Inland Empire to Push California's Green Economy Inland Empire News
_6/12/2008

 CORONA, Calif. – Climate change and a shift in the global marketplace have prompted California to reassess its role as a lead economic engine for the nation.

Forecasts on Global Warming and our cooling economy are making it clear that the future of this state – and of the nation – lies in clean, green technologies that will enable people to reduce their carbon footprint, cut back on energy use and our dependence on fossil and carbon-based fuels, and harness the natural and boundless availability of sun and wind to power our homes, businesses and vehicles.

"We are going to have to be far more aggressive in dealing with the adaptation to climate change," California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi proclaimed at the recent Green Valley Summit held May 1-4 at the Ontario Convention Center.

Challenges and Opportunities

Garamendi said current planning in Sacramento calls for a minimum of a 16-inch rise in the Pacific Ocean due to the melting of the solar ice caps from Global Warming. "That dramatically alters the California water system and almost everything that is along the coast of California," Garamendi said. The solution, he added, will be very expensive, but must include a rational energy program that quickly moves the U.S. away from carbon-based fuels. It's a solution that will bring about a new way of thinking, a new way of doing business and a new, green economy for the region.

Garamendi was one of several state and national experts to speak at the summit, hosted by the Green Institute for Village Empowerment and its Green Valley Initiative – www.greenvalleynow.org – an economic development program that will translate the world's growing concern for the environment into new opportunities to bring green jobs, renewable energies and sustainable technologies to Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Financing and Economic Growth

Famed economist Doug Henton, considered the mastermind behind the Silicon Valley phenomenon of the 1990s, said the Inland Empire will play a pivotal role in shaping California's emerging green economy.

The key target areas for both counties lie in their current strengths: the construction industry and manufacturing, warehousing and shipping, he said. Henton has been commissioned by the Green Valley Initiative to complete an analysis of the region and to chart a road map to help bring the Green Valley vision to fruition.

The Green Valley Summit included positive forecasts from the experts about investment capital and the availability of funding for green technology, manufacturing and R&D.

"The flows of capital into the green sector are extraordinary and accelerating," said California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who spoke during the second day of the three-day summit.

California is committed to pursing alternative forms of energy, he said, through initiatives such as the million solar roofs program, a commitment to reduce overall greenhouse emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and requirements that utilities expand on their use of renewable fuels.

Venture and investment capital is not only targeting green industry start-ups, but more mature companies that are ready to take off, Lockyer said. "Just in the last dozen years," he said, "the amount of investment in green space in California has grown 40 times."

Marc Gottschalk, a partner and specialist in environmental investment for Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, headed a panel discussion on funding opportunities for green tech in the region.

Green Valley Initiative

Other prominent speakers included Rachelle Chong, commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission, who praised the Inland Empire for its forward-thinking vision. Among some of the major advancements locally for solar power, is an application by Southern California Edison to install more than 2 square miles of solar panels on warehouse rooftops in Fontana – the million solar roofs program – she said.

Both she and Garamendi said the success of alternative energies and sustainable technologies will depend largely on government subsidies and tax credits.

"Keep in mind that the oil industry has had significant tax credits, tax reductions, direct subsidies and indirect subsidies for more than a century," Garamendi said, "and they have done very well at this point." He encouraged people to lobby their legislators and policymakers to support the promotion of green fuels and technologies.

Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge, a longtime supporter of the Green Valley movement, said the time to act is now. "This is no longer a time of attending conferences," he said. "It is absolutely imperative that we act now."

Garamendi praised the Inland Empire for the action taken so far on the Green Valley Initiative.

"I'm excited with what you are doing here," he said. "It's important. This needs to be replicated throughout California and throughout the rest of the nation."

About the Green Valley Initiative

The Green Valley Initiative is an unprecedented regional economic development plan focused on creating jobs by bringing green technologies, renewable energy, alternative transportation and sustainable lifestyles to the Inland Empire. Sponsored by the Green Institute for Village Empowerment, www.giveforthefuture.org, (GIVE), GVI has brought together more than 500 stakeholders from government, utilities, school districts, businesses, universities, cultural and environmental groups and the community at large to chart a path for a better future.