The President Flew Over My House Today

There is a small airport nearby, so we do get some occasional loud flyby’s, but nothing like the jet-helicopter sound that erupted trough my living room at about 11am this morning.  Big, green military helicopter with “United States of America” painted on the side – yup, I’ve seen that one before.  As it made a right turn inland toward downtown, I could see that there were two of them – as there always is – Air Force One!  Cool beans. I hear he’s in town to do Leno.

While I’ve got your attention, go read this article in Washington Monthly about the solar energy boom currently going on in Florida. The town city of Gainsbourgh Gainesville has adopted whats called a “feed-in tarff” which pays anyone who produces energy above-production rates under contract.  Results: instant entrepreneurial explosion in rooftop solar production.

This tariff idea is gaining popularity around the globe, particularly in Germany which has seen it’s renewable energy ratio jump to 15% of total domestic production in ten years.  The genius of the German plan was two-fold:  first, it guaranteed a return-on-investment via locked-in energy price based on the cost of production, making credit easy to find. Second, this margin was designed to decrease over time, making it not only cheapest to buy-in at the earliest possible moment – but also encouraging innovation on the part of producers so as to keep profit as high as possible despite the decreasing subsidy.

The article doesn’t mention if the Florida town has adopted both of these aspects of the feed-in tariff plan, but it sure does point to the success of such as plan.  Several other states are considering this idea, as well as a few congressmen.  Check this article out – its a very encouraging sign that several states and congressmen are taking a good look at this idea.