Bill McKibben wrote: “The technology we need most badly is the technology of community – the knowledge about how to cooperate to get things done. Our sense of community is in disrepair.” I think he’s right. Whether we’re talking about energy, transportation, food systems, education, the economy, government, or any other current ailing part of America, we’re ultimately talking about a failure to find effective and inclusive solutions.
When we’re born in or immigrate to this ‘Land of Opportunity’, we’re promised our individual rights. without a requirement to commit to individual responsibilities. Without individual responsibilities we have no foundational allegiance to community. Instead we create a hyper individualized society that continually acts as if the individual parts are greater than the sum of the whole. And down the rabbit hole we go; the right to free speech without the responsibility to listen to other points of view, the right to freedom of religion without the responsibility to respect and honor all religious traditions, the right to free press without the responsibility to communicate honestly, etc.
If we’re going to repair our national sense of community, we’re going to have to begin to take personal responsibility for the consequences of our actions. Brightfield™ RTS is part of a new era of community-based business. We are a company that has the right to make money, but also the responsibility to help build a more durable and resilient community, and to do so with honesty and transparency. That’s why we’re installing electric vehicle charging stations that generate renewable solar energy. Beyond the environmental benefits of harnessing the power of the sun versus burning fossil fuels, the community benefit of harvesting local energy is tremendous: fuel dollars stay in the community instead of going to Big Oil and foreign governments, quality local jobs are created, local health effects from tailpipe and coal power plant emissions are reduced, and a vision of a desirable future where America drives on sunshine is made real.
To succeed at transforming America’s transportation sector takes serious community cooperation across sectors including governments, neighborhoods, educational institutions, manufacturers, investors, activists… the list goes on. This is not easy work, but it is rewarding work that must be done because when we come together with a shared sense of purpose the result is not only solar powered transportation, but a region that is re-learning how to cooperate to get things done.
We’re all in this together.