DENVER-
In addition to promoting Denver and the West to a national audience, the 2008 Democratic National Convention will be the most environmentally friendly event of its kind, officials with the Host Committee said Friday.
With 35,000 anticipated visitors set to descend on the city for a week in August, Mayor John Hickenlooper’s senior adviser Katherine Archuleta said Friday the Host Committee is reaching out to a nationally-known expert on making large events more environmentally friendly. The Mayor’s Office is also lending Beth Conover, director of Hickenlooper’s “Greenprint Denver” environmental program, to help make the convention environmentally responsible.
“We’re going to focus on making this convention as green as possible,” said Michael Dino, chief executive of the Host Committee.
Dino and Archuleta joined federal and local law enforcement to talk about convention plans at an Associated Press-sponsored panel discussion for journalists in Denver Friday.
Dino said the Host Committee’s commitment to environmentally sound practices echoes green initiatives from Denver’s Democratic mayor and Colorado’s Democratic Gov., Bill Ritter.
Archuleta said the region’s image as healthy and environmentally minded helped convince the Democratic National Committee to select Denver for it’s convention.
She said plans are in the early stages, but the Host Committee will talk with Xcel Energy about using clean electricity, such as wind-generated power, as well as looking at alternative methods of transportation for delegates and using recyclable materials.
Dino said he remains optimistic his team can raise the necessary $40 million in cash and $15 million in in-kind contributions. But he said it won’t be easy. He noted even larger host cities such as Los Angeles and Boston were hard pressed to raise all the needed funds.
In addition to thousands of federal law enforcement officials expected to provide security—including air support from the military—Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman said he expects he’ll need at least 2,000 local officers, including police from nearby communities.
Whitman said he expects war protesters to be in the mix as debate continues over U.S. involvement in Iraq, and he said he has already considered that similarity to the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations outside the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. Training, he said, will be key.
“Thank goodness we’ve got 15 months to do that,” he said.
