Are green jobs in your future? Most economists say emphatically yes! Our economy will recover, but it will be fundamentally different. Now is the time to look forward and realize that change brings opportunities! Many of these opportunities will be explained and explored at the 2009 Wisconsin Renewable Energy Summit (WRES) from Wednesday through Friday, March 25-27, at the Midwest Airlines Center. We can all be proud that Milwaukee Area Technical College is the host of this great event!
More than 200 presenters will examine the many facets of the growing green economy. The overall theme is “Green Business – Unlimited Economic Opportunity.” Everyone is invited to attend the summit and sample the multiple keynote, breakout and poster sessions, as well as more than 50 booths in the exhibit hall. You will find an exciting marketplace of innovative initiatives, career ideas and future employment possibilities. All students may register free of charge at any time. (Go to renewableenergysummit.org.)
The conference agenda comprises 19 principal topic areas, including green career pathways. Among the many fields of future employment represented are: bio-industries, green business technologies and practices, energy efficiency and conservation, energy management, green transportation, solar electric energy, solar thermal and geothermal energy, sustainable practices, water technologies and wind energy.
The summit boasts a truly extraordinary lineup of presenters. Take Dr. James Hansen, for example. He will deliver a keynote address titled “Climate Threat to the Planet: Implications for Energy Policy and Intergenerational Justice” at noon Wednesday, March 25. When I had the honor of introducing Dr. Hansen last October at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Houston, I pronounced with pride: “James Hansen is at once a brilliant scientist, a humanitarian, and a courageous leader. He is an outstanding role model for us all. Yes, he is my hero. But far more broadly, he is a hero for all the world.”
How fortunate we at MATC are to have the privilege of hosting this Nobel-prize caliber individual and of introducing him to Wisconsin, to Milwaukee, and to our own Renewable Energy Summit! This will probably be the only chance you will ever have to see Jim Hansen. Don’t miss it!
The importance of this landmark conference is reflected by the quality of speakers who have committed to it. From government at the national level, Senator Herb Kohl is serving as Honorary Co-Chair of the Summit; our own Congresswoman Gwen Moore will be there; Congressman David Obey of Wisconsin, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, will be there; Governor Jim Doyle will be there; and Mayor Tom Barrett will be there.
From the business world, the CEOs of many corporations will be there. Key representatives of our sponsoring partners will be there, including, the Wisconsin Technical College System Foundation, Focus on Energy, Johnson Controls, We Energies, Orion Energy Systems, the Wisconsin Technical College System, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, The American Society for Quality, Marquette University and many, many others.
But the most important participant is you! Register now at http://renewable energysummit.org/!
