Jim Downing of Waukon speaks to Iowa legislators in Washington, D.C. on renewable energy as part of late April Clean Power on the Hill event
Speaks with Senator Grassley during Clean Power on the Hill event ... Waukon resident Jim Downing recently traveled to Washington D.C. to speak with local legislators about clean energy and veterans in renewable energy. In the above photo, as a representative of the renewable energy group pictured with him, Downing speaks directly with U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley about the importance of grants being available to install solar or wind production technology. Submitted photo.
by Jennifer Bissell
A Waukon man recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak to local legislators about the impact of renewable energy in Iowa and veterans in the renewable energy industry.
Jim Downing, a retired U.S. Marine Corps veteran, a former police officer and now an 11-year professional in the energy world, was chosen to represent his industry and Project Vanguard during the Clean Power on the Hill event April 29-30. Downing and other representatives from Iowa visited with Iowa legislators about the importance of energy generation in Iowa and grants available for small farmers, business owners and home owners.
JIM’S STORY
Downing is a native of Virginia, growing up in the Richmond area. He joined the Marine Corps in May 2004, where he was a signals intelligence linguist until he was honorably discharged in December 2006. He moved to join his wife, the former Joanna Oden of Waukon, in Hawaii, where she was stationed in the Navy. They moved back to Virginia, and Jim went to school to become a police officer.
Wanting a change, the Downings moved to Waukon, Joanna’s hometown. Jim bounced around a bit before landing a job at General Electric (GE), working in the wind turbine area. He worked his way up in the organization, eventually becoming the senior project manager for GE Renewable Energy.
For the past year, Downing has served as the senior project manager at Takkion. According to the organization’s website, Takkion is a key player in renewable energy, building wind projects, transporting components or working with major companies that are involved in wind projects. Throughout his career as a project manager, Downing has helped install over 1,000 wind turbines.
HEADED TO DC
American Clean Power and Trade Power for Clean Energy sponsor the annual Clean Power on the Hill event in Washington D.C. It’s an event that brings industry leaders in renewable energy to the nation’s capital to meet with legislators. They also work with Project Vanguard, a community of military veterans that assists fellow veterans with finding careers in the energy industry.
Downing represented Takkion and Project Vanguard at Clean Power on the Hill. It was his first time attending the annual event.
The group spent April 29 attending training in D.C. and talking through the key messages they wanted to communicate with the legislators, as well as how to tie it back to veterans issues.
April 30 was a whirlwind day, with multiple meetings throughout the Capitol buildings. First, they met with Senator Joni Ernst. Downing said Ernst holds a weekly event called Constituent Coffee, where anyone from Iowa can chat with her during a 30-minute coffee break. Downing said a special moment for him was when she presented a challenge coin to him. As a retired general with the Iowa National Guard, Ernst presents all veterans she meets with the coin.
Next, they met with Representative Randy Feenstra, who is the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Downing said Feenstra expressed his support and agreed that a key issue is to make sure the industry is being supported with tax credits.
Later, they met with Representative Ashley Hinson’s team as Hinson was unavailable that day. Finally, the group met with Senator Chuck Grassley. Wanting to maximize the short amount of time they had, Grassley asked the group to have one representative speak at first to share their overall message. Downing was chosen.
“America has to pursue an all-of-the-above energy policy, not just wind, solar and other renewables. It’s got to be part of a mix. Renewable energy plays a part of it. But the problem has been that renewables are tied to a debate that’s controversial,” said Downing. “The real issue is we need to make energy production local. We need to take the ability to reach out to the wind and grab it or solar production and put electrons on the grid so we don’t have to have a supply chain that goes from Waukon to Texas to a coal mine in West Virginia.”
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