Dear Source:
I have been living and working here on St Croix for over two years now. I was not "bahn yah". Like the rest of my fellow islanders I love St Croix and wish to see our island be the best island it can be. The recent WAPA crisis got me to thinking about an article I read in the February edition of Outside Magazine concerning the Danish island of Samso which can be found here: http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/200702/samso-denmark-1.html.
Entitled "A Mighty Wind" the intro states: With a muscular combination of new technologies, capitalist smarts, and old-school stewardship, the tiny Danish island of Samsø has become the greenest, cleanest, most energy-independent place on earth. Can a revolution this sweet be exported to a big, messy world?
The island of Samso is the only self-contained place in the world in carbon surplus. In the brutal North Sea environment they utilize wind power, solar power and bio-fuels. Denmark itself is the European leader in waste to energy technology. http://viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?mid=wsdps
As the former colonial masters of the US Virgin Islands Denmark was responsible for the horrors of slavery visited upon this land. Shelby Moorhead and the CRRA are talking with the Danes about "reparations" for this holocaust perpetrated upon the African slaves brought to this territory and enslaved against their will. Why not ask them to help us solve our energy and waste disposal problems? With waste to energy, wind, solar and bio-fuel technology that they have developed and have functioning in place right now it would be a huge benefit to our islands and our people.
Granted–all people would benefit, not solely the descendants of slaves, but a rising tide lifts all boats. We would be the green energy independence showcase of not just the Caribbean but the USA as well. With low energy costs and high tech construction we would attract a lot more business and tourism. It would let the Danes help us with something concrete instead of negotiating over how fat the check would be. People would be writing about us and coming here to study instead of Samso, Denmark– the weather and beaches are just a bit nicer. Maybe we could even ask for the Danish Charter to be reinstated.
Ronald Howard
Christiansted, St. Croix
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