Greening Hawaii

Residents of Hawaii, with plenty of sun and wind but no oil, have begun a campaign to wean the islands from fossil fuels in 10 years.

Backed by Tetris licenser (for Nintendo, beating out Atari) and software entrepreneur Henk Rogers and his private Blue Planet foundation, the campaign is designed to supercharge a state effort to cut its reliance on foreign oil by 70 percent by 2030.

From a NYT editorial: "Jeffrey Mikulina, a longtime environmental activist in Hawaii, jokes that his home state, which is almost completely dependent on imported oil, is one supertanker away from being Amish. It also is one superheated ocean away from being underwater."

The NYT says that the plan includes revamping the obsolete electrical system of Hawaii's main utility to allow customers with solar panels to sell power back to the grid.

The push, should it be successful, seems like it could prove to other states that energy independence is a real possibility. This will be an interesting initiative to watch exactly for that reason. (Plus, I really like Tetris. Still.)