Walden's Town Meeting tomorrow will be considering our selectboard's proposal to approve a "solar initiative" - a net-metered solar generation system to compensate for the town's electric usage. This is an opportunity for citizens to understand the environmental impacts of our town government's energy use, and hopefully to conclude that there are more effective ways to reduce those impacts.

Walden's town buildings already receive 100% renewable power from our consumer-owned Washington Electric Co-op, so on-site solar generation would be environmentally redundant.

Perhaps we'd be better off focusing on how to replace and/or reduce the more significant amounts of fuel oil and propane used to heat Walden's emergency services building, town office and garage.

If you're a Walden voter, I encourage you to come to Town Meeting and participate in this important community conversation about preparing for the future.