Energy and Economy

Recently, Dr. Andrew Hoffman (the Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan) addressed Michigan lawmakers on the business of climate change. He talked about how corporations are working to capture the market share of the green movement, adjusting their business models to be a part of the market shift towards new technologies that incorporate pieces of the “green” movement, and ultimately preparing for what is sure to be some regulation on carbon coming from the federal government. Corporations must prepare for this – because of the cost, because of the market shift to new technologies and because if they don’t, they won’t survive.

Ultimately though, when it comes to putting a cost on carbon and what that means for our manufacturing base, our environment and our way of life – who is sitting at the table when those decisions are made matters the most. Not only are they the ones making the decisions but they are also deciding who sits at that table. What voices will be heard and what will be considered when it comes to protecting our environment from dangerous global warming pollution but also creating jobs and putting our skilled manufacturing base back to work? Tackling the issue of carbon is going to take many players – players that care about the water we drink, the air we breathe, the jobs we have, and the jobs we need.

So, who we elect really does matter. This week the Michigan environmental community celebrated one of our leaders – Lana Pollack, the former President of the Michigan Environmental Council. Lana was honored by her peers for her commitment and passion to protecting Michigan’s environment for the 12 years that she served as the leader of MEC and for her years as a State Senator. One of the things she said when accepting the award was that we are not to blame government anymore. Government is a true representation of the people and therefore accountable to the people. We need good leaders, leaders with a vision and a commitment to seeing that vision realized. We have the power to find those leaders and elect them to office.

To find out how your elected officials are voting on the issue of carbon in Congress – visit http://www.lcv.org.

To read more of Dr. Hoffman’s work and ideas, visit his guest blog for the week of April 27 – May 1 here.