Happy Holidays! Santa recently visited the Metro Regional Center during a fundraiser.

Greetings Friends,

I recently was awarded an Urban & Regional Policy fellowship by the German Marshall Fund of the United States. The fellowship allowed me to travel to Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Birmingham, U.K., and Bologna, Italy. In each city I interviewed leaders in business, government, academia and non-governmental organizations.

My goal was to learn why there is strong support for addressing climate change in Europe when there seems to be so much resistance in the United States. Four key messages were widely cited by the leaders I met for why they are involved:

1. Economic opportunity. There is money to be made – and saved – by investing in energy conservation and renewable energy. These investments also create jobs in-country, a key issue where there have been massive declines in manufacturing employment.
2. Increasing demand. Demand for clean energy is growing worldwide. Countries that are first and best in the market will reap significant economic rewards.
3. National security. Much of Europe’s energy is subject to market volatility and political intrigue. Russia’s punitive shutting off of Ukraine’s gas supply in the winter of 2009 is a strong argument for investing in energy independence.
4. Climate change. The increased potential for droughts, floods, disease, extreme weather and other challenges are motivating innovations and investments to protect our past investments in roads, bridges, and buildings while also making economies and cities more efficient and sustainable.

Finally, the leaders I talked with stressed that success in achieving economic, social and environmental sustainability depends upon cross-sector collaboration that is intentional, outcome-oriented and willing to challenge existing models of business and governance.

During the next several months I will be sharing what I learned with leaders in the business and sustainability arena in our region to see which ideas we can move forward.

I invite you to take a look at the report I wrote summarizing my findings at my website. I’m also spreading the word by doing informal presentations. My first will be a brown bag lunch seminar here at Metro at noon on Thursday, January 5th.

Please email me at rex.burkholder@oregonmetro.gov or call me at 503-797-1546 if you want to get in touch.