'Good Jobs, Green Jobs' conference will feature Ecology Center presenters

Ecology Center staff members are playing key roles in leading workshops and convening panels at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Midwest Conference to be held in Detroit May 10-11.

The annual meeting, this year being hosted in Detroit and 3 other cities around the country, is designed to bring together individuals and organizations to talk about ways to build a green economy that creates good jobs, reduces global warming and preserves America's environmental and economic security. To register to attend the conference see http://www.greenjobsconference.org/. Students and volunteers can receive a discount on the conference fee.

The two-day meeting will include more than 40 workshops and speakers including Rep. Hansen Clarke, United Auto Workers president Bob King, and Sierra Club president Michael Brune. 

Ecology Center policy specialist Monica Patel and Rebecca Meuninck, environmental health campaign director for the Ecology Center and Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health, will be panelists in a discussion of collaborations among advocacy organizations and businesses that are working for safer chemicals and safer products, a long-standing policy initiative of the Ecology Center.

Ecology Center board member Bena Burda, founder and owner of Clean Clothes, Inc. and Maggie's Organics, and Ecology Center supporters Steve Berry, founder of Greenblendz and Lyne Apple Downing, vice president of operations for ecoSTORE USA, will also be on the panel, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. May 11.

“Advocacy organizations in Michigan and across the country are increasingly collaborating with progressive businesses to foster the development of greener chemicals and safer products,” Meuninck said. “Our panel will present examples of advocacy organizations and green businesses working together to drive the market towards greener materials and product development.”

Charles Griffith, climate and energy program director at the Ecology Center will participate in a panel titled “Building the Electric Vehicle Industry Through Manufacturing, Infrastructure, and Incentive Policies” at 3:30 p.m. May 11.

“Electric vehicles are offering one important way to reduce emissions and our dependence on oil as well as increase domestic job opportunities,” Griffith said. “Vehicle electrification is a key automotive innovation and one that we have a lead on here in Michigan. There have already been thousands of new domestic jobs created in the emerging electric vehicle and parts manufacturing sector, as well as other EV-related jobs in electrical work, smart grid technology, electric charging station manufacturing and technology.”

Other panelists include representatives from industry, government agencies, environmental groups and labor organizations.