Guest blogger Leslie Webb attended the 'energy summit' Wednesday at the Central Branch of the Indianapolis Marion County Library.

Here's her report.

Despite a one business-day notice, there were about 100 people in attendance, mostly in business suits. I was surprised to learn it was an "official" House Republican Conference event.  For those of us eager for comprehensive energy legislation that promotes green jobs and clean energy and meets the climate challenge, Rep. Mike Pence's (R-Ind.) Energy Summit was largely a waste of time. Some people referred to it as "dog and pony show," while others decided to leave early when they realized there would be no opportunity to ask questions. In effect, Pence brought the Washington bubble to Indianapolis.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had thought there would be the opportunity to ask questions of the Representatives. Instead, Rep. Pence, and his esteemed colleagues Reps. Buyer and Burton of Indiana, plus Reps. Latta and Upton from Michigan and Ohio (respectively) gave prepared statements, complete with visual aids, and then four expert witnesses (one from the Coal Technology Research organization at Purdue, one from the Richmond Power and Light, an engineer from Metal Technologies, a large consumer of electricity with their foundry operations, and clearly a professional Cap and Trade antagonist). After their statements, there was time for questions. Then a small break before Gov. Daniels turned up, gave a statement and answered questions.

In general, I was struck by the tone of fear: the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill will have DIRE consequences for the states of Indiana, Ohio and Michigan (these are the top three states to be impacted because of their dependence on coal), threatening the future prosperity of these states. If electric rates go up, manufacturing jobs will flee.

I have news for these fellows: manufacturing jobs have already fled these states. Pence used the phrase "economic war on the Midwest by liberals" at least three times. Many statements of Obama or Congressmen were taken out of context to illustrate the point that this is a TAX and will have no impact on global temperature. Other slides were presented to show that Europe's program is a dismal failure and they are desperate for us to make the same mistakes. The economic impact on families was estimated to be $3-4K or $750-$1K, depending on whose paper you looked at.

This week is CeBIT week in Hannover, Germany.

CeBIT  (Centrum der Büro- und Informationstechnik; German for "Centre of Office and Information technology") is the world's largest computer expo. Started last year, it also includes an exhibit area called green IT, since in recent years there are overwhelming interest, motivation, and incentive for the IT industries to become more sustainable, even as part of the solutions to a more sustainable lifestyle. 

This year, green IT world puts the spotlight on business models proven to be economically successful and environmentally sound

It's that time of the year again!

Earth Hour 2009 is coming up. Even though I really think we should do it once a month at least.

Last year, my family and I turned out all the lights and electronics in the house. Kids took adventure of the last 30 minutes of sunlight to play soccer in the backyard with their dad, while I went around tidy up my garden a little bit to get ready for spring. After it got dark, we each held a candle in a used yogurt container (it was windy), and took a walk around the block. Then we came back home, sat around the candle light and told ghost stories until it's time for the kids to go to bed.