Report: "Navigating the New Realities of the North Shore"Environmental Issues
Sustainability — Greenhouse gases, skyrocketing oil prices, and the resulting air and water pollution are as much opportunities as they are problems: our region has many of the skills needed to address these issues in ways that will benefit both the earth and the economy.
- Focus on attracting and building “sustainable” industries in the region: alternative energy, green building materials, etc.
- Support and take advantage of the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative and the Great Lakes Restoration effort as an opportunity to both re-brand and re-create the region as a center for the development of “green” technologies and brownfield redevelopment
- Pursue alternative energy forms including fuel cells, solar, wind power that will make us less dependent upon fossil fuels and help create “green collar” jobs to replace the “blue collar” jobs the region has lost
- Encourage large power consumers in Northeast Ohio to adopt fuel cell and other “green” power pilot projects
- Identify and connect “power industry” manufacturers to develop an open source network of innovation that can lead to new products.
- Develop “green collar” workforce that specializes in retrofitting existing facilities to be more energy efficient and makes products that encourage use of alternative fuels
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