Ten-year-old Chucky had only used a cane pole the few times Grandpa had taken him fishing for bullheads in Honey Creek.  So the spinning rod and reel “kit” under the tree that Christmas was just what he’d hoped for.  My parents, hard-working farmers, were just as ignorant as I was about how a spinning reel works, so they were unable to offer any assistance as I attempted to cast into backyard snow banks on mild winter afternoons.  Alas, I never did get that line to sail out over the distances as I’d seen on TV.

        Thirteen years later, Karen and I found ourselves living on Admiralty Island, Alaska - a fisherman’s paradise!  Only then did I learn that with a spinning reel you simply catch the line with your finger, flip the bail* and release the line as you cast.  Then smile as your lure sails out to where the lunkers are hungrily waiting.
 
        Now, back in Wisconsin, I don’t do much fishing anymore.  But perhaps Chucky’s dilemma offers a lesson about the future of Wisconsin’s fisheries, energy use, and more. 

        In Wisconsin we import most of the energy we use.  So we’d especially benefit economically, employment-wise and environmentally by transitioning to home-grown renewable energy.  Observant folks will notice that some changes are indeed happening.  Neighbors are installing rooftop solar, and solar group-buy opportunities (essentially temporary buyers’ clubs) are increasing.

        But the annual Community Power Scorecard (CPS) by the Institute for Self-Reliance demonstrates how similar Wisconsin is to ten-year-old Chucky and his struggles with casting.  The report scores how well each state enables communities to expand their own local ownership in renewable energy.  Unfortunately in Wisconsin, we haven’t yet learned to flip the bail.

        Wisconsin placed 9th from the bottom of the list of fifty states and earned an “F.”  We only passed in 2 of 9 categories.  Yup, we’re not even flippin’ our line out to where the lunker opportunities and benefits are.  State legislative assistance would enable us to reduce our current hemorrhage of energy dollars and give our local communities more control over energy options.  Watch this blog for more information about how Wisconsin could go after those lunker benefits. 

        So let’s go fishing!  But please don’t settle for pint-size pan fish.  After all, this is the only pond we’ve got.  We’re here forever… Earthbound.
 
         *Thin, U-shaped, hinged strip

        Winter, winter, winter…and then suddenly one day last week, as if on cue, they arrived.  The robins, red-winged blackbirds, geese, blue herons, cranes and yes, even the starlings arrived.  Ahhh…the promise of renewal that spring brings - a precious treasure.

         At our house another kind of renewal is also happening.  As this column for the local paper hits the newsstands, this writer will be awakening from hip surgery.  This surgery business requires a boatload of trust in experts.  “Hey Doc, knock me out and slice me open.  Chop out the rickety old parts and permanently install a foreign object.  And Doc, I’d like to still be alive when you’re done.”  We all entrust our very lives to experts. 

        My trust extends to environmental experts as well, folks whose work is peer-reviewed and whose studies must withstand the test of duplication by other unbiased parties.  These are folks who actually know what they are talking about.   And the talk these days is often about a couple colossal environmental challenges: species extinction (the so-called “Sixth Extinction”) and climate disruption.

        Humankind’s expansion to almost 8 billion individuals (you and me!) and our use of resources are the primary drivers of these challenges.  But here’s the thing that makes them and related environmental issues especially pressing.  Unlike my old bones that can be removed and replaced with shiny new parts, many of the changes associated with these two challenges are permanent.  Extinction, after all, means gone forever.  And the projected possible shifts in climate patterns would alter the world’s ecology in costly ways for thousands of years.  Unfortunately, for the Earth there is no pat on the back at the hospital with, “There you go old fellar.  Do your exercises, and you’ll be good as new in a couple weeks.”

        The good news is humankind is driving these challenges and humankind can solve them.  We have those billions of clever, caring folks who treasure the return of the robins (or the bird of their choice) and the promise of spring just as much as you and I do.  Let’s ask ourselves, “What part can I play in assuring that the beauty and the promise of spring will hold strong for generations to come?”

         Because there are no new shiny replacement planets ready to take Earth’s place.  This is the only home we’ll ever know; it’s where we’re forever… Earthbound.

