uptown areas. The city can encourage car co-ops and electric vehicles. And Baltimore’s mass transit will need to be on a faster track.
The transit plan needs to connect Baltimore to the region. The environment does not know artificial boundaries. A Bullet Train with speeds up to 150 mph or a Maglev Train, which goes up to 250 mph, would be a rapid connection between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and perhaps Columbia and BWI too. Not only would that reduce congestion and pollution on the highways, but it would make Baltimore a desirable living location for D.C. workers — especially with its less-expensive housing and new green environment.
Last November, the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore reported Baltimore is part of an emerging knowledge-based economy that ranks among the most prosperous regions in the country. Among the nation’s top metropolitan areas, metro Baltimore ranked first in income growth between 2000 and 2005, with a 24.1 percent increase. The new energy economy is a natural fit with the knowledge-based economy.
A green Baltimore will turn the urban blight of tens of thousands of abandoned homes and businesses into energy-efficient and energy-producing communities. It takes the underemployed person power of the city and creates green jobs that cannot be sent overseas. It reaps investment in the new energy economy to make Baltimore a more livable, cleaner and economically vibrant city.
To get involved, visit cleaner cleanergreenerbaltimore.org.
Kevin Zeese and Linda Schade are directors of the Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean Politics in Baltimore (freshaircleanpolitics.net).
Source: The Baltimore Examiner http://www.examiner.com/a-1443186~Kevin_Zeese_and_Linda_Schade__Let_s_build_a_green_Baltimore.html
Envisioning Baltimore's Greener Future By Kevin Zeese and Linda Schade - June 2, 2008
Baltimore's thousands of abandoned homes are a blight - but also an opportunity to create neighborhoods full of green buildings that are efficient and produce solar or geothermal energy. The city's abandoned industries are a sign of decay - or a source of rooftops that could be turned into massive solar energy producers and retrofitted into green manufacturing.
Is it time for Baltimore to "go green" in a big way? The Baltimore Sustainability Commission thinks so, and it's not alone. The commission's first public meeting was held last week with a standing room only crowd.
Baltimore may be on the path to putting in place a green plan that will not only create a more healthy and livable city but may be the best opportunity for Baltimore to create a new economy that can ameliorate its chronic urban problems.
Deindustrialization hit Baltimore especially hard. But in recent years the city has been bouncing back. A November report by the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore found that Baltimore is part of an emerging knowledge-based economy that ranks among the most prosperous regions in the country.
Now Baltimore is on the verge of developing a premier sustainability initiative that could put it on the cutting edge of the new green economy of the 21st century. And it may be just in time. Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain agree on the need to create the green jobs that will be necessary to adjust to climate change. For the first time, a federal bill was passed funding a green jobs initiative.
Private investors are ahead of the government in investing in the new energy economy. Investment in green industry is now more than $117 billion and rapidly growing. Four clean-energy technologies (solar, wind, hydrogen and biofuels) are projected to increase fourfold from $40 billion in 2005 to $167 billion within the coming decade. Investment in green initiatives is also gaining ground in philanthropy as well as at colleges, including the Johns Hopkins University.
If the Sustainability Commission produces a cutting-edge plan, Baltimore will attract green investment and put in place a new economy that could reverse the downward cycles of previous decades. The commission is also seeking to have people, businesses, philanthropic communities and other institutions involved in the process. Anyone who wants to participate in the working groups is welcome. This open, transparent process is the right approach, as it is going to take all of Baltimore to create this new economy.
Baltimore is known as a gritty, crime-ridden city. If it can transform into a green, livable city it will demonstrate that all cities can do so. Some of Baltimore's most challenging urban problems become advantages in a green economy, as the examples above show.
Green Baltimore will create jobs at all levels: researchers and academics at universities, officers and workers in green industry, trainers and tradesman developing green housing. The potential before us to lift up people and communities is vast and unmatched since the Industrial Revolution, when Baltimore became a leading manufacturing city.
Many cities and states are trying to become green leaders because they see the economic and lifestyle opportunities. Baltimore, if it is going to lead in this area, needs to demonstrate its intent in a serious fashion. Last week, the Baltimore Sustainability Commission took the first steps to doing so.
Linda Schade and Kevin Zeese are directors of the Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean Politics (www.freshaircleanpolitics.net).
Source: The Baltimore Sun http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.say02jun02,0,1753544.story
Kevin Zeese is co-chair of Come Home America, www.ComeHomeAmerica.US which seeks to end U.S. militarism and empire. He is also co-director of Its Our Economy, www.ItsOurEconomy.US which seeks to democratize the economy and give people greater control over their economic lives and more influence over the direction of the economy.