Demand for wind power on the rise

As the debtae about Nuclear Power continues, guest blogger Kristina Zelisko working with Redstone College (which offers a wind turbine training program), writes about the rise of a mighty wind...

As we all sit back and watch in horror as tragic events continue to unfold in Japan, quiet conversations are taking place all over the world about the future of nuclear power. The situation in Japan, the most earthquake prepared nation in the world, reminds us that when things go wrong in the world of nuclear power, they don’t just go a little wrong.

Alternate energies such as solar or wind turbine have been steadily gaining positive momentum through the years and a disaster such as a nuclear meltdown within a densely populated area only serves to put a spotlight on why. If one had to find a silver lining in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, it would be the heightened interest and new sense of urgency to implement these alternative methods of generating our power.

Businesses of all sizes that deal with alternative energy sources are suddenly becoming very popular around the world and this is excellent news for anyone currently taking training such as a wind energy technology program, solar energy or any of the other many green energies. As popularity increases, jobs and new careers are beginning to open up as are educational options. 

Reputable universities and colleges across the country are adding entire curriculum and degree programs based on wind energy training, water based technology, solar energy and many other natural methods for creating or capturing the energy that we need. Students that are getting on board early will find themselves in the fortunate position of near endless career opportunities. The emerging industries will very quickly need well trained professionals to service the growing demand.

Like any profession or business that experiences global demand, new education and programs like wind turbine training will begin to supply the industry with the new people that it will require to meet that demand.

Whether a tragedy like in Japan or an ever dwindling supply of the fuel and energy that we are currently using, the market is being forced to consider alternatives. Those alternatives mean a wealth of opportunity for us all, and also for the planet.

Kristina Zelisko // Web Promoter // W 1-888-818-4917 // kristina@buzzpromote.net // www.buzzpromote.net

Campaign Blog

Well the election period is well and truly under way, so I thought I'd blog a campaign trail diary about my experiences. I'm running for council in Castlereagh South for the Green Party and I'm an active part of the South Belfast Green's Vote Clare Bailey on the 5th May team, in support of our MLA candidate.

I took a childcare break just over two years ago to have the Shugmeister and while I've been keeping myself busy with writing, blogging and bits and pieces in addition to motherhood, these past few months have really seen my involvement with the Green Party in Northern Ireland step up a pace. The whole thing is proving to be a complicated, interesting, difficult, yet amazingly fulfilling process. I hope that what I write is of interest to those politicos out there, but also to other parents who are looking to share experiences with trying to manage childcare and other commitments.

Mummy Management


Thursday 24th March 2011


I've had to invest in a hand bag. After years of being able to fit everything into well organised pockets, the work load is now too much. So after picking one up and realising my life could have been much simpler had I decided to do this earlier (nappy bag doesn't count as it filled to the brim with baby stuff), I'm off to meet the representative for the Big Lunch. I will be holding a pool on just how long it takes me to loose the new bag as I'm not used to carrying something around with me.

The meeting is very informative, such a great idea and due to it's change of date (from July to June) can now be enjoyed by more people in N. Ireland. The idea that communities can come together for a lunch, dinner or picnic is a great one, and the Green Party are throwing their full support behind it. The South Belfast Greens are holding an event in the Ormeau Rd area and we've two more planned in East Belfast and Castlereagh.

The evening is spent meeting up with the SB Greens and doing some door to door in The Kimberly & Walden Street areas off the Ormeau. It's a good night, people seem genuinely interested in hearing the alternatives on offer - a combination of being fed up with the status quo here and very much to counter balance the actions of the ConDems across the water.

Clare Bailey and I chat afterwards about the getting the balance right between the increased workload of campaign season and our respective families. Clare has two older children and a job to contend with - I have a toddler but no job, so we've been comparing war stories. We both acknowledge that the next few weeks will require us to be a little more selfish; certainly from my point of view I know I've been relying on childcare coverage from my husband and sister more than usual. I have a funny feeling that post May 5th, I'll be the nominated baby sitter for all subsequent big events.

Friday 25th March

Preparing press releases for the bulk of the morning and checking in with our social media accounts. Far too tired to stay awake for Question Time last night, so checking up on the tweets for that. The tweets are probably more insightful and definitely more amusing than the show itself, but hopefully I'll get it watched on i-player at some point.

The wee man's on good form, though is conscious of my absence for most of yesterday and is being clingy. I make him breakfast and sit playing blocks with him until he gets sick of the sight of me and danders off to partake in his favourite past time - pouring juice from his cup into all manner of other containers, and making a bloody mess.

In the afternoon I'm off to Queen's to launch the Green Party's Big Lunch with Mark Simpson and Clare Bailey, which you can read more about here. We're promoting the local produce aspect and Clare's raffle of 20 bags of horse manure for grow your own purposes. As a result I have to carry a shovel on the bus with me. Do I look like a keen gardener or a serial killer? I'm in my suit, so I'm going to opt for serial killer.