        Ahh early March – a time to anticipate the promise of spring!  So, Bucky decided to take a hike.  He would head east toward Lake Michigan then continue up around the perimeter of this fair state.  Hints of spring were sure to unfold around him.
        Sure enough, a huge flock of little green birds flew past him heading north.  “Aha, spring is on the way!” Bucky exclaimed.  As he continued his journey to Lake Michigan and then north, dozens of expansive, green flocks passed high overhead.  Oddly, only a few of them were heading north.  The others whizzed by every which way.  “Look at all those green-backed Benjis!” he heard a passerby say. “Strange name for a bird,” thought Bucky, and he decided to investigate.

        That evening Bucky scoured bird websites only to learn that these so-called green-backed Benjis aren’t birds at all!   It’s just a term folks use to describe the “Benjamins” ($100 bills) that fly out of Wisconsin by the millions each year.  This migration of over $14 billion represents what Wisconsin sends out-of-state annually to pay for fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.  Each year, those energy dollars fly out of OUR state to enhance SOMEBODY ELSE’s economy.

         As he continued his trek around the state, Bucky learned that Wisconsin is one of the largest “energy deficit” states in the country even though we have our own renewable energy resources and could keep many of those dollars right here.  A conversion to in-state renewables — like wind and solar — for both our electricity needs and for powering vehicles would create jobs, increase the tax base, and clean the environment. 

        “It’s a great idea!  But where to begin?” Bucky wondered.  He’d already rounded the top of the state and was following the Mississippi River southward when who should he see but Herky Hawkeye, proudly perched on an Iowa bluff!  Bucky Badger told his old rival all about the problem of Wisconsin’s energy dollars “flying” away to other states. 

       “We used to have that problem too,” Herky replied.  “But now we’re keeping more Benjis right here at home.  Come on over sometime, and I’ll tell you all about it.” 

      READ THE ENTRY BELOW - In it Herky will relate how several northeast Iowa counties are creating sustainable economies while nurturing a healthy environment.  Worthy goals for us all.  Here on our only home where we’re forever… Earthbound.

       “Yes sir, those were hard times.  I was just a lad, of course, but we all wondered how we’d pull through,” Ole Tymer reminisced.  "Jobs were hard to come by.  It really was a Great Depression.  Besides that, here in Iowa it wasn’t quite the Dust Bowl, but those hot, dry winds tried to blow the soil way right from under our feet.

       “Lucky for us some smart fellars worked up a plan that helped pull us out of those economic hard times and helped keep the cropland in place too.  They called ‘em Soil and Water Conservation Districts.  Bad as it was, those districts brought our towns and villages together by helping us learn from each other; and things slowly did get better,” Ole concluded.

       “You know what Ole?  It was a lot like that here back in 2008,” Herky Hawkeye piped in.  “The Great Recession was grinding us down, and that summer heat waves and torrential rains played havoc with our crops.  Just like you, we needed a new way forward, a plan to address the financial and environmental issues at the same time.

       “These days it’s energy issues troubling us.  So we modeled a plan on the Soil and Water Conservation District framework to create Energy Districts (EDs).  Between that ‘giant sucking sound’ of billions of energy dollars leaving Iowa and climate disruption from fossil fuel use, our small communities were beginning to crumble.”

       Herky went on to explain how the Winneshiek (County) Energy District incorporated in 2010, and a clean energy transition began to unfold.  Energy use decreased and locally-owned renewable energy generation grew.
        Energy Districts follow a few key principles:

• Local Leadership – EDs are driven by local folks who coordinate with state and federal resources.
• Technical Expertise – EDs learn from savvy energy experts.
• Local Ownership – EDs create the conditions that grow locally-owned energy efficiency and renewable energy businesses.  Jobs are created; wealth remains in the community, and climate stewardship is fostered.
• Inclusivity – The ED framework works anywhere.

        Bucky Badger was impressed; these Hawkeyes were on to something!  He was eager to share what he learned, so he stopped in Iowa County on his way back to Madison.  Bucky knew he’d find clever, industrious folks eager to create their own ED.  They’d do it for Ole Tymer’s sake and for us all because we’re here forever… Earthbound.