RSS FEED
By Amy Mulvihill John F. Kennedy once said, “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” I don’t think anyone would argue with the logic of this. Who wants to be perched on a roof during a driving rainstorm, furiously trying to minimize damage that could have been wholly prevented had we acted with a little more foresight and initiative? I think about this quote a lot whenever I hear U.S. environment policy being debated. To belabor the metaphor, it seems to me that for far too long, with regards to our environmental practices and policies, we have been that house with the gaping hole in the roof and ignored the storm clouds looming on our horizon. And then, lately, it’s started to rain. With literally millions of gallons of oil currently sloshing around in the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention the much-discussed geopolitical ramifications of a fossil fuel driven economy, it seems like now is a perfect time to embrace cleaner, greener energy alternatives. An opportunity to do just that can be found this weekend at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium where the 2010 Solar and Wind Expo opened today. The expo, which is co-sponsored by, among others, the U.S. Department of Energy and Baltimore magazine, aims to “make green a reality by matching home and business owners with producers, financiers, and top experts in the field of green technologies.” According to event organizers now is an optimal time to make the switch to green living for numerous reasons: “Both state and federal governments are providing unprecedented incentives to encourage home and business owners to utilize green technologies,” the events website thesolarandwindexpo.com says. Plus, as the—believe it or not—wealthiest state in the union and one of the top ten greenest states, Maryland “has both the desire to eliminate its carbon foot print and the financial means to do so.” The expo runs through Sunday and features numerous speakers, including a keynote address tomorrow at noon by Bob Dixon, the Mayor of Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was completely leveled by a tornado in 2007 and has rebuilt itself using green building practices. All lectures and seminars are free with admission, which is free for children under 12 and $12 for adults. There are discounts available, however, for purchasing tickets online (no paper), arriving by Light Rail (less gas consumption), and bringing any article or ad referencing the expo (um, not sure how this is green, but, hey, it’s still a discount!). And anyway, what’s $12 when you think about what’s at stake?
