Councilmember Elahu Gosney gave a presentation about energy efficiency at the Athens Town Hall meeting on Monday evening.
Athens residents could see positive changes for the city’s long term energy efficiency plans, as discussed at Monday evening’s Athens Town Hall meeting.
I attended this event, as I have other town hall meetings, and was pleasantly surprised by the preparation, planning and thought that went into improving energy efficiency in Athens.
Several guests presented about energy efficiency in the area and what they were planning on doing in the future. The most interesting may have been Councilmember Elahu Gosney’s work with solar initiatives in Athens.
Gosney presented ideas for using solar energy in the area that could help with energy costs, reduce green house gas emissions and create green jobs. Many people are looking to Athens to set an example for the rest of the state so that they can replicate the plan, Gosney said.
“What we do in Athens could spread across the state or even farther,” Gosney said. “We have a lot of ideas in the works and they are evolving, but we still have a long way to go.”
Other Presenters included Sierra Club members, Greg Kremer and Dana Carlson; Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel’s Andrew Tinkham; Ohio University’s Office of Sustainability’s Mike Gebeke; Rural Action Energy Committee member, Scott Miller; and AEP representative Sherry Hubbard.
I think what became evident through this town hall meeting is that Athens residents truly care about adapting to help the environment and are willing to respond to energy challenges in the area.
Attendees came prepared with questions and concerns about how specific presenters could help them out or improve upon their ideas. Presenters had ten minutes to communicate their energy ideas followed by a six-minute question and answer session. Anyone could comment or ask questions for 20 minutes after everyone had presented.
The question and answer sessions brought up good points and instigated debate. Former Ohio University Engineering professor, Chuch Overby, had a passionate speech leading up to a question to Gebeke about the university and its standards. Overby’s comments brought applause from the audience; however, Gebeke chose not to answer his question at that time.
Athens should be commended for working with community and state leaders to rehash energy efficiency ideas–something I am sure many communities may not hold as a high priority. Community input helps make residents feel like they are not being left out of the loop and can give some of their own ideas–another benefit of the town hall atmosphere.
I am anxious to see how many of these ideas come to fruition and how much community members will be involved.
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