Comments on: Renewable Energy and the Good Ol’ Boy: Perception vs. Reality

By: Energy Monitoring CEO Interview – Blue Line Innovations | mapawatt

Energy Monitoring CEO Interview – Blue Line Innovations | mapawatt — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:59:00 +0000

[...] 5.) What regions of the U.S. and Canada do you have the most success in? (I’m guessing it’s not the southeastern U.S.) [...]

By: Southerngirl

Southerngirl — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:37:24 +0000

I’ll tell you what… if the South is so bad, then you Northerners can stop moving down here. Either move down here and accept us as we are, or leave. I see Northerners moving South all the time but not much of the reverse, so who is really worse off? And if you want to talk about pollution, New York, Detroit, and Los Angelos are the dirtiest cities I have ever seen.

By: Jessie

Jessie — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:21:08 +0000

Great article! I¬¥ve been called a hippie for years… you might as well join the dark side. The southern states tend to be less progressive on so many levels. Politicians tend to base their actions on the interests of the voters and the ¬®good ol¬¥ boys¬® tend to out number the rest of us in Georgia. I had no idea about the possible outlet for wind energy off the coast and the PV array in Savannah. Good to know.

By: meggan

meggan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:20:44 +0000

Awesome article. I have much more than a handful of fellow southerners who are going to have to read it. Very true that they tend to prefer the “wait and see” mentality and the path of most resistance to federal control, even if it means not paying attention or learning the facts.

By: Chris Kaiser

Chris Kaiser — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:56:02 +0000

Good point Art, it’s like the time I heard Rush Limbaugh bragging about blowing his exhaust from his SUV in the face of a Prius. I wrote him a letter reminding him that he was basically bragging about giving our enemies money (oil dollars). Some people just have blinders on and it is up to us to educate them on the virtues of Sustainability. I hate sounding like a preacher, but who can argue with that message?G

By: Art

Art — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:00:08 +0000

Great article. I would probably be a little more direct and instead of saying “perception”, say “ignorance”. How many people that whine about Al Gore or the tree huggers have actually taken the time to study any of the issues, as you obviously have? Supporting states rights won’t exempt Georgia from any of the negative global effects of warming, regardless of the cause. Southerners pride themselves on being one of the more patriotic sections of the country. What could be more patriotic than helping to make our country more self-sufficient and less reliant on energy originating in often less than friendly lands?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:15:49 +0000

Were we separated at birth? As a native Atlantan, I too share the same the same frustrations with backwards people calling the shots in my town.
I just wrote a post yesterday about our good ole’ boy governor declaring the drought is over.
http://www.sincerelysustainable.com/government/ga-lifts-water-restrictions-dumb-southerner-stereotype-does-jig
I myself have given up trying to change things / having a sustainability consulting firm here. As usually is the case with Atlanta, we’ll be the last to get on board.

By: Chris Kaiser

Chris Kaiser — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:17:46 +0000

Thanks for the comments! I’m very interested to see some thoughts from Southern states other than Georgia. North Carolina and Florida are pretty progressive, what about Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina???

By: Green Chamber of the South

Green Chamber of the South — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:11:40 +0000

Great job Chris! Very well written… I think that reality is changing and even “Southern Good ol’ boys” started (slowly) to realize that “good ol’ days” are not coming back! GCS

By: Elaine

Elaine — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:52:19 +0000

Wow…Amen! Thank you Chris for telling it like it is…or should be! It’s high time Georgia became a leader in renewable energy! While not a Georgia native, I’ve lived here for the past 25 years and believe that the south is a true “melting pot” for great ideas…let’s take the initiative and move forward with them! Elaine

By: Jen Boynton

Jen Boynton — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:25:12 +0000

Nice job Chris. Welcome to 3P!

By: Green GOB

Green GOB — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:58:06 +0000

Excellent post! I’m a Green Good Ole Boy from Georgia and I do believe that the “South will rise again” as an Energy Independent state. Green energy isn’t just for the Prius elites or for the granola-eating hippies. Renewable energy is about freedom, states rights and equality. My hope is that the Good Ole Boys will come around and rally for Georgia and be challenged to show the nation that we can do better. It’s about freeing ourselves from foreign energy sources with biofuels, relying on Georgia wind and sun to power our homes and businesses and it’s about creating good jobs for both the working man on the roof installing solar panels and the technologist in the lab testing the efficiency of the latest silicon wafer design. You can’t outsource installation jobs to foreign lands and as fuel prices rise, we’re going to have to start looking at creating our own local tools for harnessing clean and renewable energy sources right here at home.
The only things Good Ole boys love more than country music, four wheel drive and NASCAR are their hunting dogs. When they see their dog lying in the only sunny spot on the rug they should realize that they can’t trust the politicians and utilities when they say solar doesn’t work here. Even the dog knows that solar works in Georgia!