This story was originally published by Reasons to be Cheerful
Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Let us know what you think at [email protected].
Rising tide
This week, we were drawn to surprising stories about renewable energy. The first, shared by Executive Editor Will Doig from Inside Climate News, takes us to a very small island community in Maine that’s taking big steps toward energy resilience.
Will says:
The easternmost point in the US is a tiny island off the coast of Maine. Home to 1,300 residents, Eastport’s diesel generator broke down in 2018 and was never replaced. Instead, the town is building a microgrid that runs off tidal and solar power. Their goal is to show that even remote places with harsh weather can become energy independent.
Winds of change
Our second surprising story about renewables — from Windpower Monthly via Audience Engagement Manager Sophie Pitt — takes us to the city of Bristol, England, where residents led a campaign to build an onshore wind turbine.
Sophie says:
A story of incredible determination over 12 years from a “bunch of unruly residents” from Lawrence Weston, an impoverished area of Bristol, who have come together to build England’s only new onshore wind turbine in the last decade. The turbine, which is the largest in the country, has been running for a year and the first payment from the profits are due in January. And that’s not all, the residents have built 38 affordable homes, a community center and brought a large supermarket to the area. Development Manager Mark Pepper says there’s no reason any other community can’t achieve similar success.
What else we’re reading
Sophie de Oliveira Barata’s Alternative Limb Project designs creative prosthetics for amputees — shared by Founding Editor Christine McLaren from 60 Second Docs
How AI monitoring is cutting stillbirths and neonatal deaths in a clinic in Malawi — shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas from The Guardian
Biden designates national monument at site of notorious Native American boarding school — shared by Editorial Director Rebecca Worby from The Hill
In other news…
In celebration of our fifth anniversary, RTBC founder David Byrne spoke to NPR’s Scott Simon for the Rotary Voices podcast. In the episode, Byrne tells Simon about how Reasons to be Cheerful helps us to “hear the birds,” why stories like this popular one about the Penobscot River have stayed with him, and what he’s learned from five years of the magazine. Have a listen here.
The post What We’re Reading: A Quest for Energy Independence on a Remote Island appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
