Green People - Bill Nowak
About once a week I intend to publish a quick profile of people involved in the local green movement. I ask greenies to answer questions and post the answers, more or less in their words.
If you have a suggestion for someone to profile, please send me an e-mail, with contact information.
Our inaugural "Green People" is Bill Nowak, one of the most active and knowledgeable folks in the local movement.
Here goes.
Involvement: Executive Director of Buffalo's Green Gold Development Corporation - a 501(c)3 set up to support businesses whose products and services solve environmental problems. Also Communication Committee Chair of the Wind Action Group.
Suggested green strategy for the region: Green Gold is organizing green businesses, but we need the folks with the resources - local governments, development agencies and educational institutions - to strongly and formally embrace the Green Economy as WNY's key to the future and to devote major energy to supporting this sector. We also need to create a green ladder to allow folks to climb out of poverty through green collar jobs.
Nifty idea: Starting May 15th, Green Gold is starting a series the third Thursday of the month called "Green Business Communicates." Each session will include short introductions of all businesses in attendance, and short presentations by two businesses, a public official and a local environemtnal organization
Regional assets to build on: We have an exceptional set of assets for attracting a wind turbine manuafacturer and pulling local businesses and industries into the supply chain for renewable manufacturing. The assets can be easily remembered using the acronym WET SOIL - the perfect medium for planting a seed.
Winds build up over flat surfaces, and none are flatter than large water bodies such as Lake Erie. The local wind resource is commercial scale in many locations as documented in NYSERDA’s shoreline wind study. Local wind resources can be found here.
Example - Steelwinds is North America’s largest urban wind farm.Obstacles to overcome: Fear of change.
Transportation could be key to attracting a turbine or tower manufacturer– Rail, Ship, Highway. WNY is a prime location on the Great Lakes and is within 500 miles 41 peercent of the US population and 62 percent of Canada’s.
Soil - Large tracts of open land exist where the wind blows hardest.
Offshore wind holds enormous potential. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes.
Incentives – 24 percent of New York state's electricity will be from renewables by 2013. The Northeast Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will provide further incentives to produce green energy.
Labor – WNY has an underutilized skilled, labor force.
Tip for living green: Bicycling to work is fast, cheap and invigorating. Yoga rocks!
Recommended green book: Plan B - Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble by Lester Brown.
Recommended Web sites: Climate Crisis Coalition and Van Jones on the Colbert Report.
