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FEBRUARY 10, 2009 - SPECIAL EDITION
RCGA Launches "St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project" - Linking Regional Economic Growth with Regional Environmental Sustainability
More than 40 members of the RCGA Energy and Environment Council, met on January 21st to start the RCGA's "St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project", a new initiative to unite the region's economic competitiveness with sustainability. St. Louis was chosen by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund as one of seven pilot regions to participate in this national initiative as a new framework for economic development.
The RCGA Board has identified Regional Environmental Sustainability and the Climate Prosperity Project as one of four strategic initiatives on which to focus civic efforts in the next several years.
RCGA President and CEO Dick Fleming is a Panel Member for the National Climate Prosperity Project, funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The Climate Prosperity Project is focused on promoting energy independence, preventing adverse climate change and protecting the environment by advancing the ideas that innovation, efficiency, conservation in the use and reuse of resources are the best ways to increase jobs, incomes, productivity and competitiveness of a region. The three pillars of the Project are "green savings, green opportunities and green talent".
To kick-off the Project, the RCGA engaged four students from the MIT Sloan School of Management's Leadership Laboratory for three weeks in January, under the direction of world-renowned management consultant Peter Senge, author of the best-selling management books The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together To Create A Sustainable World and The Fifth Discipline. His students brought his teachings in system thinking and organizational collaboration to the St. Louis project. As part of their residency in St. Louis, the MIT students, Rafael deCardenas, Matthew Gehrmann, Jimmy Leppert and Reed MacMillan, researched other region's sustainability efforts, surveyed young and talented professionals, and interviewed St. Louis business and environmental leaders to develop the workplan for the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project.
The students reported their findings at the January 21st meeting of the RCGA Energy and Environment Council, chaired by Steve Poplawski of Bryan Cave LLP. They also facilitated the members' discussion to stimulate interest and collaboration between RCGA members. The dynamic meeting yielded new ideas for St. Louis businesses and organizations to work together on air quality, energy, green buildings, transit and community education. The group talked about ways to better promote sustainability initiatives occurring in the region and to share best practices. The Council also heard an update from Daniel Jay of Christner, Inc., on Sustainable St. Louis' plans to work with the RCGA and with local governments on their environmental initiatives.
RCGA leaders will be joining other leaders from the seven Rockefeller Pilot Communities in San Jose for a 3-day interchange on each region's initiative, as well as participating in the roll out of the San Jose Climate Prosperity Greenprint with 1,000 Silicon Valley business, environmental, and civic leaders on February 19th to 21st.
The RCGA Energy and Environment Council will continue to develop measurable objectives for the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project in their upcoming meetings. To participate in these discussions, please contact Eric Schneider at (314) 444-1148 or eschneider@stlrcga.org.
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| MIT Sloan School of Management student Jimmy Leppert leads the group discussion the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project. |
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| RCGA Energy and Environment Council members begin discussion on sustainability initiatives for the region. |
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| Daniel Jay, Managing Principal and CFO of Christner Inc, reports on the activities of Sustainable St. Louis. |
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| The RCGA thanks the MIT Sloan School of Management students for their work for 3 weeks in January at the RCGA on the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project (clockwise from left): Reed MacMillan from Alexandria, VA, Jimmy Leppert from Richmond, VA, Matthew Gehrmann from New York, NY and Rafael deCardenas from Sevilla, Spain. |
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| UPCOMING ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS
February 20th: Carbon Footprint 101 with Ken Hagg, Vice President Environmental Services, URS Corporation, and Melissa Hart, Senior Manager, ENVIRON International Corporation. They will explain why calculating your company's carbon footprint is important, mitigating measures to reduce greenhouse gases, and regulatory reporting requirements. Their presentation will be from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the offices of Armstrong Teasdale on the 26th Floor of One Metropolitan Square (211 N. Broadway) in downtown St. Louis. This meeting is part of the RCGA Air Committee's activities and to reserve your seat contact Eric Schneider at eschneider@stlrcga.org or (314) 444-1148.
April 3rd: Brownfields Marketplace, a one-stop event bringing together St. Louis region's developers with brownfield property owners to initiate deals, establish connections and exchange information about brownfields. Held at the J.C. Penny Center at the University of Missouri St. Louis from 7:30 a.m. to noon and sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Brownfield Voluntary Clean-Up Program. This event is organized by the RCGA Brownfield Committee, East-West Gateway Council of Governments, Saint Louis University and University of Missouri St. Louis. To register for this free event click here or contact Eric Schneider at eschneider@stlrcga.org or (314) 444-1148.
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The RCGAdvocate is published periodically to inform RCGA members and government officials about important public policy matters at the state, federal and local levels. It seeks to provide timely, in-depth coverage on regional issues, and, at times, to call RCGA members to action. We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Richard C.D. Fleming ~ President & CEO ~ (314) 444-1100 ~ dfleming@stlrcga.org
Chip Casteel ~ Senior V.P. of Public Policy ~ (314) 444-1107 ~ ccasteel@stlrcga.org
Susan Stauder ~ V.P. of Infrastructure & Public Policy ~ (314) 444-1155 ~ sstauder@stlrcga.org
Eric Schneider ~ Senior Director of Public Policy Research ~ (314) 444-1148 ~ eschneider@stlrcga.org
Kevin Riggs ~ Director of Illinois Government Affairs ~ (314) 444-1108 ~ kriggs@stlrcga.org
Christine Snively ~ Project Manager ~ (314) 444-1144 ~ csnively@stlrcga.org
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