On Thursday night July 17th at Green Fusion Design Cneter,  Sustainable Fairfax hosted a panel of experts who discussed and answered questions about the history and progress of clean energy in Marin and what steps still need to be taken to make Clean Energy in Marin possible.

Participants heard from Rebekah Collins, co-founder of Sustainable Fairfax and clean energy activist, Dawn Weisz, a Sustainability Planner for Marin County, and Barbara George, founder of Women's Energy Matters and a leading advocate of clean energy. 

For more information on Marin Clean Energy click here

A Marin Clean Energy panel discussion hosted by Sustainable Fairfax was held on Thursday, July 17, at Green Fusion Design Center in San Anselmo. The three panelists included Rebekah Collins – co-founder of Sustainable Fairfax, Dawn Weisz – a Sustainability Planner for the County of Marin, and Barbara George – the founder of Women’s Energy Matters and a leading advocate of clean energy.

Each speaker provided a different piece of the puzzle to help the audience understand just a little bit more about what Marin Clean Energy is all about. Rebekah Collins gave the history of how it all began with the County of Marin and the Town of Fairfax taking the “Community Choice” issue seriously and her involvement with the process over the last 9 years.

Dawn Weitz works for the County of Marin and went over all the nuts and bolts of how Marin Clean Energy was created and how the process would work if it is implemented. With the use of a power point presentation she went over the different aspects of Personal Choice, the Financial Advantages and the Environmental Advantages involved in the overall process.

She reviewed information about the different studies that have taken place so far and what needs to be done down the line. She explained about the different sources of energy available to use such as solar, small wind, large wind, offshore wind, methane capture, biomass and ocean power. She also explained how service is currently provided verses how it would be provided if Marin Clean Energy passes in the county. She went over the overall timeline and what needs to happen next.

Barbara George represents Women’s Energy Matters and addressed the subject of “How Green is PG&E?” by reviewing PG&E’s energy history, their bankruptcy, and their rebirth with their current “Green Advertising” campaign techniques.

She pointed out how our current power system is the largest business in California and that in the long run Marin Clean Energy can do it better, faster and cheaper than PG&E.  We will all have a vote in what happens next. The energy choices ahead will affect everyone for a long time to come and there are many important decisions to be made in the meantime. Knowing the issues and becoming involved in sharing the information with others will make all the difference for everyone.