Guest blog by Lance Carlson
A Green 13 Wrap - Lance Carlson (September 2016)
I attended several of the local Green Energy Doors Open events here in the Junction (all within walking distance) over the weekend and am heartened. I have been saying for years that we really don't have an energy crisis (economic, environmental, climate crisis, or?); what we really have is an ignorance crisis and a greed crisis. Fortunately there are plenty of smart people whose heads and hearts are in the right place who are working to create solutions and to implement them. There are known solutions to all our challenges; what we need is political will and economic commitment to implement changes for the better.
A prime example, almost under our nose is a small (& growing) high-tech company, Morgan Solar who have developed a unique new type of solar panel utilizing acrylic and glass modules that concentrate sunlight onto tiny chips of PV material resulting in a more efficient, robust and very competitively priced product that is finding customers around the world. Yes, the world does need more Canada!
This pleased me particularly because for the past several years I have been reading about and archiving stories of hundreds of new developments that are coming out to solve energy related challenges, so finding a truly remarkable good news story right here in the neighborhood is – energizing!
A couple of other recent stories I have come across, not so close to home but heartening non-the-less are:
As I indicated I have read hundreds of headlines of great developments in specialty publications that never seem to make it to mainstream media. This article addresses that question.
One of the best bits of economic news I have come across in a long time is the story that Iceland has come out of its recent banking crisis by creating a public banking institution, jailing twenty odd bank executives and distributing profits of the new bank among its citizens.
w.oye.news/news/world-news/first-jailed-bankers-now-will-pay-every-icelander-sale-one-largest-banks/
And in a parallel good news concept New Zealand has officially declared that Nature is a person and has legal status, hence can sue offenders for harm caused; with the help of friendly groups of course.
https://www.facebook.com/GuardianUs/videos/557099607811140/?pnref=story
We are all aware of the momentum of big media and big corporate interests which seem to far outnumber all of the little 'good news' stories. But those little good news stories are increasing in number and impact and we all need to just keep pushing in our own small ways to encourage and spread the good news when ever and wherever we find it.
