I watched an inspiring documentary on PBS this weekend — Harvesting the Wind narrated by Morgan Freeman. The film profiles wind farmers from southwest Minnesota, and how they are harvesting wind energy to provide local power and supplemental income for a decline in crop profitability.

The idea, which has shown initial success, is that wind farming can bring business back to small town America, without multinationals owning all the pie. In Minnesota, more than 25 percent of wind farms are owned by private individuals or cooperatives to keep money within the community.

I would have liked the episode to cover the high costs associated with wind farms, and how innovative cost-cutting must first take place before the concept goes mainstream. Still, the documentary showed farmers that were more than pleased with early results.

Whatever your thoughts on climate change (man-made or natural), I think everyone can agree that paying $3+ per gallon of gasoline sucks. I suspect it will hit $4/gallon this summer. That’s called an energy crisis, and one we need to solve though the exploration of alternative energy, like 60 ¢/gallon natural gas and its lackluster promotion.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqynFkoToeI[/youtube]