We were having dinner the other night and the discussion came up about this new “awareness” that we all seem to have discovered regarding how to deal with our energy problems. It’s true. People are really talking about things. Why not? If you drive a car and look for a fill-up, you’re thrown into the same cost quandary all of us are in. A gallon of gas is costing more than a gallon of milk. What’s going on?
For some of us, the issue seems too big to even tangle with, but believe it or not the old cliché “the whole is equal to the sum of its parts” is true. We all can make a difference. One of these big differences is how we seem to drag our collective feet on where and how to create more solar energy, and of course, the special interests that play into creating the obstacles in getting more of this in place. For example, not too long ago the governor proposed creating more rooftop solar energy, only to run into hurdles about who could do the installations.
Can you imagine – and this is not my own idea – how much solar power can be created by placing solar collecting units on the rooftops of all those thousands of square feet of flat roofs you see when you circle over the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The solar capability is enormous and I’m convinced that if we could only become a little more determined in our efforts to move forward on this, we would realize one of the more positive benefits derived from all this industry along our coastline.
I’m aware that our Long Beach Port has a new green port policy. I’m hoping that with all of their efforts in reducing the emissions from their operations and mitigating new activity that the possibility of these solar rooftop farms becomes a factor that can only help in abating the emergency we’re experiencing as we struggle in our daily search of new energy sources.