The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

There are some things I'd love to write here in this space, but I don't think it's time just yet. I don't want to rob the idea of it's power by disclosing it too soon. There are things that could be done in this region to help drive making it a premier area for support and manufacturing for this industry, and I need to contact certain parties to put the wheels in motion before I talk much on it. Anyone that's read through from the early pages knows my resoning for why this area should be a leader in the field of renewable energy. There are many things that add to the bottom line potential of the Great Lakes region as a power-house of renewable energy. But how to get from point A to point Z?

That question could be debated for centuries, I suppose, but the opportunity is now, while the industry is still in it's infancy. First and foremost, the regional governments involved need to form an "Energy Union" to develope policy to move the region into position in the energy industry. That council needs to have real say over energy statutes in member states - and while that might give up some control, it would also create a powerhouse energy production entity that could drive the industry in the area, given the right talent and drive.

A question that needs to be answered, how much authority would such a body have to negotiate an international treaty? Canada also borders on these bodies of water, and the Canadian provincial governments in the region should rightfully be involved. That would not only avoid friction with our Northern neighbors, it would add to the ability of such a body to attract industry players to the region and generate local economic activity in renewable energy on a much grander scale. But how to get such a commission or union truly going?

One can't help but look at the example of the European Union for ideas. They're managing to drive governments that have been at odds for centuries to work together to achieve economies of scale in industry and commerce. If the Americas do not follow suit, they will be in time left behind by Europe and Asia. Already Europe and especially the Netherlands are taking a significant lead in energy independence by strong investment in developement of wind energy. They are running a nearly continuous 25% annual growth in wind power, and starting to get seriously involved in offshore wind farming. So what happens if the United States and it's neighbors do not follow this example, or better yet, take the lead?

Our national security is seriously jeopardized by continued reliance on Mid-Eastern oil. Our lines of supply are long and vulnerable to attack. Never forget the past colonial drives of European nations building empires, or the vast asian empires of the past. If we remain reliant on a power source that is produced halfway around the world, those who do not rely on it will have the ability to destroy it and crush our industry without suffering the same fate - and may in fact feel compelled to do so because the environmental impact of our continued use of such fuels is global in nature, and a threat to them as much as to us. This reliance is driven largely by a political coup pulled off by big oil interests in the U.S. executive branch and years of huge public utilities playing ball with oil companies because that's where the money is. Greed could literally destroy this nation, for no matter how powerful our military, it won't stand up to a world united against an environmentally monstrous bully. I have to wonder just exactly how much cross-ownership there is between oil companies and power utilities? Personally, I feel that any fuel suppliers should be forbidden to have ownership in utility companies. I believe that utility companies should be owned by the non-corporate residential customers they serve through stock ownership that is divvied up amongst the population in the area the Utility serves - and that every share should have the right to electronically vote on every issue. It would be interesting to see the results of the energy policy poll that would be...

This is not likely to happen in this country, however. There is far too little organization by the common man in the United States for the power base to be created, although internet based political action groups are making some strides in that direction. I still believe too many make their political decisions through either the inaction of a sense of hoplessness, or raw emotion rather than logic and candiates' voting records. It also is not easy enough to see who stands where on what issues and compare those statements with past voting records for career politicians.

Nevertheless, we are facing serious climate issues, and we MUST take immediate action to redeem our technology and align it with the natural processes that support life on this planet, or face global devastation, and even possibly render the planet lifeless through rapid and catastrophic climate change. In the face of that, it seems every nation on Earth but ours will make an attempt to address the issue. However, the time frames being looked at are in the range of better than a century to completely remove fossil fuels from energy production. This is not fast enough. We've ALREADY poured enough greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere to push the Earth's climate to the edge of habitability over the long term. And we're still turning the burner up on the stove.

We need several things to happen:

1. All taxes should be taken off of energy and equipment that is produced anywhere in the worldfrom renewable sources or for them. This should include any corporate income taxes on infome derived from renwable energy production, servicing, or equipment manufacturing. Tarrifs on such energy or equipment should not be alliowed to exist.

2. All income paid out by individuals in every country for energy from a renewable resource should be 100% tax deductible. So should donations to projects or groups that support or install renewable energy generation equipment.

3. All laws restricting the construction of renewable energy producing equipment other than for protection of endangered species should be rendered unlawful at a federal or global level.

4. Every utility customer should have the right to choose a renewable energy source if it's available, and all utility profits should be required to go into constructing renewable energy power plants until such time as their power plants are 100% non-reliant on fossil fuels.

5. NO utility should be allowed to deny transmission network access by a renewable energy producer, provided their equipment can meet the same network safety standards that current generation technology is held to. The renewable power producer should be required to split the cost of new transmission facilities with the utility company 50/50 and visa versa.

Put these policies in place, and our national security and domestic economic activity will surge, even as the environmental impact of our energy supply will plummet. There would be a huge domestic job market created at a very rapid rate - because the renwable resources are mostly local in nature - and it's cheaper to transfer the power or hydrogen produced than the intial energy source for power production. This would be a godsend for our battered workers and farmers.