GARY | Community groups and businesses around Northwest Indiana shared their plans Tuesday night about green efforts around the region can spur economic development.
About 50 people at Indiana University Northwest heard about a business creating solar-powered attic fans and unions helping their members get green technology training and lobbying for climate change legislation. All three efforts are happening in Northwest Indiana.
Community organizer Nina Klooster said she hoped the "Growing Green Jobs in Northwest Indiana" could spur other summits involving environmental and labor groups, business leaders and political leaders. Klooster said the goal is to give people information on jobs, training and green and alternative energy products.
"We're a group of concerned citizens on the environment (and) we feel that jobs will be created by this," Klooster said.
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, said climate change is real and he is working to make sure a solution can create jobs locally and protect domestic manufacturing. He said manufacturing jobs are green jobs and manufacturers are reducing carbon emissions
But, Visclosky said he voted against the climate change legislation that passed the House on Friday. He said it was a good bill and it had potential to create jobs, but there wasn't enough protection for domestic manufacturers against importers.
"You can't eviscerate what's left of manufacturing in the U.S.," Visclosky said. "In my perspective, there's a gap that needed to be closed."
United Steelworkers District 7 spokeswoman Robin Rich said it's important to keep jobs in the United States so that other countries aren't doing work under more lax environmental standards and poor worker conditions.
Rich said that wind turbines are great because they are sources of renewable energy and use American workers to construct them. But she said 50 percent of the wind turbine components are made overseas and the components for ones heading to the Meadow Lake Wind Farm in White and Benton counties arrived at the Port of Indiana Burns Harbor earlier this month from Europe. Windmills use hundreds of tons of steel.
"We could make that steel and the vast majority of solar parts are made overseas," Rich said.
Bill Keith, owner of St. John-based SunRise Solar, said he's proud that his business operates in Indiana and buys raw goods for his solar-powered attic fans and manufactures the fans in the state. Keith said his business has grown from $40,000 in sales in 2003 to $4 million in sales last year.
Attendees commended Keith for having a "green" business and were encouraged that this type of business can be created in the region.
Jane Hopkins, director of community services for Northwest Indiana Community Action Corp., encouraged people to apply for a program that helps them become certified to perform home weatherization work. Weatherization can help save energy costs during summer and winter months and the organization provides information on how people can register to do refrigerator replacements, attic, wall and foundation insulation and air filtration testing.
