Getting Connected: Why Sharing Electrons, Local Produce, and Radiohead Makes for Better Communities

Bill McKibben, scholar in residence at Middlebury College in Vermont, offers up his thoughts on why we need to have a personal stake in generating energy, and why being connected to the grid is important. Along the same veins as those who encourage one to buy local, he offers up a fascinating treatise on the importance of communities and personal connections with those around you. In his words,

"A few years ago, when we were installing photovoltaic panels all over our roof, the question was whether to go off-grid or to tie in. We chose the latter, connecting with our nifty SMA Sunny Boy inverter, but not really for technical or economic reasons. We chose it because we like connections — we like networks, we like community, even when it’s a community of electrons. I enjoy looking over at my neighbor’s house and realizing that, at least metaphorically, he is cooling his beer before the Red Sox game with the sunlight that is falling on my shingles. And I think one of the most important arguments to be made for renewable energy is precisely that it can help build community."

Click on this link to read the rest of his article, as well as to check out the fascinating links and books he recommends.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr user HAMED MASOUMI shared under a Creative Commons license.)