2011 was the last year Hilda spent on this earth.
A mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Hilda embodied everything that is right with this country...
The daughter of a German immigrant who made a living as a grave digger, Hilda grew up just outside of Baltimore City.
As a child, she helped her mother grow vegetables, raise chickens, and look after her siblings.
She was born into a family that valued hard work and family obligations. And in her 80 years, I never once heard her talk about ?how hard things were? when she was a kid.
No, for Hilda, hard work and family were not seen as burdens?? but rather as sources of pride.
And after she became a mother at 19, it was her work ethic and respect for family that enabled her to raise two very successful daughters while her husband, a career Navy man, spent a good number of years overseas protecting our nation ? and often on submarines, which meant she had zero contact with him for entire deployments.
I cannot imagine how difficult it must've been for a young 20-something raising two children while her husband was off running top-secret missions in some of the earliest nuclear subs in the U.S. fleet.
But for Hilda, it was never about what she couldn't do; she didn't have that option.
For Hilda, it was about what she had to do?? and more importantly, what she wanted to do...
Hilda wanted to provide a good life for her family. She wanted to be of service to her country, and not a burden.
She looked forward to providing support for returning soldiers and the young families of other soldiers that were deployed for months at a time.
All in all, she was a strong woman, a loyal wife and mother, and a source of inspiration for her grandchildren.
Which is why when I would talk to my grandmother Hilda about the work I was doing, I always got great pleasure when she approved.
Defending Progress
I can't say my grandmother knew much about electric cars or solar energy, but she knew the importance of providing for future generations. And after reading my book, Investing in Renewable Energy, she agreed that as a nation, we need to embrace progress and not attack it or trivialize it.
This is a point that I have been making for close to a decade now, as I continue to help investors profit from the transition of our energy economy.
While my primary goal is always to help investors like you create and protect your wealth, over the years I have also become somewhat of a defender of progress.
It is a role that I never expected to take, and quite frankly, it's a role I never expected would be needed. How anyone would ever choose complacency over progress is beyond me...
But when I read articles about ?the demise of the electric car? or how solar and wind are ?scams,? I become infuriated?? for two reasons:
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These types of articles are almost always written by people with intentions that are not honorable. Any attempt to slow progress or keep our nation shackled to a broken energy economy that shrinks our wealth and increases our vulnerability to hostile nations or environmental catastrophes is despicable.
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These types of articles also tend to dissuade investors from modern energy opportunities. As a result, it can becomes a chore to help people make money?? which, when you think about it, is absolutely ridiculous! Especially considering the dozens of profits we've made over the years by investing in the right modern energy stocks.
A Profitable Evolution
Although I have been singing the praises of modern energy for years, I've never once suggested that investors should put all their eggs in this basket.
There is absolutely no doubt that the future of energy will not be dictated by fossil fuels... but that doesn't mean everyone's going to be ?going solar? and driving electric cars tomorrow.
The transition of our energy economy will not happen overnight. But it will happen.
In fact, it's happening right now. And we are extremely fortunate to be witnessing the earliest stages of this transition.
Solar and wind power production, on a global scale, continue to grow at a rate that is absolutely mind-blowing.
The rapid deployment of electric cars from now well into the next decade will impress even the most critical of electric car naysayers.
New energy-efficient building technologies that will not only drastically cut energy use, but even serve as power generators, are quickly becoming the new norm.
Over the next eight years, we will see an enormous amount of new grid development and upgrades.
We will witness the continued growth of high speed rail (mostly outside of the United States), mass transit systems, and more walkable communities that will allow us to conserve enormous amounts of energy, and even make the air and water a little cleaner for future generations.
But while all this is going on, we will continue to utilize our fossil fuel resources.
As investors, we need to be conscious of this, and not allow stubbornness to keep us from making money.
Look, I believe that it is in our best national interests to support the development of modern energy and alternative transportation technologies. For the sake of our economy, for the sake of our environment, and for the sake of our national security, this is not something that should be hijacked by dishonorable bureaucrats and media whores.
I also believe that in order to get there, we must not abandon our quest for fossil fuels ? but instead support the safer and ?cleaner? production of them.
Because the fact is you can't build the future of energy without the old guard.
Fossil fuels and modern energy actually go hand in hand. And they should not be pitted against each other.
You don't have to blindly criticize the future if you profit from oil and gas. And you don't have to blindly criticize the necessity of our fossil fuel resources if you profit from modern energy.
Look, we're all here to make a buck. And the transition of our energy economy is going to allow us to do just that for many years to come.
The added bonus is that if we do it right ? and seek progress instead of complacency ? we will also do something very, very important...
We will provide a better world for future generations.
A world where our children are not held hostage by foreign oil cartels. A world where the air and water is cleaner. A world that our grandparents can be proud of.
As we head into 2012, my focus will remain unchanged: to be a facilitator, not a detractor, of progress, and help you create and protect your wealth.
To a new way of life and a new generation of wealth...
Jeff Siegel
@JeffSiegel on Twitter
Jeff is the co-founder and managing editor of Green Chip Stocks, an independent investment research service focusing primarily on alternative energy and organic & natural food markets. He has been a featured guest on Fox, CNBC, and Bloomberg Asia, and is the author of the best-selling book, Investing in Renewable Energy: Making Money on Green Chip Stocks. For more on Jeff, go to his editor's page.
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Source: http://feeds.energyandcapital.com/~r/renewables-alternative-energy-eac/~3/Vuxkmz03Taw/1993
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