Last week, PennFuture's Director of Outreach, Christine Knapp, participated in a study tour of Germany for regional leaders from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina. The tour was sponsored by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Transatlantic Climate Bridge Initiative and organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

You may have already read Christine's blog postings; this podcast gives you a chance to listen to others on the tour. You’ll hear from Ellen Pope, director of the comparative domestic policy at the German Marshall Fund, who talks about why the Fund organized this tour. She explains that the states were chosen because they are older industrial states heavily dependent on fossil fuels. She hopes the Americans could learn how Germany is making the transition to clean energy, put those lessons to use when they get home.

You'll then hear from State Senator Dan Clodfelter from Charlotte, NC; Susan Perry Cole, president and CEO of the North Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations in Raleigh; Doug Esamann, senior vice president of strategy and planning for Duke Energy in Charlotte, NC; and Lavea Brachman, co-director of the Greater Ohio Policy Center. Their discussions of what they learned and what they will do differently at home are very revealing.

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