I was not quite 10 years old when the Beatles released When I’m 64, and I remember a few years later thinking it was strange that those cool guys from England had released a song about being really old. Well, that time has come for me, and 64 doesn’t seem quite so old now.
What I also remember about being 10 or so is how strongly I believed that we could work together to solve the problems in the world. While the teen years, loss of loved ones and other life events took some of that feeling away for a while, much of it has returned for me even as the challenges seem to get bigger. For years I’ve had taped to my computer a printout of this quote from Bertrand Russel: “what is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” It’s time to find out what it means to create a world where:
- Renewable energy doesn’t need the adjective “renewable,” because it’s simply what energy is;
- The electric grid carries our Vermont solar power efficiently and effectively to all; and
- We work together to achieve these things with sensitivity to persons of all incomes and businesses of all sizes and types.
Life is short and the time is now for residential solar, community solar, and strong solar incentives to make all of this happen.