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President's Agenda 2007: Moving Past the Choir
Doug Seiter, CRES 2007 Board President
January 2007
The Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES) is by most
standards a young organization, with its beginnings in the spring of
1996. I have been a member since 1998 and I have seen remarkable
growth in numbers and sophistication of what is primarily a
volunteer organization. The successes have been a result of the
passion of those volunteers and a committed membership, and the
extraordinary commitment and energy of our executive director.
As an organization, CRES has elevated its stature by
mobilizing support for such national success stories as the passing
of Amendment 37, and is now sought as a credible organization to
endorse numerous state and regional initiatives concerning a
sustainable energy future.
This coming year, CRES finds itself at the epicenter of
great opportunity. Amendment 37 has raised the awareness of Colorado
citizens. The solar PV industry is experiencing a boom in activity.
A new state government is in place with members whose top priorities
include tapping the renewable energy potential of Colorado. We find
ourselves in an excellent environment for progress and for building
an infrastructure that supports the vision of CRES.
Now is the time to take action, individually and by
leveraging the human resources of CRES. As board president, here are
some of the areas on which I would like to focus.
Keep Our Eyes on the Prize
Let’s stay focused on the goal of transforming Colorado’s energy mix
to take full advantage of where we live. We’ll do that by
collaboration and cooperation with like-minded organizations. It
will be important to contribute by good communication of our
activities in renewable energy education to those planning similar
events, and leverage the public presence of others to get the word
out on CRES.
CREC 2007
The Colorado Renewable Energy Conference will return to the
mountains this year after several years in urban centers. We already
have a good start to an excellent program. Get your hotel
reservations now in one of the prime summer vacation spots in the
country, and get ready for an energizing weekend June 7 to 10 in
Steamboat Springs. For details, see the CREC page on the CRES
website.
http://www.cres-energy.org/conference/
Stay Relevant
CRES has the great advantage of world-class expertise. With NREL in
Golden and a wealth of individuals and organizations in the state,
we have the resources to stay on the cutting edge. Amendment 37 was
a beginning, not an end. To the extent we can draw on the expertise
available to us in our membership, CRES will be the lead
organization in making sure that Amendment 37 propels Colorado
toward a renewable energy future. Our trade ally in this effort, the
Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, is critical to a
coordinated and comprehensive renewables strategy for the state.
Inclusion
The CRES Speakers Bureau is primed and ready to spread the word in
atypical venues. Each individual in the CRES membership has a circle
of influence that can be tapped to tout the benefits of a renewable
energy economy. Community organizations like the Rotary Club and
Lions Clubs have weekly or monthly meetings that can keep us busy
throughout the year, and the message of a sustainable world has
relevancy in every sector of the community. Faith based
organizations have increasingly picked up the pace of environmental
stewardship, and should be considered allies in the work we do
through CRES.
Developing relationships with the building industry is
critical to expanding the acceptance of renewables. There are
vehicles already in place for this to be pursued. CRES has had a
relationship with Built Green Colorado and the U.S. Green Building
Council and will be positioned as a primary resource for these
organizations with mutual benefits.
The global challenges are great, but so are the
opportunities. What CRES accomplishes in Colorado will be duplicated
elsewhere, and what we do as individual members of CRES will be
leveraged by the collective energy of a dynamic and relevant
organization. Let’s move beyond the choir and get to it. |
