Mr William Jefferson Clinton former President of US addressed the closing general session breakfast during the ISRI 2009 Convention and Exposition, held from April 26th 2009 to April 30th 2009 in Las Vegas. Approximately 1,300 people heard the former president call for transforming the way the United States produces and consumes energy, a change that could dramatically benefit the scrap recycling industry.
Mr Clinton said that "I am convinced that energy is the key to America's economic revival. That approach will help make the world more stable and more equal by providing more opportunities for economic growth. The scrap recycling industry should be at the center of America's job creation strategy for the next eight years. The whole climate change debate has not adequately assessed your potential to help America do what it does best. If we convince people that you can grow the economy by changing the energy future, then I think the world will do the right thing by our grandchildren."
He noted that one way to reduce energy consumption is to increase recycling. He said that the William J Clinton Foundation is working with cities around the world to help them review their waste streams and identify their recycling options, with an eye toward closing their landfills. Landfills are huge sources of methane gas, which is 23 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Mr Clinton encouraged the scrap industry to step forward and be a bigger part of the energy and climate change debate. He said that "The average person doesn't have a clue about what you do. They don’t realize that you're helping to solve problems of the environment and helping us to make the American economy dramatically more productive. At a time when wind, solar, and geothermal energy projects are receiving high-profile recognition and tax incentives, the recycling industry ought to argue for incentives that deal with efficiency and conservation as well. Anyone who has looked at the energy future of America and the world has to conclude that we have to dramatically ramp up recycling and work out the financing."
