Local and national leaders are converging in Springfield this weekend. They are coming together to talk about making the Ozarks energy independent.

Dozens of exhibitors and speakers will be part of the energy conference that begins Friday morning in downtown Springfield.

Dan Chiles, a Springfield City Council member, says it took about a year to put his conference together. With escalating oil and gas prices, leaders hope to share ideas about how to use more natural resources and help the Ozarks conserve energy.

"This conference is about energy security, and jobs," Chiles says.  "Cause we know costs are going up to heat your home, drive a car, and what are we going to do about it.  We use about one billion in fossil fuels every year. That's money spend that we never get back," Chiles ays. "What would it look like if we could actually invest one point one billion into our own, region to grow biofuels, and to install wind power and solar power." 

Doctor Wendy Anderson with Drury University is excited about the conference, "I think this is one of the most exciting things we can do as a region to come together and bring experts across the nation to think about how the Ozarks are and in southwest Missouri and in northwest Arkansas might become energy independent, and spur the economic development and preserve the environment."

Chiles says a lot of the region's financial resources go out of the area just for energy costs."We use about one billion in fossil fuels every year. That's money spend that we never get back," Chiles says. "What would it look like if we could actually invest one point one billion into our own, region to grow biofuels, and to install wind power and solar power,"  Anderson adds.

"Conferences like this are springing up all over the country, and one of the reasons is because we are looking for ways to have distributed energy resources," says Anderson.  "Our soil and resources vary from region to region, and what our solutions will be will be different than northern Missouri are. If people are waiting for the answer to come from DC they'll wait forever.  The answers are coming from Springfield."

For more information about the conference visit the Ozarks New Energy web site.