"[Diversify] the Power Grid!" A Sketch Revisited

My digitally toned sketch from nearly a decade ago illustrating my ideal home.

 

D.T.P.G --Decentralize the Power Grid! That is a notion that captured my imagination when I made this sketch in 2007.  Small house, sustainable "prairie-style" lawn, solar panels, wind mills, electric car were included in my dream of a self-sufficient, environment-responsible home.

I had heard an interview with New York Times foreign affairs correspondent Thomas Friedman who coined the phrase "Green is the new Red, White and Blue". Although, actually, I'm not sure Friedman was advocating that the U.S. power grid would be decentralized as much as diversified to include a variety of energy sources besides oil and coal.

Some of the features shown in my sketch are catching on. There is an entire reality TV show about people who choose to live in tiny houses. And technology is making solar panels more affordable. Electric cars are also being offered by more car companies at reasonable prices. So I guess we have been making progress. But I think we have a far way to go. Especially when taking into account the fact that making sensible energy policy that conserves our resources, protects the environment, etc has become so politicized. It should be a priority for people of all political stripes.