February 18, 2010 / pittsburghsec

Rustbelt Renewal townhall forum

The Rustbelt Renewal town hall forum kicked off Wednesday night without a hiccup. More than fifty environmentally conscious people were in attendance to hear four panelists answer questions about climate legislation and a green economy. The Four panelists were Congressman Mike Doyle, Patrick McMahon from Amalgamated Transit Union, Constantine Samaras from Carnegie Mellon University, and Bob Wallis from Penn State University. Each panelist started with opening remarks regarding their views on a green economy.
These remarks included thoughts about the clean energy and security act, promoting jobs and economic growth, use of public transit and alternative fuels helping to reduce dependence on foreign oil, as well as cleaning up the air, how industry plays a large role in energy efficiency, and biomass and biofuels.
Following the opening remarks, the moderators read several questions previously prepared by students online for the panel to answer. The panelists answered the questions to the best of their ability. Some points the panel touched on were the importance of educating the mass, changing the normal mind set to be more conscious of energy use, and whether global climate change is happening or not, creating green jobs and a green economy will only make our economy more efficient. When the floor finally opened to take questions from the audience many people stood to ask their questions and though not everyone got to ask their question during the forum, the panelists graciously stayed afterward to speak with those people.
Much thanks to all the panelists who came, the audience who attended, and the leaders who planned the event. Below are several more pictures taken at the forum.