A vacation from bad news
Humans needs a vacation from work, and sometimes we need a break from bad news. Today I’m focusing on some good news in case you missed it.
The city of Sartell will be adding 16 electric vehicle charging stations. These stations will allow drivers to charge their vehicles for an estimated 30 cents/kWh. For a charge lasting 350 miles, that’s about $30. This is good news because when we grow the charging network, more people will be able to buy and use electric cars, which is better for the environment than gas vehicles. And it looks like it’ll be better for our budgets, too.
Another good news item is the city of St. Cloud will begin the Food Waste to Energy Pilot Program. The goal is to take local food waste and convert it to energy. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency gave St. Cloud an Environmental Assistance Grant for the program. The program will keep garbage out of the landfill. Americans waste about one pound of food per day.
According to the USDA, “In the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30-40 percent of the food supply.” Since food waste rots in a landfill, keeping that waste out of the landfill reduces methane gas, according to the EPA.
Even though this is a step in the right direction, I’m hoping for local commercial composting, too.
Continuing with the environmental theme, Stearns County is applying for a state grant for Kraemer Lake - Wildwood County Park. According to the Stearns county website, the park is 265 acres and open for hiking now and cross country skiing in winter. Three-hundred-year-old trees grow there.
The grant would be phase one of development and would include “picnic areas, picnic shelters, a pit-style restroom, fishing pier, nature-based playground, non-motorized boat launch, paved trail access to the lake” and other items. These will make the park more accessible for more people.
This next item is not in Central Minnesota, but it’s pretty cool, so I want to share it. Time magazine’s article “The Motion of the Ocean Could Be the Next Big Source of Green Energy” featured a “floating tidal stream energy generator.” The size of a 747 airplane, Orbital’s 02 floats on the surface and harvests energy from the movement of the ocean’s tides. Nova Innovation has a similar idea, but their invention stays under the surface. Tidal energy is described as more reliable than wind and solar, which depend on the weather. In fact, Nova has been generating energy for six years in Scotland.
This is good news because we need more sources of renewable energy in our quest to eliminate carbon emissions.
My final news item brings us back to central Minnesota. It’s difficult to see what’s happening in Ukraine. However, last month Jules Bistro and the Paramount Center for the Arts created a benefit to raise money for Alight, a non-profit that helps Ukrainians. About 40 artists shared their time and talents, and around 600 people attended a concert and auction. They raised $42,000.
Most of these items show we are making progress on environmental issues, and the final one highlights the generosity of Central Minnesotans. My theory remains the majority of people are good people.
— This is the opinion of Linda Larson, a St. Joseph resident. She is the author of "Grow It. Eat It," which won a national award, and "A Year In My Garden." Her column is published monthly; she welcomes comments at notes4linda@hotmail.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: A vacation from bad news
