Town Hall Meeting

Green Means Go In This Economic Recession

Congressman Bobby Scott spoke to the City of Richmond in a Town Hall Meeting about the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

By Laura Peters petersle@vcu.edu

Tuesday night marked a momentous occasion for the American citizens. Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide clean energy and green jobs to the people of America.

Tuesday night’s Town Hall Meeting held at the Adult Career Development Center at 119 W. Leigh St. with Congressman Bobby Scott was to bring awareness to the people of Virginia that there are new opportunities that await. Offering new jobs, tax cuts, investments in roads, bridges, mass transit and much more.

“A lot of jobs are created through investment in green jobs, most of which cannot be outsourced,” said Scott. “So we’re optimistic.”

J.R. Tolbert, an advocate for Environment Virginia, a citizen-based environmental advocacy organization, said that this was only one of the three town hall meetings being held in Virginia this week. Another meeting will be held in Fairfax.

“The goal is to let people know the environmental benefits of the green recovery package, as well as the job opportunities that can be created through investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and mass transit options,” said Tolbert.

“When I watched the president talk today and sign that, tears came to my eyes,” said Karl Bren, part of Green Visions Consulting, a green organization that helps corporations with events and planning. “We’ve been needing this for a long time. The world changed today. And it’s got to change.”

The new bill passed Tuesday is to create and save 3.5 million jobs and give 95 percent of American taxpayers an immediate tax cut.

The bill will also help will the school system, according to Scott. The school’s K-12 will get a significant amount of money directly through the school system as well as Colleges will get an extra $500 bonus to their bell grants, said Scott. School construction is also a major part of the stimulus in the bill.

Michael Schewel, Chair of the Corporate Department at McGuire Woods, a legal practice and former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade said that to have green jobs, they have to make money. He also noted that going green is expensive.

According to Glen Besa, the Director of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmental organization, there many sources in this bill to help invest in those green alternatives.

“There’s a tremendous amount of money in there and programs in there directed at green jobs,” said Besa. “I think that’s important for a lot of reasons. One….is the issue of climate change. We need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

“Experts have announced that in this decade, the 2000s carbon emissions worldwide have been increasing at a rate of 3.5 percent a year,” said Dr. Thad Williamson, an assistant professor of leadership studies at the University of Richmond. “Which is a rapid increase from what happened in the 90s, which was at an increase of only 1 percent.”

Bill Kuster, a volunteer for the Democratic Campaign said that he is excited about the new credits that are going to be given with the bill.

“I’m a new homeowner so I’m interested in windows credit, tank-less water heater credit and a lot of things like that,” said Kuster. “You know there are guys that have been dying to install windows in my house, and I’m kind of glad I waited till this year because this year there’s a tax credit.”

With the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, education will be invested in, science and technology will transform the economy, and workers hurt by the recession will be helped.

The new bill passed Tuesday is to create and save 3.5 million jobs and give 95 percent of American workers an immediate tax cut.

The bill will also help will the school system according to Scott. The school’s K-12 will get a significant amount of money directly through the school system as well as Colleges will get an extra $500 bonus to their bell grants said Scott. School construction is also a major part of the stimulus in the bill.

Michael Schewel, Chair of the Corporate Department at McGuire Woods and former Secretary of Commerce and Trade said that to have green jobs, they have to make money. He also noted that going green is expensive.

According to Glen Besa, the Director of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, there is a lot of money in this bill to help invest in those green alternatives.

“There’s a tremendous amount of money in there and programs in there directed at Green Jobs,” said Besa. “I think that’s important for a lot of reasons. One….is the issue of climate change. We need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

“Experts have announced that in this decade, the 2000s carbon emissions worldwide have been increasing at a rate of 3.5 percent a year,” said Dr. Thad Williamson, an Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. “Which is a rapid increase from what happened in the 90s, which was at an increase of only 1 percent.”

Bill Kuster, a volunteer for the Democratic Campaign said that he is excited about the new credits that are going to be given with the bill.

“I’m a new homeowner so I’m interested in windows credit, tank-less water heater credit and a lot of things like that,” said Kuster. “You know there are guys that have been dying to install windows in my house and I’m kind of glad I waited till this year because this year there’s a tax credit.”

With the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, education will be invested in, science and technology will transform the economy, and workers hurt by the recession will be helped.