Home / Branding, Cycling, Reno+Tahoe / Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson to Keynote 2008 City of Reno Green Summit; props to Jason Geddes!

Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson to Keynote 2008 City of Reno Green Summit; props to Jason Geddes!

The City of Reno 2008 Green Summit is scheduled for September 20. I’m stoked that Rocky Anderson is speaking. As many of you know, Twelve Horses has a significant and growing presence in Salt Lake City and because of that I’ve spent a lot of time in the SLC vicinity over the last two years. With every day I spend in Salt Lake City, I become more and more impressed with the accomplishments of that city and the business community. Reno can definitely learn from their success. Rocky Anderson had a lot to do with that success.

I’ve spent about two weeks there over this summer. Between the Utah Transit Authority’s rail system, my bike and some creative carpooling I didn’t have to drive to one meeting, or even to our offices in Draper. It was like living in San Francisco yet surrounded by mountains and ski resorts. Every time I hang out in downtown catching great music shows (like Lucero and Langhorne Slim) I can’t help but think that Reno is but 20 years behind in size yet poised with the opportunity to focus our town’s growth curve with more emphasis on land resource planning, mass transit and all the green-in-between. Where Salt Lake will suffer is that their hockey-stick growth phase occurred during cheap gas and real estate. Consequently their town is a very car-dependent culture where people live dozens and dozens of miles from their place of work.

So back to Reno:

Jason Geddes kicks ass. Not only does he share in my penchant for cowboy boots, shirts with mother-of-pearl buttons and chasing Chukar, but he’s local visionary leader that’s dragging Reno (sometimes kicking and screaming) into a future that I want to live in. A Winnemucca/Gabbs native, petroleum chemist and former State Assemblyman, Jason assisted Chuck Alvey take the patchouli-edge off of “green” in the EDAWN business development and economic diversification dialog and made huge progress in his time there. Currently he’s a Regent with the University of Nevada and serves the City of Reno as our town’s Environmental services Administrator. He’s also married to Cindy Geddes who’s one of the best writers here locally.

Jason got the Green Summit off of the ground last year. The first Green Summit was held in April of 2007 and served as a dialogue between Council, staff, and citizens on what the City could do to make Reno more “green”. There were almost 400 people in attendance. The 2008 Green Summit is intended to be a report back to the community on action taken since the last summit, and a continued dialogue on what the City should have as priorities in the 2008-2009 Green Action plan.

[Side note: Jason works with another great organization in this community, Nevada EcoNET. Every Wednesday night this summer the City of Reno's West Street Market features “Eco-Nights” produced by Nevada EcoNet. Click here to read about it. Props to Lauren Siegel and the City of Reno for putting this on!] 

Here’s the deets on the 2008 City of Reno Green Summit:

Location: Joe Crowley Student Union-Ballroom, University of Nevada, Reno

Time: 1-5pm, Date: September 20

Program:

• 1:00-1:45 Welcome by Mayor and Council and Report to Community
• 1:45-2:30 Keynote Speaker- Rocky Anderson, Former Mayor of Salt Lake City
• 2:30-3:00 Break
• 3:00-5:00 Concurrent Break-Out Sessions –Moderated
• A- Single Stream Recycling and Plastic Bag Bans
• B- Education/Youth Programs-EnAct/Youth City Council
• C- Green Building and Sierra Green Guidelines
• D- Transportation

Keynote Speaker – The Honorable Rocky Anderson, founder of High Road for Human Rights, practiced law for 21 years; representing plaintiffs in antitrust, securities fraud, professional negligence, and civil rights cases. He then served as mayor of Salt Lake City from 2000 to 2008.

His comprehensive environmental programs, including an aggressive climate protection campaign, achieved a 31% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in Salt Lake City’s municipal operations.

For his leadership on climate change, Anderson received the Climate Protection Award from the EPA, the Distinguished Service Award from the Sierra Club, and the World Leadership Award from the World Leadership Forum.

Anderson is now working to achieve municipal and regional support for climate protection initiatives and to provide grassroots education and advocacy opportunities in the areas of human rights and climate change.

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  Incidentally, here’s some photos I snapped on the ‘ol trusty Nokia N95 while I was roaming downtown Salt Lake City with @leilanis during National Ride Your Bike to Work Week campaign. Obviously I thought it was brilliant!

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