‘e’ Trippin’ 2007 - Day 2 & 3

I apologize for no post from yesterday’s travels.   Turns out that the greater Scotts Bluff-Torrington area is a bigger hot spot than I had anticipated.  Not a room was to be had and I arrived late in Cheyenne.  Sleep won out.

But, before my lodging nightmare, I took the opportunity to drive past Chimney Rock National Monument.  The dedication and sacrifice of those early pioneers never ceases to amaze.  They so firmly believed in the dream of a better life that they were willing to risk everything.

As I was driving through the darkness of southeast Wyoming and taking the time to reflect on the day, it occured to me that that same pioneering spirit that brought families through raging rivers, intense heat, disease, and rattlesnakes is alive and well in America.

Today’s pioneers, however, do not wear animal skins and drive oxen teams.  Today’s pioneers wear lab coats and goggles, overalls and boots, and suits and power ties.  In short, today’s pioneers are those Americans pairing ingenuity, productivity and investment into a new movement that is striving for that brighter future.

Indeed, today’s pioneers are those seeking to break America’s addiction to fossil fuels and move the nation toward a future that is more energy secure and more environmentally sound.  Oh, and they are proving that being responsible about our energy future can also have the intended consequence of creating jobs and economic activity.

Normally on this blog, the renewable of choice is ethanol and ethanol has an important role in our nation’s energy future to be sure.  But it will take the collective ingenuity, productivity and entreprenuership of all renewable energies to truly make America energy independent.

While today’s pioneers are not risking their lives, they are doint yeomen’s work to ensure that future generation won’t have to.