My recent letter to the Exec Dir of RENEW Wisconsin, a wind & solar advocacy group that seems to have lost its way in what it means to be, ahem, ‘renewable’:

Dear Mr. Huebner,

Some of us have been trying to explain this to your organization for decades: http://isthmus.com/news/cover-story/argument-against-building-giant-transmission-lines/

RENEW is on the wrong side of history.

Those of us looking to a more sustainable future are conserving to keep it local and keeping it local to conserve. For example, we live in a 2-unit, and we pay all utilities. Few landlords would take this risk. But it makes investment sense, and the return is a lot better than a bank account and a lot more secure than the stock market. It is a very unusual alignment of interest in keeping consumption low.

Our tenants love the idea that they are paying in to a green house and they join in the effort. No ‘split incentives’ with our property.

The upshot: Each household uses less than 18% the state average for electricity, 40% for gas. Yes, you read it right, 18% OF the state average (i. e., not 18% less). Yet, there are no hairshirts in our household. Of that tiny electric consumption amount, 100% is supplied by local rooftops via the Solar Legacy Coop. It can be done. It just requires looking to the future, not the 50s.

Sincerely,

Mike Barrett

Madison, WI