Two years can mean a lot of change in the clean energy world. In September of 2007, when I started my (first) internship with The Green Institute, Metro CERT was just getting off the ground. My job was to find out what was out there, both in terms of clean energy projects in the Twin Cities and similar project networks across the country. Now, back for a second internship after months of being out of touch (semester abroad, senior year- life happens, and fast), I’m excited to realize that WE are what is out there. Not only that, it really feels like there is a change in the energy culture in the country as a whole, and CERTs is at the forefront of that change.
Most of the projects I discovered two years ago were single installations, spearheaded by a dedicated environmentalist or perhaps a group of idealistic students. Fantastic endeavors, no doubt about it. They generated clean energy, and served an important demonstration role in bringing solar, wind, and other options consistently into the public view. But flashy and visible doesn’t always equal most impactful, and I’m encouraged to see CERTs increasing the focus on energy efficiency and other practical and effective measures. Not only are efficiency projects accessible to a wider range of people because of the lower up front costs, they tend to have much quicker payback, and can make the later installation of renewable energy technologies even more feasible. If there is one thing I learned after 4 years of environmental studies, and it’s the same thing Diana emphasizes when she talks to people, it is that without behavior shifts, we’re stuck. There is just no way we can expect technologies, even the advanced and American-made kind, to do it all for us.
The other big shift, in the country and in the Twin Cities, is towards broader-based projects that pull together a community. This is what CERTs truly excels at, and will get even better with the new community organizers. These larger projects, like the new St Paul Neighborhood Energy Services program, pull together all kinds of people who may or may not have past environmental experience and show them the practical and monetary reasons to adopt energy efficient practices and technologies. This is why it is so great that Metro CERT now has community organizers and engineers on hand- making realistic projects that can be brought to neighborhoods. More and more people are seeing that clean energy practices are not a ‘lifestyle choice’ for elite groups, but useful ways to improve quality of life, create savings, and create community-owned projects. All this potential was there two years ago when I started, but I don’t think I had any idea how far it could come. And now, with more organizers on the team and more groups getting excited about workshops or energy projects, there’s no stopping us. I can’t wait to see where another two years will bring us. At this pace, maybe everyone in the city will be a part of our team!
