BB: It’s been a few years now, but some people might not know you used to be chair of the Community Leadership program here at Aquinas.

GH: That’s right. I helped in the program for about six years. I was the program’s first director, and I taught in the major.
BB: What is the state of green jobs in Grand Rapids, and where are they headed?

GH: I just got back from Rochester, New York last week, and I was on a speaking assignment comparing our two cities. Rochester, like Grand Rapids, was a major manufacturing center. They had Kodak and Xerox and both of those companies have basically closed up and left town now. Just like in our city all of our tool and dye manufacturers have left town and Steelcase, which was once our biggest employer, is not today. Almost all of the manufacturing jobs have left Michigan for the southern states, but especially for China and Mexico.

GH: We’re two cities struggling to find ourselves, but Grand Rapids is, I would say, reinventing itself as an economy based around sustainability and around life sciences. (Last week I was at) the Life Sciences Expo at GRCC field house and 15 new companies involved in manufacturing for the life sciences field – medical parts and emerging technologies—were there.

GH: The same thing is happening in sustainability. A few weeks ago we announced a Spanish company is moving to Grand Rapids and opening an office here. They work in wind energy. They are one of the two largest wind companies in Spain and this will be their first U.S. location in Grand Rapids developing wind power and that means there will be wind turbine manufacturers and there will be jobs at the level of engineers and design and at the level of manufacturing.

GH: When I compare to Rochester, New York, I think we’re five years ahead in this process of reinventing ourselves, and I feel pretty good about that. I think the potential and the new jobs that are being created in research, design and development in renewable energy and production will be really important for our future.

BB: Will stimulus money fund green projects and what types of projects will these be?

GH: It will (fund green projects) and we’re already planning for that. For example, we’ve got, in the first year, $1.9 million for the energy efficiency block grant program so the city has an extra $1.9 million to spend on energy efficiency projects and we’re trying to decide how to spend that. Do we use it for retrofitting City Hall and other municipal buildings? Or can we be more creative than that? Can we use it to stimulate new production and new jobs in the renewable energy field? Our inclination is the latter that we really think that there’s potential here to use these dollars.

GH: This is year one and we’ll continue to get that funding in succeeding years that we can use to stimulate a renewable energy economy here in Grand Rapids. Another example is we got $6.9 million for home retrofitting for low income households to retrofit them for energy efficiency. We’ll be in the process of training people for an energy audit and retrofitting these properties to make them more energy efficient.

BB: How else does Grand Rapids work with State and Federal government to fight the recession and also, whether together or separately, engage in green initiatives?

GH: Well, Grand Rapids has really set out on a path of sustainability. You know, we’re the first, and one of two, U.S. cities designated by the United Nations as a Regional Center of Expertise in Sustainability. It’s a passion of mine, and we’re beginning to rebuild an entire economy around sustainability. We’re working with the Obama administration on energy projects right now, on public transportation projects and all things I think fit into the concept of sustainability.

BB: Why was Grand Rapids able to catch onto the sustainability movement and make it part of their identity?

GH: What’s kind of intriguing is to look back at the history of LEED development in this country. The whole idea of green building started here in Zeeland with the Herman Miller company and the Hayworth company. They started doing their own work on their own buildings to make them sustainable and green. Then they said, “If it works here, why shouldn’t it work everywhere?”

GH: They started the process that launched the U.S. Green Building Council. The USGBC then developed LEED standards. This was about 15 years ago, and our area was already seen as an incubator for green initiatives.

GH: When I came to office in 2004, I brought a passion for environmental things with me, and we just started chipping away at some of these programs. We get 20 percent of our municipal energy from renewables and I’ve set a goal of 100 percent by 2020. All of the vehicles in our fleet from police cars to garbage trucks run on alternative fuel. We’ve been involved in a 15 year process of cleaning the Grand River and making sure that those waters are pristine again. It’s sort of become part of the culture of Grand Rapids, and I am delighted with that.

BB: What would be one of your dream visions for a green initiative?

GH: Wow. Well, I’ve already set a goal for us to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2020, and we’re the only city that’s been that aggressive. I haven’t heard of anybody in the country that thinks they can get to 100 percent. People say I’m crazy, but I absolutely believe with the technologies we have today and the new technologies we’ll have between now and 2020 that it will be possible for municipal government to be free of alliance from fossil fuel power, but business will be there as well as colleges and universities. The thing I’d love to leave as a legacy as mayor, if I could speak that way, is to move from dirty coal-burning power to clean renewables using the wind and the sun and the water.

BB: Speaking of dirty coal, students around Michigan have been working to help fight the eight proposed coal-fired power plants for our state. For students who want to keep getting involved in the green movement, what would you suggest they do?

GH: Not only for students but for all of us, it starts with our own way of life and making the changes in how we live, whether it’s with the kinds of cars we drive or whether it’s public transportation, whether we buy green energy and how we choose to live in the world. Beyond that there are phenomenal opportunities for students to be involved in political advocacy at the federal, state and local levels.

GH: For example, I know there were a lot of student groups that were actively involved in getting a renewable energy portfolio for Michigan. After three years of fighting in the legislature for that, we finally got an RPS last year. It’s kind of a tepid one. It’s not very strong. It’s not as good as we wanted, but it’s a start. We take that, we go from there and continue to advocate.

GH: The Sierra Club has a lawsuit against the City of Holland to try to stop (the expansion of) their plant and there’s every reason for students and others to be supportive of Sierra Club’s efforts when they call for letters to legislators. We should be responding. They’ve had some rallies in Holland and they turned out a lot of people. I’d love to see a bus full of Aquinas students going down to Holland to protest. It’s an important issue.

BB: The Class of 2009 keeps hearing about how this will be one of the most difficult times for a student to graduate in decades. For lack of prettier terminology, why would a graduating senior want to stay here in Grand Rapids?

GH: First, I’d be less than honest if I didn’t admit that Michigan’s economy is in the toilet. It’s a terrible economy right now, but when you look around the state, Grand Rapids is the one city that is really thriving right now. Ann Arbor is doing well right now too, but Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor are the only two cities that are really thriving in Michigan today.

GH: I think that’s because we’ve made this commitment and investment in sustainability. It’s because we have philanthropists like Peter Wege who are behind it and are putting significant money into making this a sustainable community for decades to come. My word to students today who are getting ready to graduate is “don’t despair.” There are opportunities in Grand Rapids. We’ve already seen signs that this local economy is reviving and starting to heat up, especially for students in the sustainable business field. I think this is a great time to be in the area and to be graduating. It’s going to take some digging. It’s going to take some persistence. It might even take some time, but it’s a good place to be.

BB: Despite being urban, Grand Rapids is not an area devoid of green spaces and is certainly near some extremely important natural features for Michigan. Governor Granholm has indicated that rectifying the budget will include cutting some funding directed towards natural resources management and preservation. How can a recession put environmental initiatives at risk?

GH: In the budget right now, the state has to solve for a deficit of $750 million. That means, next year, 2010, they’ll be solving for deficits near $1.7 to $1.9 billion. The state is in rough shape right now and environmental programs have already suffered. Funding to cities has suffered and I’m really concerned.

GH: I hope that the legislature can get up the courage to restructure the taxes in Michigan so we can get a fair tax program that can support these emerging sustainable businesses and will support environmental improvements like wetland protection because we just don’t have the revenues today to do it. The answer is Michigan is in trouble and if we don’t find ways to raise the revenue through new taxation, we’re going to continue to struggle.