The Regional Assembly Edition

Spotlight on the Region: Regional Assembly Edition
by Robert Freudenberg, Regional Assembly 2008 Coordinator, RPA

A shift is underway. Whether it's at the local level with New York's City Council giving the green light to congestion pricing, or at the national level with presidential candidates promising new "green collar" jobs to revitalize the economy, citizens, businesses, civic organizations and elected officials are grasping the significance of global climate change and the need to do something about it. 

At RPA's 18th Annual Regional Assembly "Oil & Water: Adapting to Scarcity," experts in the fields of transportation, open space, workforce and community design will describe what a sustainable and economically competitive future might look like for the tri-state region, and indeed for the nation. This year's Assembly will be held on Friday, April 18th at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City and will feature keynote speeches by leading regional and national elected officials who will detail their proposals to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels while protecting precious natural resources. 

New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine will deliver the Assembly's morning keynote on how his state is moving towards a more sustainable future. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin will lead a plenary of mayors who will discuss their efforts to address the impacts of climate change on local resources. And the luncheon program will feature an address by Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, who will lay out her vision for a national infrastructure investment plan and its importance to the region. Speaker Pelosi will be introduced by Earl Blumenauer, the visionary Congressman from Portland, Oregon, who is the leading light on planning and sustainability in the federal government.

At the heart of each year's Assembly is the chance for participants to directly interact with some of the nation's most innovative experts and practitioners during the breakout workshop panels. These panels are designed to cover a range of topics related to the Assembly's theme. This year's Community Design panel will examine design solutions that reduce the ecological footprint of our communities. The Open Space panel will evaluate the successes and shortcomings of regional landscape protection. The Workforce panel will identify opportunities for emerging "green collar" jobs and a green economy in our region. And finally, two panels will be dedicated to Transportation: one focused on the regional level - evaluating some of the recent policy proposals to develop new funding streams for transit by charging cars traveling into Manhattan or raising tolls on regional highways - and the other focused on the national level - examining the importance of moving away from a policy of thousands of earmarks for bridges to nowhere to a strategic blueprint for national growth.

Opportunities to protect our regional resources, while building a new economy less reliant on resources from outside of the region, are abundant and we must explore them. We hope you will join us at the Waldorf=Astoria on April 18th to hear from notable experts and share your experiences as we attempt to tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time. 

For more information or to order tickets, visit www.rpa.org/ra2008 or call (212) 253-2727 x 324.