Renewables and Our Kids – Thoughts of a Hoosier Mom
Spending time with your family during the weekend is a real treat. I had one of those weekends recently - a multi-generational weekend filled with love and laughter and time spent together. I’m blessed. Spending time across three generations, I’m reminded how renewables play a role in everyone’s life – present and future. Renewable energy is something my mother and my sons need for Indiana.
I had a lovely brunch and afternoon shopping with my mother on Saturday. The sun was shining, and we had wonderful conversations. On Sunday, my husband and I tried to use some gifted farm fresh eggs for a homemade brunch. Luck was not on our side as we cracked a rotten egg into a skillet of perfectly roasted homestyle potatoes and chopped bacon – completely ruining breakfast and making our kitchen smell noxious. My children made up for it, though, with homemade cards and gifts made with the help of their teachers at school.
Hoosiers for Renewables Executive Director Rachel Conner and her mother at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
While driving to brunch, my mother and I talked about my work and my boys’ future. She’s a big supporter of renewable energy because she understands that wind turbines are a complementary land use to row crop farming, and solar panels are a great way to draw in business development to the state. For farmers like her, land lease payments from renewable projects mean an extra source of income, something my father and her and just about every other Hoosier farm could use. That extra income can help keep the farm in the family and is a viable option for the next generation who may not want to be full-time farmers.
As the conversation turned to her grandkids, we reflected on how my older son thinks he wants to go to Purdue University to study engineering and mathematics. He’s got a long way to go until graduation, so that plan may change. But I’m hopeful he has strong employment options here in Indiana, no matter what path his education takes. His inclination towards STEM careers may be a great option if Indiana continues its pursuit of being the Midwestern tech hub and stays an attractive location for renewable development. Longstanding Hoosier companies like Roche, Salesforce and Cummins are invested in renewable energy. New businesses like electric vehicle manufacturers and data centers for Google, Amazon and Facebook are all clamoring to locate where there are renewables. By encouraging these companies to grow or locate in Indiana, we give our kids more places to work and build careers here.
Even just thinking about the lovely gifts my sons gave me, our future comes to mind. My older son made me a very cool keychain that’s already hanging on my purse, and my younger son made me a multi-media painting with 3-D fabric flowers. My sons are already more STEM-oriented than me – and that’s great because whether it’s on the farm, working in an EV factory, researching how to power cars with hydrogen, or maintaining a solar array, STEM is essential to the next generation of jobs.
All of these opportunities add to – not subtract from – the existing opportunities in our state. Meanwhile, they require only a fraction of a county’s total land, often less than 1%. It’s a small use of land for a big return for our kids.
I hope to continue having many multi-generational weekends here in the great Hoosier state. I enjoy long, winding conversations with my mother over croissants. I love seeing my kids’ joy and creativity in action. I hope this state continues to provide my family with opportunities for many years. I hope you also had a good weekend with family or friends, and your eggs at Sunday breakfast were less stinky than mine. Next time I’m getting donuts.
