Planet Green
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This week on Wa$ted! we went to a pre-school. Any fool will tell you that if you get people into a habit, into a way of thinking, when they are kids, they are more likely to stay with that habit and that thinking for the rest of their lives. And judging by the preschool in our episode, we at least got the teachers and students off to a good start.
But what about at the other end, when your schooling is over? What do you do then, and will living or thinking green really have been of any value to you?
My wife was visiting writer-in-residence at Knox College in Western Illinois recently. I got to visit her in lovely Galesburg and get to know that part of the country a little bit.
And damned if I didn't find green tech, green thinking, and green education popping up like weeds all over the place. In the heart of the heartland, the veins ran green.
On a weekend visit we went to see Willa Cather's home and museum, and learned that homesteaders were thinking green in their buildings because back then it was a LOT smarter to be in tune with nature than to fight it: we risk forgetting in this country that nature will ALWAYS win that battle.
On the way back from that trip we were lucky enough to stumble across the Homestead National Monument of America, which was so fascinating I will write a whole other piece about it soon. But, again, between historic environmental practices and the current headquarters being built from local materials and partially solar-powered, there was that danged green movement again.
One of my wife's colleagues and friends at Knox is married to a man named Ted who just happens to work on a nearby wind farm.
Wait, what?! You say. A what?! A Wind Farm. A huge wind farm. One of many dotting the landscape of the midwest. The highest form of emerging green tech situated solidly and comfortably in the heart of the US.
Iberdrola, a large Spanish energy company, has been smart enough over the past decade or so to spend its time and energy in the United Sates, sighting wind farms and partnering with local suppliers, engineers, and companies to help provide this country with an ever-growing percentage of 100% renewable energy. And one of their sites happened to be under the eyes of some men who were willing to show me around.
Ted and his colleague Curtis were generous with their time and information, and showed me around one of the wind farms in their area. I learned close-up about many systems and technologies I have loved from afar for years. From the installation and structures of the turbines and towers to the clear-gas breaker windows where technicians could could keep an eye on one aspect of the intricate workings.
OK, Spanish company, some of the turbines are Indian, some Chinese, some from the states. But aren't I being shown around by a couple of red-blooded Americans? And where did these guys get the info they use every day on the job? Where is the Greenfrastructure we are all looking forward to? Its engineers, it workforce? Where will the bodies that rebuild this country come from?
Ted and Curtis told me that the community colleges in that part of the country are starting to offer courses in specific aspects of green tech, allowing local men and women—new to the job market or re-approaching it after the recession has hit them--to prepare for the future of American Energy in their own backyards.
Or maybe, just maybe, from a pre-school. Right here in America. A pre-school where tomorrow's leaders—our future—is learning to recycle.
Wouldn't that be nice?
Don't miss the Basic Education Episode of Wa$ted Holter writes about.
Read more about alternative energy:
How to Go Green: Electricity
Green Glossary: Wind Farm
Buy Alternative: 50% of Americans Can Already Get Renewable Electricity
Renewable Energy Run Amok: Help Save the World's Poor from Biomass Byproducts
5 Tips to Make Your Solar Panels Last
Can't Afford to Live Off-Grid? Reduce Your Energy Consumption: 6 Ways
Can Your Town Run on Renewable Energy?
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