Since Independence Day was last week, I came up with idea for this week which was to celebrate Energy Independence Day as a day that would foreshadow a stated goal by many alt energy advocates like myself to be free from foreign sources of energy. But, before I gave myself a pat on the back for coming up with this wonderful idea, I thought I better Google the term “Energy Independence Day” first to see if anyone else had come up with the same idea.
When I did the Google search and saw the results, the famous Homer Simpson line came out of my mouth, Doh! But, no matter as someone (or actually someones) had thought of it first. But was there an actually, official date? As it turns out there are several dates people are choosing to call Energy Independence Day.
For instance, today’s date, July 10 is the day Peswiki has chosen to call Energy Independence day since this is the birthdate of famous scientist Nikola Tesla (156 years ago).
There is a website called Energy Independence Day RI that celebrates on July 11 every year in Rhode Island. They get together under the wind turbine in Middletown and have all sorts of clean energy activities.
Another website AJC.org wants to celebrate Energy Independence Day on October 6 of every year. And THIS website wants to have an Energy Independence Day just for the folks in Vermont on March 21 of every year.
A blogger (and environmental scientist) for the Environmental Protection Agency named Steve Donohue decided to have his own personal Energy Independence Day a few days after the 4th of July 2010. He used this time to change out the bulbs in his home to LED’s, fix his home’s insulation problems and install solar panels.
So, which day is the official Energy Independence Day? So far there is none. And that’s a good thing because any day you feel like it, you can call it your own personal Energy Independence Day like Steve Donohue did and switch to a greener lifestyle.
Hydrogen cars are still a few years away, but you can declare your own Energy Independence Day now and start living a cleaner, greener and healthier lifestyle tomorrow.
When I saw your headline, I thought of Tax Freedom Day
“Tax Freedom Day is the first day of the year in which a nation as a whole has theoretically earned enough income to fund its annual tax burden.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Freedom_Day
So, for example, if we import ~50% of our oil, Petroleum Freedom Day would be July 1, half way through the year.
I like it! We do need an ongoing day for celebrating the lead up to our energy independence from other nations. And once this happens we need to celebrate our achievement.
I’m liking the idea more and more of a national energy independence day on July 10 every year.
http://www.usenergyindependenceday.com/