For years, Canadians have complained about US-based air-borne particulate pollution. The special object of ire was Detroit, Michigan's smokestack car industry and the exhaust "exported" to Windsor. Now Canada, with Ontario's innovative feed-in tariff program, is not only combating that trend but a

For years, Canadians have complained about US-based air-borne particulate pollution. The special object of ire was Detroit, Michigan's smokestack car industry and the exhaust "exported" to Windsor. Now Canada, with Ontario's innovative feed-in tariff program, is not only combating that trend but also leading the way into a new energy era. Good fences no longer make good neighbours - one needs to share leading-edge solar economy technology as well. "The times," as Bob Dylan sang, "they are a changing."

In the new year, energy leaders in Ontario, Canada shared information with their counterparts in Colorado some aggressive public policy concerning some of their innovative solar economic programs that have raised the sustainability bar, including feed-in tariffs, building and promoting electric car-charging stations, and new construction projects. The ultimate objective is to create seamless energy grid infrastructure able to meet daily consumer needs and help generate alternative energy careers.

One challenge that Colorado has that Ontario does not is meeting resistance from the private owners of coal stations; in Ontario, they are publically owned. Another challenge is cost - to collect one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy from rooftop solar panels costs about $0.35 compared to approximately $0.10 for electricity generated from fossil fuel. To reach the stage of wide-spread acceptance, supporters of the solar economy must eliminate that cost differential. Solar energy certification programs will accomplish that objective by creating a more knowledgeable public. Alternative energy careers will blossom as the future economy flowers.

North American Cooperation Leads to Global Solar Economic Unity

With more Canadian provinces and US states on line collaborating, the entire energy ecosystem of production, distribution, and consumption will change for the better. Will the political and economic synergy of these new energies lead to closer political unity? We may imagine an organization that does not presently exist called Energy United that will fuel alternative energy political careers. The possibilities are as infinite as the rich bounty of solar power itself.