Daniel,

I have had two and a half years experience as the founder and chairperson of the Warminster Township Energy Advisory Committee (EnAC) for a second class Pennsylvania township (pop. about 33,000). We worked as a volunteer sub-committee to the township's (volunteer) Long Range Planning & Finance Committee (FLRP).

I accepted the invitation because I cut my teeth on our local Earth Charter's Energy and Climate Working Group. I had just finished studying Natural Capitalism, and had met Paul Hawkin at a previous Earth Charter summit. The working group was very cooperative in getting the project accepted and provided credibility and local expertise to my efforts.

I also had begun to make my own home very energy efficient and had a fair appreciation for what it took to do that.

I was first struck by how much of the work in small municipalities is done by volunteers. I also noticed how much time it took to organize and run a committee. It was like a second job.

We used Rocky Mountain Institute's Community Energy Workbook as our strategic plan. The ACEEE Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings (8th Ed.) was our text for homeowners. We used the local chapter of the United States Green Building Council as a resource for comercial structures.

I was not surprised at how little the township officials new about energy efficiency and sustainability. For them, Peak Oil was a new phrase (and new concept). Educating the committee and key officials was our first task. We used specially edited versions of End of Suburbia and the video presentation of Natural Capitalism as our foundation.

There were a few key people (a department chairwoman and a senior volunteer with the FLRP) who had either approached me to pitch the concept or mentored me through the labrinth of getting things accomplished in township government.

What grabbed their imaginations was the potential for substantial cost-savings by using energy efficient devices and strategies. I sold the project as a matter of fiscal responsibility.

The stumbling blocks were a bias against the trigger words "green" and "environmental". When I heard them, I quickly learned to correct them by saying I was concerned only with sustainability and fiscal responsibility. Later on I ran into some ego and turf-protection barriers.

I guess you could say that is what worked and didn't work, too. I was surprised at how attentive and responsive peope were when I introduced myself as the Chairprson of the EnAC. The title opened a lot of doors. It was helpful to be able to switch gears quickly when the original focus on a new community park lost steam through a lack of financing. It was helpful to create a very professional presence at our annual community fair. It helped and hurt to do public education programs at local churches and a large regional library. The success of these events, and the media attention they generated caused the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors to publicly state (in front of me) that I made him nervous.

Eventually, the project was sabotaged from within... on the eve of two stunning practical successes that would have made our committee the darling of the township.

I can provide more on request.

Larry Menkes
215.328.9128 home
267.992.8020 cell
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
(m. gandhi)