Organizing for America | Inland Empire Green Economy: California's Inland Empire as the Center for Green Innovation

California's Inland Empire as the Center for Green Innovation

By Jonathan Abraham - Dec 19th, 2008 at 11:19 pm EST

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Tags: air pollution, energy independence, Environment, Green Economy, inland empire, innovation, Job creation, Renewable Energy, research and development, solar energy

A letter I wrote to the Obama transition team, advocating the idea of
the inland empire as a center for green innovation to power our
economic recovery.

Dear transition team member,

I live in Redlands, California. We in Redlands are part of the
metropolitan statistical area known as the Inland Empire. This region
as a whole, including the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside have
been severely impacted by the housing crisis, and have unemployment
figures much higher than the national average. The core of the local
economy used to be a Kaiser steel mill, and air force bases, Norton AFB
and March AFB. Unemployment today in the area is 10 percent, and 1 in
8 homes is in foreclosure. These numbers are even higher in city
centers in San Bernardino and Riverside. The numbers are based on a
study released this week by the office of Senator Barbara Boxer.

Our region (the inland empire) is a dusty, smoggy part of the state
which has until now drawn in sprawling residential developments and
corporate goods distribution hubs. We consequently have few industries
that create jobs, and a disproportionate health impact from
containerized traffic flowing on our roadways and railways.

With the depth of the economic crisis here, I see an opportunity to
make the Inland southern California region a poster child for a
dramatic renewal along the lines of a green economic renewal. There
are opportunities to demonstrate dramatic reversals in our current
environmentally unfriendly economic structure. The opportunity is to
demonstrate that even the most polluting industries like railways,
container transportation on trucks, and housing sprawl can be
re-engineered to make a measurable reversal of global warming, and
reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

There are several educational research centers that could become the
focal points of economic activity in the region. Each of these schools
has unique strengths that would lead to a cluster based approach
towards green industry. The California coastal economy has been
powered by investments in education technology. Where silicon valley
is the center for computer innovation and San Diego is a biotechnology
powerhouse, the Inland Empire has the framework educationally in place
to become the green energy research center of the country. This would
also promote the goal of equity of educational access to an extremely
diverse population that reflects the future of America.

The University of California's Riverside Campus has a technology
program called the Center for Environmental Research and Technology.
Their strengths are in electric vehicle research and biomass
conversion technology.

The California Polytechnic Institute at Pomona has advanced research
in regenerative environmental processes, among other fields of study
in environmental studies.

The University of Redlands (my alma mater) has a Center for
Environmental Management (CEM) which has strengths in GIS
(geographical information systems) and other environmental modeling
technologies. Redlands is also the world headquarters for ESRI (where
I work) which is the world leader in geospatial engineering and
conservation technology.

Loma Linda University (just minutes from Redlands and San Bernardino)
has a world renowned program in cancer research and medical gene
therapy. It also has a strong research program in environmental
studies that does work in solar energy research.

Cal State San Bernardino has a program in their business department
called ACT (commercialization of technology). The award winning MBA in
entrepreneurship is focused towards the green economy.

With the educational resources outlined above, it is very feasible
that within the correct regional framework, support could be given to
articulate the vision for an economic renewal for the Inland Empire
based on substantial investments in education and research at these
institutes, and also in all other levels of school to provide a
qualified workforce for the green economy.

Initiatives are already underway in the region with local elected
officials working with non-profits like the Green Valley Initiative to
document the strategic plan for the green economy of the region's
future. In the east valley, a draft proposal by the mayor of Redlands
details the possible ways in which Redlands can contribute towards a
green renewal.

What I see as the biggest opportunity is the social aspect of the
green transformation. Investments in research and human capital in the
inland empire would be the start of a process towards achieving
equality of economic and educational opportunity for all residents in
California. The inequality between the coastal counties and the inland
region is exhibited in terms of jobs, education opportunities and
quality of life. The universities in the region mentioned before have
large populations of minority students. Making the inland empire the
testbed and the center for this green economy will be a visible way of
showing that opportunity for advancement and education is for all
Americans.

From a public relations standpoint, using inland southern california
as a test case for the green renewal will mean highlighting renewable
energy sources that have already been developed, such as geothermal
energy at the Salton Sea, solar energy farms, windmill farms near Palm
Springs.

We have many of the oldest buildings in southern California which
would provide arresting visual examples of how retrofitting older
buildings can achieve significant reductions in electricity and gas
consumption, reducing the carbon footprint of the area.

The project to demonstrate green technologies in transportation could
be applied to container traffic and rail transit that takes 40% of the
nation's imports through the LA-Long Beach port complex. Also with the
commuter travel patterns in the inland empire, greening of the
consumer vehicle fleet would be another technology that would make an
immediate visual impact to the rest of the country.

In the recent "Change is Coming" house meetings last weekend in
Redlands and San Bernardino, a large number of attendees put the green
economy and sustainable development right on top of their list of
priorities for how they would like to see change in the country. The
president-elect's idea of the green economic renewal to produce jobs
and also reduce our dependence on foreign oil is very well received
here, and local supporters stand ready to work with local officials
and our representatives in congress to implement this agenda for
change in our community.

Jonathan Abraham

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