Energy Independence - Yes, we can!

Last evening on Channel 13 I saw a feature on a town that decided in 1998 to become energy independent. Samso in Denmark has about 4000 residents and is on an island. It succeeded in a decade. Last evening's show pictured the many solar panels and wind mills.

I now want to share a paragraph I read this week:
Energy experts like physicist Daniel Goldstein (the former vice-provost of Caltech and author of "Out of Gas") tell us that within a decade all of energy for America's homes can be generated by solar power in an equivalent of the area of 80 square miles in our southwest deserts. Americans should be aware that the United States has been called, "the Persian Gulf of Wind." Two-thirds of our nation's needed electricity could be generated by the winds of North and South Dakota with the other third by the winds of Texas. But hydropower still accounts for the
majority of the so-called alternative energy today, with 7% of the energy produced.
["Tikkun" July-August, 2009, p. 56]

The article concludes with my sentiments: "As Amory Lovins famously says, "because saving energy is cheaper than making it, pollution is avoided not at a cost, but at a profit." It is time to create an electricity system for the United States that relies neither on fossil fuel nor nuclear power. We can do it starting now - yes we can!"

If Samso can generate all its power without fossil fuel or nuclear power, why not New Jersey? Our solar panels have been surprisingly financially satisfying. Does Montclair have any windmills nearby yet?

Pat