Anne was savoring the sun’s slow rise over the pastoral countryside when Corrin Stalk shattered her quiet morning reverie. “How can you even call yourself a crop?” she scolded.  “Oh dear,” Anne Acre thought to herself, “don’t tell me they’re at it already.”
            “If you’re a crop,” Corrin sneered, “how come we can’t see what you produce? Anyway, I hear a lot of the neighbors are upset about the way you’ve changed the countryside.”
            “Well duh…” Sol R. Panell shot back.  “Of course you can’t see the electrons I make.  But they’re just as real as those silky ears you so haughtily wave around.  Just ask anyone who flips a switch and expects the lights to come on.”
            “Humph…so you produce some energy,” Corrin retorted.  “I can produce both food and ethanol energy.  You don’t belong here atop of my poor, dear old friend, Anne.  Don’t you agree, Anne?  What to do think?”  Corrin was sure Anne would feel the same way.  After all, Corrin’s ancestors had populated these fields for generations.  Cropland was supposed to be for crops you harvest with a baler or combine.
            “I think,” Anne began quietly, “that humans are finally realizing that my soil is a limited and precious resource.  They need to use me as wisely as possible.  Actually, I’ve been doing a bit of homework.  Get this!  Over a million acres (almost 8%) of Wisconsin farmland is used for growing corn for ethanol.  But acre for acre, solar can produce about 100 time the amount of energy that growing corn for ethanol can.  In fact, to reach Wisconsin’s goal of zero carbon emissions by using solar, it would require only about 1.5% of Wisconsin’s farmland, just a fraction of that ethanol-corn ground.  It seems like using a relatively small amount of farmland for solar is actually a fairly prudent trade-off,” she concluded.
            “Oh dear,” Corrin reflected.  “I did hear Farmer Brown grumbling about the high cost of fertilizer and fuel.  And then there’s often soil erosion and runoff polluting our waterways when growing me and my family.”
            Perched near-by, Rob Inn heard the heated debate. “Complicated issues – indeed!” he chirped.  “It’s not easy to change old habits and practices.  But those clever humans will work it out, and they must.  Because after all, this is our only home where we’re all forever…Earthbound.”

            Three high schools walk into a bar.  “About time you boys got here,”Minnie Rawl-Pointe called, her fingers impatiently shuffling cards at the back table.  “Better late than never,” Barney Veld shot back.  Having lost last week’s game, I.G. Panther went directly to the bar to order the first round while Don Jerr pulled up a chair alongside Minnie.
            The weekly poker game was a great opportunity to unwind and compare notes about the school year.  And like all good school rivalries, there was no shortage of boasting to go with it.
            “You should see what a couple of my students created all on their own initiative,” I. G.  began while passing around the drinks.  His students had submitted an entry in the “Penny-Smart & Earth-Wise Story” contest sponsored by Iowa County Clean, Local Energy Alliance – Now! (CLEA-N) and the Dodgeville Chronicle.  Minnie nodded. “Yea, one of my students showed how we could easily set up a composting system.  Another crunched some numbers to demonstrate how a solar installation on the school could pay for itself in a relatively short period of time.  Then it would save 100s of thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the installation.  I wonder what it would feel like to be covered in solar panels?” she grinned.
            Barney and Don winked at each other across the table.  Both of them had science teachers who used this contest as an assignment, so they each had dozens of students competing.  Their projects represented an amazing array of energy cost-savings ideas.  For example, some showed the benefits of adding insulation or of using LED light bulbs.  Other students advocated for pilot projects like energy-producing floor tiles in high traffic areas, and rain barrels or green roofs on campus outbuildings.  
            Not wanting to be too boastful, Don quietly added, “Yup, Barney and I had students submit entries to the contest too.  I understand the winners will get their pictures in the Chronicle.”
            “You know,” Minnie considered, “we all use energy 24 / 7 - 365 days a year.  If we play our cards right, a little nudging from our students (and the community) will convince our school boards to consider these projects and take action to cut energy use.  It’s the Penny-Smart & Earth-Wise thing to do because this is our only home.  It’s where we’re all forever…Earthbound.”