2007 Potomac Conference Outcomes
Conference Outcomes:
At the end of October 2007, two hundred plus of the Washington region’s leading business, government, and civic executives assembled at the Greater Washington Board of Trade’s 2007 Potomac Conference to address “Green” as a Competitive Advantage: Advancing a Regional Leadership Agenda for the Environment. The Conference advanced the notion of opportunities associated with the environmental agenda, including energy efficiency, new technologies, alternative sources of power and more.
The full day event began with morning briefings by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and DC Mayor Adrian Fenty who noted the strengths and weaknesses of the region in relation to “green” and spoke of why the region should act in collaboration rather than in competition to achieve more. The day continued with panel presentations on green finance, real estate and energy. Initial findings from the Greater Washington Green Benchmarks were presented before lunch, where the keynote speaker was Andrew Winston, co-author of Green to Gold.
After lunch the afternoon was dedicated to a thought-leaders panel and facilitated discussions to identify and vote on draft priorities for a Regional Leadership Action Agenda. At the end of the day, Conference attendees selected four priorities to be considered by the Board of Trade and participating organizations:
- To raise awareness about the region’s green assets & practices through research, education campaigns and best practices; and
- To create business incentives for sustainable activities like tax breaks for companies that adopt green practices and expedited permitting;
- To set a regional greenhouse gas reduction target;
- To support regional plans for transit-oriented development and alternative transportation.
Next Steps:
The Board of Trade will establish a new Regional Committee on Green Advantages (“Green Committee”). Subject to review by the Board of Trade leadership and development of an overall mission statement activities of the committee will include:
- Completing and advancing a Regional Leadership Action Agenda.
- Developing Board of Trade policy on issues of regional sustainability.
- Serving as a forum to engage government officials and NGOs in developing and advancing legislative initiatives consistent with the Regional Action Agenda.
An organizational meeting of the Green Committee will be targeted for late November or early December.
Please contact Bob Grow, Director, Government Relations, Greater Washington Board of Trade for further information at 202-857-5935.
