Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Other Kolbert

Elizabeth Kolbert covers all things nature for the New Yorker. For me, she's rapidly approaching Malcolm Gladwell on the Kenny K excitement meter because every time I see her name in the Table of Contents, I know I'm going to learn something super duper cool.

Her latest article is on the small Danish island of Samso, which is completely energy self sufficient. It's a fabulous story. One of my favorite aspects is how humble the people of Samso are. It gives you hope that we could all change our ways like they did. Here's an excerpt.

The residents of Samsø that I spoke to were clearly proud of their accomplishment. All the same, they insisted on their ordinariness. They were, they noted, not wealthy, nor were they especially well educated or idealistic. They weren’t even terribly adventuresome. “We are a conservative farming community” is how one Samsinger put it. “We are only normal people,” Tranberg told me. “We are not some special people.”