Left In Lowell

Next Tuesday, April 3 at noon, Governor Patrick will be coming to UMass Lowell to present the monies allocated for the new nanotech center. Senator Pangiotakos wanted to invite the public to be there at this historic event.

It will take place at Alumni Hall, University Ave, UML North campus.

Sweet. Can I get a windmill too? (Lately, it’s been windy enough around here!)

One thing I would like to see is a concerted push towards subsidizing and helping individuals to put renewable energy equipment on their property. Ala Jermey Rifkin and the hydrogen economy, I believe the best future of energy (besides rigorous conservation) is to decentralize the grid entirely. This is like David and Goliath, as the energy giants will hear none of this, but imagine having complete control of your own energy from generation to consumption! No contending with the fluctuations in auto gas or heating oil prices, just an investment of mere thousands of dollars for powering up your house and car for decades. Have a south-facing house? Get a cheap loan or subsidized grant for a rooftop solar panel system. Live up on a hill? Put a sleek, efficient windmill in your backyard. Obviously this takes considerable government investment up front to help homeowners do this. But the end result is decentralized renewable non-carbon energy, and the demand for the equipment will bring the prices down and make them accessable to all. I believe that we should put fully 1-3% of our total government revenues towards decentralized renewable energy over the next couple decades. It’s that important.

Imagine never paying an electric or heating bill again. It could be that simple.

In fits of pandering for his presidential run, former governor Romney stalled and hindered stem cell research, and partly as a result, our state, which coulda been a contender (in the bioscience of regenerating tissue from stem cells) is far behind. (It didn’t help that he and the lege chronically underfunded higher ed even when they claimed there was a “surplus.”)

It’s nice to have a governor who believes in science.

Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick said Friday he will push to reverse stem cell research restrictions imposed by his predecessor, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

The changes last August prompted complaints from researchers who said they could be prohibited from using some embryonic stem cells. They also argued the restrictions undercut a 2005 law that had been approved by the Legislature over Romney’s veto.

Patrick told a meeting of the Life Sciences Collaborative on Friday that he would ask the Public Health Council, which approved the changes, to revisit the policy. In effect, Patrick will be able to reverse the policy, since he will gain control over the panel next week amid an overhaul linked to the state’s new health insurance law. [bold mine]

I found that last part particularly interesting. In my post about the micromanging legislature, I argued that perhaps once it was desirable to micromanage Republican governors so they could do less damage (certainly, they got enough damage done with the control they had). But Patrick is both a smart, interested administrator who cares about his job, and someone who shares the values of the majority of the Commonwealth - and the legislature. So, giving him control over his own branch of government is not only prudent, it’s going to move Massachusetts forward.

By the way, I have a real personal stake in the outcome of stem cell research. With PKD, I have a good shot at developing kidney failure when I’m older. Stem-cell-grown kidney tissue might someday save my life.