During the week of the national solar conference here in Cleveland, it seems appropriate to link to this post from Great Lakes Guy in Wisconsin about Transforming America’s Rust Belt.  While Great Lakes Guy prefers the title “blue belt” I think being the nation’s Green Belt might be a more appropriate title.

 Here’s GLG’s opening salvo:

“Whether it was coined by Walter Mondale in a 1984 presidential campaign attack against incumbent Ronald Reagan, or conjured up by some slick advertising executive in the sun states, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett yesterday called on Great Lakes leaders to strike the phrase ‘Rust Belt’ from the regional vocabulary. Changing the language, he said, could help change the perception. And that’s a big part of re-igniting the civic spirit and setting a more prosperous course for the Midwest and nation.”

 While changing the language alone certainly isn’t a cure-all, perception does affect our ability and level of commitment to change.  Read the rest of this post here, check out the new solar installations at Jacobs Field and the Great Lakes Science Center, (home to a wind turbine as well) hop over for a visit on the web to EcoCityCleveland, and then consider what it might mean for this region to take the lead in sustainable and green energy and technology development…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2007 at 1:25 pm and is filed under Sustainability, Advanced Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.