Midwest Renewable Energy Fair Summary

I am writing with my headlamp on at a picnic table at my campsite in Custer, Wi. This weekend I took in the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair that is the combined celebration and information dissemination shindig put on by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association. (MREA) This was their 30^th celebration. 

What started as a gathering of off the grid hippies is now a world-renowned organization actively interacting with and is to a large extent the organization that has made solar power reliable, affordable and the natural choice of citizens who want to be environmentally responsible and independent. They are fully integrated with the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. (NABCEP) http:www.nabcep.org/. The old hippies are now experts who work hand and hand with scientists, engineers, and other professionals. Thanks, in no small part to this organization, solar and wind are not only the most responsible forms of energy but are now the least expensive and safest forms of energy. 

The Energy Fair is their showcase event and it is not just about energy. It is about efficiency, electric vehicles of all kinds, home building, regenerative agriculture, healthy living, cooking, food storage, wholesome kid rearing, social justice, and holding government accountable. It lasts three days, but it would take a full three weeks to absorb it all. It is fun, too. There’s lots of music and delicious food surrounding you and the many solar panel vendors. It is, above all else, a starting point to begin understanding what sustainability means and how to live it. It is both a display of enthusiastic energy and an opportunity to learn how to harness energy efficiently for use in its many forms.

There were national and internationally respected keynote speakers such as Naomi Oreskes, the scientist, historian and Harvard professor who, with her partner Erik Conway, took on the challenge dispelling the myth of climate science disagreement regarding climate change. She and her partner amassed over a thousand documents uncovering the well-financed effort by big oil companies to deceive us.  The product of this effort was the book and movie called, “Merchants of Doubt.”

Fortunately, the presentation equipment failed. The IT system projectors would not work. Her presentation became a speech. It was a speech wildly well received by the audience. The Energy was with her.

MREA is philanthropic. It continues to participate in rebuilding the energy systems of Puerto Rico after the hurricane. They sent professionals to the US island to train United States Puerto Rican citizens how to power their homes safely and economically with photovoltaic systems. (Solar Panels). These MREA volunteers and their Puerto Rican partners came to Custer, Wi to share their firsthand inspiring experiences with us. This is the story of midwestern people working to get the job done and making friends and building alliances at the same time.

The final key-note speaker was Curt Meine. He is an honored expert for his conservation work, and knowledge of conservation biology.  He is also a historian well versed in the American Conservation movement, especially the work of the world leading conservationists from Wisconsin.*

His presentation was an articulate, detailed, and moving presentation. It was both a warning and an encouragement. As we look for reasons to reestablish our conservationist roots, history teaches us that any civilization failing to respect the land, water, air, and now climate, is a civilization doomed. Alternatively, civilizations that learn how to sustain their environment thrive.

 People who learn to live peacefully and respectfully with others and with their surrounding live meaningful and rich lives. These conservation values were, and I hope will continue to be, cherished Midwestern values. It seems strange to me that people who search out peace, brotherhood, and respect for God’s creation are often labelled as radicals. If the people at the energy fair are radicals, they are certainly a nice, creative, well-intentioned bunch of radicals.

Curt’s final words were for the young. Again, he was cautionary and encouraging. He warned them that wealth and power are not metrics to select leaders. Look, he said, to each other to select moral leaders with courage. It is up to you, the young, to reclaim the ethics and principles that made us great. And, if you do, and your generation is courageous, we will be great again.

If you are interested in the Energy Fair and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, check out their website at http://www.midwestrenew.org/ .

News break at the campsite: A firefly just landed on my computer with a host of other bugs to help light up my keypad. The flashing bug had me guessing. It is like a little flashback to flying helicopters. I was wondering if a warning light alerting me of a malfunction.

Now, it is time to slip into my sleeping bag and bid good night to my firefly and his friends. These are a host of aviators on my computer screen displaying assorted aeronautical designs. Marvels, each, of our creator’s imagination.

*  Wisconsin has, worldwide, an enviable history of conservation leaders. You can explore this proud legacy at the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame, Stephen’s Point.

**I cannot leave you without recommending a conservation book classic. It is called “A Sand County Almanac” written by the father of wildlife conservation, Aldo Leopold. It was first published 70 years ago and it continues to inspire. The book has sold 2 million copies.

To learn even more, the Aldo Leopold Center is open to the public and located 15 minutes S.E. of the Wisconsin Dells.