Power to the people...

[Mugwump]

In the Netherlands, ordinary citizens are assuming responsibility for generating their own sources of energy through the installation of solar panels and wind turbines. This practice has grown into a widespread movement, and threatened the viability of traditional power companies in the region. As explored in the documentary Power to the People, this phenomenon has altered the population's reliance on profit-centered corporate structures, and empowered their capacity for self-sufficiency. Can a similar movement be made possible in other realms of daily existence such as health care?

When neighbors collaborate to share the costs of alternative energy methods, as it has been done on the Danish island of Samso, the entire community benefits. This is reflected in the savings they enjoy from bypassing the power companies, and the profits they incur from the surplus energies they generate. In addition, the film argues that green energy prices are expected to remain fixed as traditional energy costs continue to rise with each passing decade. The practice also has wider ramifications for the region as a whole; it means additional savings on the price tags of goods and services that customarily inflate with rising fuel and oil costs.

What's occurring in the Netherlands transcends mere economics. By becoming their own suppliers, these consumers band together to form a more tight-knit community; one whose unified voice epitomizes what it means to live in a truly democratic society. Together, they are sidestepping big corporations by crafting an entirely new energy independent future of their own making.

As evidenced in the film, it's just a matter of time before the sustainable energy revolution in Samso begins to take hold throughout the globe. Once consumers embrace the opportunity to become energy independent, they will likely feel inspired to continue the trend in other areas of their lives as well. "The people are taking charge," says Marjan Minnesma, a sustainability accelerator and one of several entrepreneurial subjects featured in the film. "There's social sustainability, meaning people get group insurances, or they cook together or offer care together to keep the elderly at home." Power to the People shows us that the revolution has indeed begun, and there's no limit to what we can achieve when we work together.



http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/power-people/

[GeorgeG]

Here in Arizona the solar panel company charges you 7 cents a kilowatt and the electric company is 22 cents and with solar you own it and you get the federal rebates. Now the electric companies say it is not fair and want to start adding a surcharge to the folks using solar because they are still connected to them when they are not generating their own power. With these big companies it is never enough money for them they still want more. Even though they do not pay the average worker more in salary the people on the top get the huge salaries instead.

[Mugwump]

Here in Arizona the solar panel company charges you 7 cents a kilowatt and the electric company is 22 cents and with solar you own it and you get the federal rebates. Now the electric companies say it is not fair and want to start adding a surcharge to the folks using solar because they are still connected to them when they are not generating their own power. With these big companies it is never enough money for them they still want more. Even though they do not pay the average worker more in salary the people on the top get the huge salaries instead.

I see the tide turning tho with better batteries being made available for storage.....folks will then just disconnect from the money cobblers....the time is coming....and sooner than some want to believe too.....

[BallAquatics]

Yes, the writing is on the wall.  Things have to change, our present course is unsustainable.....

Dennis

[Ron Sower]

More like the spirit of the pioneers and early settlers of our country. Banding together to survive.

[PaulineMi]

But.......
http://www.weather.com/science/news/solar-plants-birds-20140818

[BallAquatics]

28,000 birds killed by power plant..... how many do domestic cats kill every year?

According to a new study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, domestic cats kill billions of birds, mice and small animals in the U.S. each year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/domestic-cats-kill-billions-mice-birds-annually-study_n_2575833.html

Dennis

[PaulineMi]

Yes, cats, windows, pollution, vehicles also kill birds. Hopefully we get smart enough to figure out how to reduce additional massive deaths....especially the endangered species and larger birds of prey.

[BallAquatics]

+1

Dennis

[Mugwump]

Yes, cats, windows, pollution, vehicles also kill birds. Hopefully we get smart enough to figure out how to reduce additional massive deaths....especially the endangered species and larger birds of prey.

They fly into house windows, sky scrapers, and planes, etc too.....sadly there will always be something....

[BillT]

Everything is going to die from something or another.
In addition, there are generally more animals born than their environments can support, making for a competition for resources.

Evolution will select those that don't die before reproducing to populate the next generation with the genetics of their parents (those that did not die before reproducing).
Eventually, this should correct these problems.

[Ron Sower]

Everything is going to die from something or another.
In addition, there are generally more animals born than their environments can support, making for a competition for resources.

Evolution will select those that don't die before reproducing to populate the next generation with the genetics of their parents (those that did not die before reproducing).
Eventually, this should correct these problems.

And the way I look at it... we humans are just another species on the earth......currently.

[Mugwump]

Everything is going to die from something or another.
In addition, there are generally more animals born than their environments can support, making for a competition for resources.

Evolution will select those that don't die before reproducing to populate the next generation with the genetics of their parents (those that did not die before reproducing).
Eventually, this should correct these problems.

Ant the way I look at it... we humans are just another species on the earth currently.

Yep, and to be honest, I've seen many a human wall into a glass door.....evolution is strange in some families....??

[BillT]

Many people are saying we are now entering the Anthropocene geological period.
Humans are becoming an unprecedentedly important part of the environment (including but not limited to climate change).

All domesticated plants and animals (and fungi) have been genetically altered through their interactions with humans and the new or modified environments they have produced.

Fish breeding in tanks for many generations are a good example.

[Ron Sower]

Spot on, Bill.