Stamford Green Drinks Speech, Stamford Marriott & Spa (10/28)

My thanks to Daphne Dixon for inviting me to speak briefly this evening, and to everyone here for their continuing support of Stamford Green Drinks. My name is Rolf Maurer, and as you know, I am running for Mayor as the Green Party candidate.

In keeping with today's dramatic economic and environmental changes, I'm interested in pursuing a more adaptable direction for Stamford by supporting a more vigorous local economic base and a sustainable infrastructure that, together, can stimulate an authentic sense of place and participation for city residents.

Some key facets toward this end would encompass increased pedestrian- and bike-friendly transportation options that would inspire more human-scale social interaction, the conversion of vacant spaces throughout town into community gardens that would offset the expense and pollution associated with far-traveled supermarket produce, the establishment of "destination" retail space in the Stamford Town Center exclusively for local businesses, as well as the introduction of a local currency to cushion further financial shocks.

Part and parcel of stimulating economic autonomy is the embracing of new technologies and business opportunities in keeping with the emerging green economy.

By redirecting city funds currently allocated for redundant privately-contracted services, like park and school facilities maintenance, as well as water treatment--all of which can be performed directly by the city, such monies can, instead, help support homegrown businesses related to sales, distribution, manufacture and installation of consumer and commercial energy-saving devices, ranging from as-needed tankless water heaters to residential micro-hydro power.

The Connecticut Green Energy Fund offers a variety of incentive programs to encourage homeowners to switch to alternative power, as well as a free tour of how residents around the state have already succeeded in going partially, or completely, off the grid.

In line with Woodstock's success in converting its school district to renewables, part of Stamford's 20 Percent By 2010 program, introduced by Dannel Malloy, commits the city to fitting one school with solar panels for every 100 homeowners who go solar, as well.

On the corporate side, the city can introduce the basic mandate that at least 10 percent of a given building's electricity must come from solar power. Other measures would include an ordinance against overnight lighting practices (unless for reasons of aesthetics, security, etc.) and a procedure to verify the effectiveness of LEED standards beyond the initial certification process. According to New York-based building engineer Henry Gifford, too often corporations attain a Gold or Silver rating following the adoption of some cosmetic fix, then go back to business as usual--a notorious example being an office tower with solar panels installed under a broad awning, hampering its ability to supply electricity to the building. In fact, in many cases, retrofitting new buildings with older building techniques is cheaper and gets better results than something more novel.

Beyond advocating regulation reforms, inspiring a greater commitment to corporate green compliance rests on challenging conventional wisdom that going green of necessity means a sacrifice to profits. Environmental consultant Gill Friend advocates adopting a nature-inspired corporate culture that can actually result in greater profits in many cases. The Florida-based author of The Truth About Green Business cites examples of how the average waste-to-product ratio of 96:4 can be shifted more favorably by turning what is conventionally considered waste into an additional revenue stream.

Probably the one aspect of industrial society's environmental challenges posing the biggest impact is, of course, transportation.

Depending on what partnership can emerge and how much money can be provided through the Federal Transit Authority, I would support completion of the Urban Transitway corridor linking the South End and the Transportation Center, at least to Bull's Head. While there is understandable controversy regarding the considerable expense for the proposed trolley system running along this route, in the long run, it would be a better investment than relying on buses, alone, because light rail offers fewer petroleum inputs to operate than buses or cars--which depend on oil not just for fuel, but for the production of tires and even asphalt.

Up front, buses should certainly run more frequently and offer additional routes to link pre-existing parallel ones. Jitney service can help round out the mix, so that, over time, people can enjoy a variety of mutually-supportive mass transit options, so that they have something to fall back on if one mode is unavailable--a situation familiar to seniors and disabled who need transport to the hair dresser or a doctor.

Which is why reinstatement of a Stamford Dial-a-Ride service is also vital, as drivers for the current Norwalk-based county-wide service are not always well-versed in Stamford's layout, resulting in frustrating delays.

Both the Urban Transitway and the Mill River Project feature accommodations for pedestrians and bicylclists, potentially heralding a time when these more passive means of getting around can share space equally with cars.

Besides installing residential sidewalks built to the standard of Bedford Street's, adding bike lanes along streets and beside Merritt Parkway, Bicycle-as-Vehicle education for adults and children, alike, can help reduce the tension between drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians, so that each party is no longer wary of the unpredictable behavior of the other.

One option doesn't even require the purchase of a bike, at all: Boston has introduced European-style bicycle rental kiosks for the commuter and budget tourist sets. With the swipe of a card, you can take a bike from the train station to a business or retail core, returning it to another kiosk for the next person's use at your destination.

Stamford can emulate Greenwich's safe route master plan for students to walk or bicycle to their schools by instituting traffic calming measures in the relevant vicinities, while the conversion of high school student parking lots to parks or community gardens can help supplant early-onset dependence on car culture with an appreciation of sustainable local agriculture.

All of these new options offer the prospect of greater downtown commerce, as people would be less burdened by finding a place to park their cars--a phenomenon observed in the Bloor Street retail district of Toronto, where a recent CNN.com story revealed the majority of business was generated by pedestrian and bicycling customers.

But car enthusiasts needn't feel left out in this evolving landscape. Around the time when electric, steam and petroleum vehicles shared the road, Stamford was once home to its own nameplate in the form of the "Stam-mobile".

A new support infrastructure for the conversion of conventional cars to run on electric, regionally-specific biomass, or other power plants, can resurrect such enterprise and engineering variety, today.

By having the city buy off-the-shelf conversion kits in bulk and selling them to interested drivers at cost, shutdown gas stations around town could be repurposed as conversion facilities, providing a new service outlet for the automotive aftermarket in the area.

The need for training of student and professional mechanics in these new specialties, as well as students in other green vocational areas, perhaps with the input of MXenergy, or other alternative energy investment firms, can be used to pressure the state board of education to re-open Wright Technical School.

In combination with the respective agricultural and green technology initiatives of Dolan Middle and Rogers Magnet Schools, Stamford can potentially situate itself to chart a more resilient, sustainable economy in the face of the financial, climate and resource access challenges of the years to come.

I hope my proposals have proved interesting, and thank you for your interest. If you would like to discuss anything in further detail, I would be happy to speak with you indvidually.

Thanks very much.