Going green in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Hundreds of green conscious individuals gathered Saturday at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield for the Clean Energy Connections Conference. "People are concerned with instability. Green energy is a way to stabalize energy prices they're also concerned about the environment and our carbon foot print and global climate change," said Loren Walker, Associate Director of Reasearch at UMass Amherst.

The event, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was geared towards business entreprenuers, community leaders and investors. Sponsors say the purpose was to relay the message that clean energy can reduce pollution, stabalize energy costs, and also create local jobs.

"We've hired 15 people in the last month and a half so those are green jobs that we're growing by leaps and bounds but I think there is a lot of opportunity in the energy fields and also in waste and recylcing," said John Majercak, Director of Restore Home Improvement Center.

For Others like Wendy Marsden, who's working with Coop Power to build district heating in Greenfield, coming to the conference was a chance for her to network with for what she says can be very positive for Franklin county  "Heating with wood chips is much less expensive then heating with oik and the money we spend on heating goes into our own hillsides and it pronotes sustainable forestry."

The green industry is proving to be both lucrative for the economy as well as helping to preserve our planet.