Fisherman's and a Quarry

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."