The photos are being taken at the same time as QUB and the residents of the Holylands are launching their lunch. We don't intrude as they don't want to politicise the event too much. However, the cameras attract the attention of a candidate from another party who is in the area putting up posters. He danders over, clearly not knowing what the event is about and muscles in on a few photos. He then has the audacity to ask the organisers how long this is going to take, as he's very busy. He attempts to sit down with the students and residents and enjoy a free meal, but is promptly told to skoot.

Afterwards I re-group with Clare and go over our respective schedules for the next few weeks. It's clear that my sister is going to own me before long, perhaps I'll offer her a kidney in exchange for all the help I'm getting from her.

Saturday 26th March

Big day. Canvassing in the Pottinger Ward on behalf of council candidate Dave Newman and Clare. It's a gorgeous day and we get a good few responses. I talk to one retired gentleman in who is sitting in his garden surrounded by pots and plants - he's a grow your own man himself and I realise that I have really failed to get my own garden in gear this year. Might have to just concentrate on a herb garden.

Then off to the city centre with the rest of the NI Greens to march in the anti-cuts rally. NI is one of the most public sector reliant areas in the UK, and the people over here have been campaigning long and hard to bring their pay in line with the rest of the country. Cuts in this area will be devastating for far too many reasons to go into fully here, but there simply isn't the investment in private industry to pick up the slack when people find themselves out of work. The Green New Deal would be a perfect way to redress the balance if only more politicians would take the matter seriously; instead it's a convenient means of greening out their portfolio in the run up to elections. It would make NI more self sustaining, unlike the cut in corporation tax which will only ensure private enterprise loyalty providing no one else makes them a better offer.

It's a good afternoon, peaceful, and I'd say almost double the turn out compared to the same rally in November (the weather probably didn't hurt the cause either). The only thing that soured it slightly was this overheard conversation between a spectating mother and her child:

Mother: "That's a parade, but not a good one"
Child: "What they marching for?"
Mother: "I dunno."

After that I meet up with D and the Shugmeister for a picnic in the grounds of City Hall, then home for a relaxing low tech Earth Hour evening.

The Watermelon Slur: Why it says more about the accuser than the accused

If you haven't heard the term already, a Watermelon in this context, is someone who is apparently 'Green on the outside, Socialist (and therefore red) on the inside'. It's a lazy and ineffective attack for a number of reasons. Firstly, those who throw the term about probably think they are being oh so clever, when it is in fact nothing more than a bastardization of another tasteless term, the 'Coconut', used to question the essential 'blackness' of some people (in pop culture terms, the likes of Tom from The Boondocks and Carlton Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air were often accused of a 'black on the outside, white on the inside' characteristics).

Secondly, while the 'Coconut'  is rightly offensive, its lame cousin the Watermelon is rather more of a venomless snake, given that for most Greens the concept is neither new, surprising or by any means an insult. The English Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, when questioned about her Watermelon credentials on last weeks BBC Politics Show, simply replied 'well I don't have a problem with that' and I doubt many others would argue.

Being Green is about so much more than treehugging, it's about concern for our social environment too. This does not make us afraid of progress or change, but it does make us concerned that when this change comes about that it not done at the cost of the vulnerable. Want to cut our over reliance on the public sector Mr Wilson and Cameron? Go ahead, I'm sure we'd all welcome alternatives, but who exactly will pick up the slack? Private industry? What private industry? Only an idiot cuts the rope before the safety net has arrived. As a member of the Green Party I support the Green New Deal and I feel that investment in this area is one of the only workable alternative economic solutions. Once in place, then, and only then, can we be confident that our workforce has alternatives. Is this socialist? Perhaps, and I don't have a problem with that.

Finally, the idea that one should be embarrassed, ashamed or in any way hide one's socialist or leftist tendencies, reveals far more about the accuser them than it does us. Clearly, like the Tea Party protesters in the US, these people still live in their own bubble where they see a social outlook and concern akin to to the loopy left, communism or erm, Nazism. This is certainly not the case. If you can't admit to any social concern, and that is concern for the weakest and poorest people in your country and the world over, then you have no business in politics... well you do, just join the Condems, DUP or the Republican Party.

I was out protesting on Saturday in Belfast against the EMA cuts and compared to previous efforts the turn out wasn't great, especially given that the university fees issue in Northern Ireland is still very much up for debate. I imagine that in part this was due to the mass student exodus that takes place at weekends in Belfast, but also the unfortunate reputation that these protests have gained following violence in England. However, another protester from People Before Profit, summarized that in the protest movement is in danger of forever being labelled as a socialist niche and that success will only come when the notion that people can change their society for the better by speaking out against the unwise decisions of their officials, appeals to a broader range of people. As a socialist himself, he understood the need for support from more middle/central political groups, who have voiced disapproval of current government actions, but refuse to get their hands dirty. I think there's a lot to be said for this, as it seems in the face of flying Watermelons, that some people are still very much afraid of reds under the beds.