Michigan elevates its wind power

A wind farm in the thumb has delivered the first large scale alternative energy to the state.

Thirty-two wind turbines now provide power to Pigeon, a community of 14,000. After years of talk the state—the 14th windiest in the nation thanks to its Great lake frontage—has finally entered the alternative energy race. These turbines join the 4 or 5 others in the state, and change the wind energy ranking from 30th to 22nd. Still only 3% of all Michigan's power is renewable, (60% is non-renewable coal) but growth has been steadily increasing. Twenty other wind projects are proposed across the state. Michigan has the ability to produce 267 times the current wind power.

Governor Jennifer Granholm has been vying for additional additional alternative energy sources, 10% by 2015, and if she succeeds Michigan would join the 28 other states that have required a commitment. Not only that, but the demand for wind power (which currently has wind companies with a two-year backlog) could bring up to 17,000 jobs and $6 billion in investments. The new wind turbines were made in Denmark.

Another source of jobs and entrepreneurship is to develop the current transmission infrastructure to support the new energy sources. Current transmission limits the distance that the renewable energy can travel. The best place to build wind turbines is in rural areas.
States' wind power

The United States added 5,244 megawatts of wind power last year for a total of 16,800 megawatts nationwide. The states with the most installed wind power as of Dec. 31:

1. Texas... 4,356 MW

2. California...2,439 MW

3. Minnesota...1,299 MW

4. Iowa...1,273 MW

5. Washington...1,163 MW

22. Michigan...56 MW*

* As of March 2008

Source: American Wind Energy Association

Climate Change, Transportation, & Jobs

I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, August 1, 2007. Is aging infrastructure something 'they' don't want to own up to? Should there be more funding? Can we afford it with a growing population and a growing expense for natural resources?

Maybe you have been wondering about all the so-called jobs that will come with accepting renewable energy and living in a world with climate change. Well, this article is not directly about jobs, but read it and think about what types of jobs will be required to answer the questions that this article is addressing. The jobs will be unique for the current time, because they will be "thinking" jobs, ones that are not the same old, same old. It is the youth of today who will answer these questions and think up new ideas. What an exciting challenge. And those of you who have been a part of these blogs are well on the way to living in this "new" world that is coming. I have been very impressed with your thoughts and ideas and feel that you are on the right track to exciting opportunities.

And so, what is this article? Transportation. Changes that will be required because of climate change. Specifically it notes:

• increases in very hot days and heat waves
• increases in Arctic temperatures
• rising sea levels
• increases in intense precipitation events
• increases in hurricane intensity.
  

Each of these climate change results will create infrastructure headaches (and even a few 'good' things, like being able to sail the Arctic!). Things break, things age in the normal course. With climate change it will no longer be the old normal, but a new normal, one that is seemingly random or chaotic - until we have minds that begin to work WITH the changes, instead of trying to do the "conquering of nature" as we have in the near past.

Each of these challenges will require people who are thinking outside the current box, and creating a new box (which, of course, will also require going outside of it). People will need to be expert in various transportation modes, climate change and effects, as well as working with one another to adjust the infrastructure.

Infrastructure. A majority of the roads, bridges, highway, and tunnels in America were completed in the 1960s. That is now getting to be close to 50 years old. Everywhere there are problems with infrastructure that is aging. Roads with potholes, bridges falling down or on the cusp of failure, tunnels losing panels due to poor construction quality, highways congested and worn out. Not only to they all have to be corrected, but rethinking how to proceed into the new sustainable future. Do we all have to have cars ALL THE TIME? Is there a way to share some transportation, or heaven forbid, live nearby our work? Can we change the way we live? As we rethink our infrastructure we will need to also rethink how we live and can we continue as we have been? Do we need to rethink our patterns in life? Hey! we can use a few geographers and urban planners for that.

There are many jobs that have not yet come to be, but if you keep reading the many issues and new opportunities in the sustainable world we are shaping, then, you will find your way.

Michigan: If you build it, they will come

Detroit's economy has been based on fossil fuels. That is OVER, and a new way is about to begin.

Headlines today are more talk of recession. This New York Times article is based on more people are losing their jobs, something where Michigan has everyone beat. We have been called a "single state recession" for years, and the rest of the states are finally catching up. Good to take the lead from California in something.

So what does outsourcing jobs to another country where people work for far less money do for us? I think we are beginning to see the answer. And it isn't about losing more manufacturing jobs, but creating more. Clean jobs. Jobs that don't require a PhD but require hard work and belief in the company you work for. Jobs that you can invest in because they are an answer to sending the jobs overseas in countries that do not honor environmental health. Jennifer talks a good talk, but hasn't done a thing. Education is still number 50 for her. And as the NY Times says:

Government employment pulled the job market into negative territory, contracting by 18,000 jobs, mostly at state universities and community colleges.

Time to teach what green is and the ways to get there. Time to do rather than say. Definitely NOT the time to cut educational funding.

It is about doing what Nature needs, instead of what humans want. Time to stop conquering and living in peace with our world. Time to stop sending our war against the environment to other places and start creating jobs that are eco-friendly, "cradle to cradle" and balanced.

Those of us who still have jobs aren't doing much better, as prices continue to climb and our paychecks do not. As the article says, we are working longer hours and making less money. This isn't about a $600 stimulus package (wohoo!), this is about faith and the belief that there is another way and being brave to go there and lead the world once again, but not in raw, hubris filled power, but in doing the right thing, and rising above the fray.

Am I wrong?

Tell me what you think about working with the environment instead of against it . Tell me about the kinds of jobs we can create to change. Tell me about how geography plays an important role. Working WITH not against the places we inhabit. Let it start here.