Solar and Wind Expo wraps up in Massachusetts – Part Deux

Ted Dillard showing his
electric motorcycle

The 2012 Massachusetts Solar and Wind Expo will be held the first weekend of November in the Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough. We are looking forward to growing the number of vendors at the show and people walking through the door by expanding on our advertizing campaign, engaging our current partners early and adding more.

Although the Expo is not for another year we stay engaged in the Massachusetts energy community and will continue our mission of promoting renewable energy any way we can. One of those ways will be to point out misinformation and injustice anytime we see it.

I recently read that the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a Cape Wind opponent, has recently received a large contribution so it can continue to fight this much needed and good-for-everyone project. A quick search on Wikipedia revealed the following: The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit self-styled environmental organization dedicated to the opposition of the Cape Wind project^[1] and to the long-term preservation of Nantucket Sound.^[2] Alliance membership and allies include wealthy residents of Cape Cod, executives in fossil fuel industries, some local towns, Chambers of Commerce, several environmental groups, many fishing and recreation groups, and public figures including billionaire oil heir William Koch, former mining executive Doug Yearley, former candidate for U.S. President and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, Attorney General Tom Reilly, and Congressman Bill Delahunt.^[1][3][4] Its current president is Charles McLaughlin of Harwich. Among its directors have been Dan Wolf, President and CEO of airline Cape Air, along with former candidate for Massachusetts governor and convenience store baron Christy Mihos (source: public records at the Massachusetts Division of Corporations).

A self-styled environmental organization dedicated to the opposition of the first offshore wind farm? Cape Wind is a project that is decades behind the rest of the world and would create many short and long term jobs as well as reduce our dependence on fossils. That is why the Solar and Wind Expo will continue to do its job: Pointing out issues like this, promoting and creating demand for renewables until we no longer need fossil fuels and beyond.

Vadim Polikov of Astrum Solar
demonstrates solar power to
a very interested attendee to the
Mass. Solar and Wind Expo

I want to thank the folks who helped make the Expo a success. They were instrumental in spreading the word and believed in us from the beginning:

Astrum Solar
Energy Systems & Installation
SunLion Energy Systems
Krannich Solar
Brightergy Solar Solutions
Boston Gliders
Conservation Solutions Corporation
Earthheaded
Honest Tea
EnerG Magazine
WCVB Television
WGBH Television
Green Alliance
Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston
Sustainable Leader Program
Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce
GoGreen Web Directory
Pearl’s Premium Seed

And the many who attended and are now evaluating their energy choices

Look for future blogs where we’ll tell you about plans for the 2012 Maryland Expo. We are putting together more seminars, more EVs--including the first ever Electropalooza. Electropalooza will showcase factory and homemade electric motorcycles and cars and their capabilities on a closed circuit track. Don’t miss it. Save the date!

George Lopez