In early June, environmental leaders from across the continent will gather for the country’s largest and most extensive conference on environmental sustainability. Scheduled for June 7 – 9 in one of the Midwest’s most unique and historic hotels, the Westin Book Cadillac in Detroit, this year’s theme, Partnering to Grow the Green Economy, encourages collaborative approaches to important national and global environmental sustainability issues.
The summit is organized by the National Pollution Prevention Round Table, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and U.S. EPA. According to Jeffrey Burke, NPPR’s executive director, “Previously the National Environmental Partnership Summit, the event has evolved into a stellar gathering of scientists, policy makers, nongovernmental activists, industry and business leaders, and educators dedicated to sharing their knowledge and experience for a sustainable future.”
A chief organizer of the Summit is Tom Murray, chief of U.S. EPA’s Prevention Analysis Branch in the Pollution Prevention Division of the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. The division works with companies to eliminate the use of toxic chemicals, reduce waste, increase efficiency, identify ways to convert by-products into marketable commodities, and achieve significant cost savings up and down the supply chain.
In its eighth year, the annual event will feature over 60 expert and influential renowned speakers from throughout the U.S. and from other countries. Speakers are from private companies, government, academia and nonprofits, hailing from Texas and Washington on the West to Massachusetts on the East coast and Ontario, Canada. Appropriate for the Motor City host is a special focus on automotive manufacturing, with a panel of high level executives, including Jay Wilton, Vice President, Engineering Planning and Regulatory Compliance and Certification, Chrysler Group LLC. Wilton and colleagues from General Motors and Ford will provide an informative and provocative discussion on their perspectives on greenhouse gases, chemical use in automobile manufacturing, current sustainability practices, and future plans.
The national conference also features a panel of Michigan Green Leaders – individuals, businesses and organizations acknowledged for their innovation, job creation, sustainable development, community advocacy, and conservation, in addition to over 50 breakout sessions on local foods and sustainable hospitals, safer chemicals, reducing energy costs, a green workforce and green families, pharmaceutical waste, LEED, sustainable electronics and more. Closing the event will be the UK’s Martin Chilcott, founder and CEO of 2degrees, a leading online community for sustainable business, with more than 10,000 members from over 100 countries.
Regular attendees of the summit include industry CEOs, executives, managers, and technicians, policymakers, scientists, elected and government officials, regulators, program managers, entrepreneurs, small business, planners, consultants, and community leaders and public interest organizations. For more information or to register for the summit, go to www.environmentalsummit.org.
Source: National Environmental Sustainability Summit
