Something's Innovative in the State of Denmark!

OK, OK I know Denmark is not a state. It's a country, the ancestral home of my mom, etc., You want more details? I have enclosed Wikipedia's page on the country that does more than share its name with a breakfast pastry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark
But permit me an esoteric reference to the Bard without involving a lesson in geography.

The reason I am writing about Denmark is that I came across a really interesting article about how incredibly "green" Denmark is. I don't mean green like how Iceland is really green and Greenland is really, really icey, but in the environmental sense of the word.

There was a good article in the March 16, 2009 edition of TIME magazine entitled, "the Gutsy Superpower. How Denmark's green energy initiatives power its economy" by Bryan Walsh http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1881646,00.html#

I used to think that TIME magazine was kind of old and stogy, but they've had such good articles (of personal interest) lately that I'm seriously getting a subscription. Either that or I'm getting old. Eh.

Anyway, I've always considered the Danes honest, hardworking folk who don't seem to get all uppity over anything or demand more than their fair share of the global pie. I knew that my mom's family is from there and that's about all I knew.

However, I found out that Denmark is the world's leader in wind power. According to Wikipedia it is the 10th greenest country in the world, which is also good. Denmark is also home of Vestas, a manufacturer that has become the top producer of turbines.

This didn't just happen due to good luck and great timing. The Danish government made a commitment to producing and improving their wind power technology, including involving the utility companies to "purchase wind energy at a preferential price- thus guaranteeing a customer base." (-Bryan Walsh, "the Gusty Superpower,"TIME, March 16, 2009, 42-43) Like Field of Dreams, "if you build it, they will come."

This was due, mainly from the 1973 oil crisis. Denmark relied on petroleum, almost all of it imported. Sound familiar? Realizing that they were causing their own problems, they set about to fix it before it happened again. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. . .

We could stand to take a lesson from their book. I know that President Obama is super busy right about now, but this is why great leaders delegate! No time like the present, so let's learn from our friends who don't hate us.