The Little Green Diary: Power Shift gains support

Well, I've given in.

When it comes to environmental issues, I try to pick my battles. Theoretically, I support most activities who are earth-friendly, practical and cause no harm to other people. But in reality, there are few initiatives with which I actively involve myself including, sustainable agriculture, community living as an environmental ideal and alternative menstrual products.

I now add one more issue to this list - clean energy in Missouri. Clean energy is any source of power that emits minimal amounts of pollution, and these systems generally utilize renewable resources such as wind, sunlight or ocean waves. Surprisingly, Missouri has been in the vanguard of the clean energy revolution. Rock Port, a small town in the extreme northwest corner of the state, is the first municipality in the U.S. to be completely powered by wind. Four wind turbines, located on farmland near the town, generate Rock Port's electricity and then some. The town sells its excess electricity to the Missouri Public Utility Alliance, a non-profit utility company in Columbia, according to the Maryville Daily Forum. At any rate, Rock Port serves as an example of how effective and practical clean energy is for powering towns and cities.

Last year during the election, Missouri voters passed Proposition C, a clean energy initiative that requires public utility companies to generate at least 15 percent of their output from a renewable energy source by the year 2020. At the moment, Proposition C is in the developmental stage with the state's Public Service Commission, the government agency that oversees utility companies, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The first regulations originating specifically from Proposition C will go into effect on Jan. 1.

Meanwhile, another important clean energy campaign is building momentum in Missouri - Power Shift. Power Shift is a national organization urging President Obama and Congress to pass clean energy or climate change legislation on the federal and international levels. Truman has a unique link to the Missouri branch of Power Shift because the state's field organizer is recent alumnus Brett Wiley. Brett is a good friend of mine, and I know he has been working tirelessly on this campaign, as well as relentlessly recruiting supporters for this cause.

Bringing about change on this scale takes more than the willpower of one individual though, and the Truman students Brett has recruited are just as tireless as he is - evidenced by the number of mass messages about Power Shift flooding my Gmail account. However, surprisingly few students have committed themselves to the Power Shift cause. This is frustrating because without supporters, important campaigns like Power Shift could wither and die, which is no good for anyone.

How can you support the movement? Come to meetings at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday evenings in the SUB Down Under. Or, if you need something exciting to do during Midterm Break, think about attending Missouri Power Shift's summit Oct. 16 to 18. There you can learn about every topic under the sun involving sustainability, from activism to eco-art. Also, a rally and a march to downtown St. Louis will occur near the end of the weekend. Think - how many times in your life have you gone to a rally?

There are a variety of reasons why Power Shift, and clean energy overall, should be supported and, in the case of campaigns or organizations, encouraged to grow. First of all, as mentioned above, clean energy utilizes sources that are renewable and reusable. The same cannot be said for fossil fuels like petroleum and coal. Missouri gets about 80 percent of its electricity from coal, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Moreover, because clean energy uses sources like wind and sunlight that are easily available, it also is practical. Wind turbines can be built just about anywhere, but the extraction of coal is spatially limited to where it can be mined. This raises the question of what a town should do if it is located in a relatively wind-free spot, but solar panels are an option, as is buying wind power from another community, as exemplified by Rock Port and Columbia.

Finally, clean energy initiatives should be supported because they can provide jobs. Someone has to be there to erect a wind turbine or assemble a solar panel. Aside from clean energy allowing communities to generate income, these systems also allow towns and cities to feel independent because they no longer need to rely on corporate energy trusts - and that itself is an admirable goal.

Supporting clean energy initiatives isn't difficult - all it takes is joining a group like Power Shift, writing letters to members of Congress or simply educating others about the advantages of renewable energy sources. After all, to quote, ironically enough, an ad produced by Caterpillar Inc., "There are no simple solutions. Only intelligent choices."