Fisherman's and a Quarry

It's quarter of 11 and not a single one of our six pricincts have been reported! What's up with that?!

It doesn't matter, Deval won!

Luckily, in Swampscott, some of our elected officials care about the energy crisis. Representative Tierney held a forum in August about the very topic,

Congressmen John Tierney (D-Salem) hosted his third energy forum last Wednesday, this time focusing on educating members of municipal governments from around the North Shore of ways in which they can save both energy and money.

Tierney's keynote speaker gave easy advice anyone could use to reduce energy consumption.

One way White suggested to achieve superior energy performance was by taking the Energy Star Challenge. Energy Star, a joint program of the EPA, challenges building owners to improve existing building efficiency by 10 percent or more. To help with achieving this goal, Energy Star offers a tool called "Portfolio Manager" to structures such as schools and office buildings, which helps set goals, measure progress over time and recognize high performance buildings.

I applaud Tierney for focusing on the energy crisis; however, I think more needs to be done. Conservation can get our country far, but it can't make us to complete energy independence or create perfectly clean sources of electricity.

However, we have the technology to do it. Here's a video of how the Boston Harbor Islands have become completely energy independent.



Why don't we have this technology in Swampscott? Residents need to come together and organize - create an organization dedicated to green energy in Swampscott. We need to get people to build solar panels and, hopefully, for the town to build windmills.

For many residents of the town, placing solar panels on their house is affordable - and would reduce an electric bill by at least half - even in New England. More importantly, it's a way for people to say - in good conscience - that they're doing 'their part' to save our world. We have the technology and it doesn't have to be an eye-sore; many solar panels can be create to conform to the house or be barely noticable.

Furthermore, the town needs windturbines. Just two or three wind turbines would likely power schools, town hall and other important buildings - we'd be a completely green town when it came to public power. While space is tight in Swamspcott, there must be places to erect these technological marvels.

Wind turbines aren't just about green energy, they're about saving money and becoming energy independent.

Hull hopes to save another $500,000 on electric costs, having already powered its streetlights and stoplights for free.

Massachusetts municipalities and colleges are increasingly stepping into the void, planning to erect wind turbines one or two at a time to shave their energy costs and take advantage of a state program that rewards green energy producers.

At least a half-dozen Massachusetts cities, towns, or colleges are trying to build wind turbines to temper the rising costs of electricity.

Swampscott needs to be part of the solution - we need real leadership on a global problem. The truth is Swampscott could be a huge leader on this issue if we work now - because of state aid, it won't cost us nearly as much - and through the years we'll truly reap the rewards: potentially millions of dollars saved and using technology to help better our future.

''Any one project will make only a small difference," said Warren Leon, director of the Renewable Energy Trust, a division of the collaborative. ''But if five years from now there are community wind projects up in 15 or 20 communities across the state, collectively that will make a meaningful difference. On average, each project will probably generate enough electricity for close to 1,000 people."

Yesterday, Governor Romney nominated "investment company president and University of Lowell alumnus Robert J. Manning of Swampscott" to serve on the UMASS Board of Trustees. While many residents will probably appreciate the pick, as a UMASS Dartmouth student I have my doubts.

Mitt Romney's nominations (and lack thereof) seem to be tied to those who do not support a UMASS Dartmouth merger with the Southern New England School of Law.

Mr. Karam said Larry Boyle, the only board member Gov. Romney did reappoint, was against the merger between UMass Dartmouth and SNESL to create a public law school.

All of the other board members not being reappointed favored the merger, he said. They were Dennis G. Austin of Duxbury, Edward A. Dubilo of Weston, William F. Kennedy of Quincy, Robert M. Mahoney of Wellesley and Stacey Rainey, a board member who resigned earlier this year.

The merger would mean wonders for affordable access to law school, but the forces of Mitt Romney, Suffolk, BU and other expensive law schools like to force students to pay upwards of $40 grand a year to earn their law degree.

Some would say that's fine, since lawyers make boatloads of cash. However, the SNESL specializes in public law - which does not pay boatloads of cash. While I do not know Mr. Manning's stance on the merger, I would suspect he's against it. Swampscott residents should tell him that's a bad choice as he takes a major seat of importance on the UMASS Board of Trustees.