Jones kicked off the three-day sustainability summit Wednesday morning, with a speech praising the progress the Midwest has already made retooling itself into a clean energy economy.
JONES: people keep talking about the rust belt. I think people should be talking about the green belt that's already beginning to take root right here in Ohio. You're already in the top 10 in green job creation right now. With multiple companies pushing into this space.
But Noortheast Ohio could be doing more. Jones says there hasn't been enough coordination of all the different projects to make the region a serious player in the manufacturing of things like solar panels and wind turbines. He warned that China, for instance, is racing to corner the market in renewable energy. Organizers of the three-day sustainability summit hope to produce a 10-year action plan that will help make the region a leader in green energy.