Over the last three years I have talked about Highlands Ranch becoming the first community in the world to incorporate as an energy city. In public meeting forums, there seems to be one or two people in the audience that object to the “city” word.
I’ll paraphrase a couple of recent public comments. First one was, “Did you ever think of forming an energy special district instead of a city?” And just last April, someone said, “You know it will be much easier to get to where you want to go if you just formed a special district instead of forming an energy city.”
Each school year, I solicit a new energy city research team of ThunderRidge seniors and I give each new group the same message.
1. It won’t be easy.
2. People are afraid of the “city” word.
3. Don’t listen to people who will tell you 10 reasons why it can’t be done and yet they offer no concrete solutions to fix our energy problems.
4. Set your goals high for success, and
5. Don’t accept “it can’t be done” for an answer.
In the May 9, 2009 Denver Post article “Grads Commence Lives,” the CU-Boulder commencement speaker, John Roberts, co-anchor of CNN’s “American Morning” program told the 2009 graduating class, “Show us there is a different way to run the world.” The ThunderRidge High School seniors are trying to show Colorado there is a different way to run the world or at least in Highlands Ranch as a start.
We Haven’t Seen a Different Way since 1748
In the year 1748, coal was first produced in the United States. Gasoline was identified as a waste by-product in the 1880’s and manufactured natural gas was brought into the United States in 1816. So here we are over 250 years later and the United States is still reliant on these outdated low-tech fuel sources. Where is the creativity? Where are the energy black swan inventions? Aren’t we smarter in the 21st century than we were in the 18th century to invent new sources of energy?
Now it’s 2009 and the United States still doesn’t have a defined agenda on a national energy policy to protect our fragile economy. The general public is still reliant on coal, gasoline and natural gas with no new energy technologies that can scale to the masses to replace these outdated and dwindling resources.
Energy City of Highlands Ranch Survey Results
The April 2009 energy city incorporation survey results shows that 59 percent of the homeowners surveyed are either Likely or Extremely Likely to support amending the Colorado Constitution to allow a community in Colorado to incorporate as an energy city.
Sixty-five percent of the Highlands Ranch homeowners would vote in favor of forming an energy city that had a clean tech energy incubator. And over 68 percent of the survey respondents would support a modest tax increase of at least $5 per month to build a city-owned clean tech incubator in Highlands Ranch.
The formation of the energy cities around Colorado opens up the opportunity for these communities to attract and retain new clean technology research and development companies and lead by example. The Energy City of Highlands Ranch clean tech incubator is not an energy producer. Rather, it offers new “green” energy start-up companies a chance to develop their creative ideas, formulate a business plan, seek out investment capital and offer world-class clean tech energy research and development facilities for that next new energy invention.
So in the future when the high school seniors hear some people say, “Why does it have to be a city?” The high schools seniors will say, “Why not?” Sixty-five percent of all Highlands Ranch households are asking “why not?” too.
Steve Taraborelli is a Highlands Ranch resident working with ThunderRidge High School seniors, parent and teacher volunteers, local and national corporations to change the Colorado Constitution to allow communities to form “energy cities” across Colorado. He can be reached at renewablehighlandsranch@hotmail.com. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
