Going Blue
The man who made the video game Tetris an international hit turns his talents to saving the planet
By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
E-mail this story | Print this page | Archive | RSS |
Del.icio.us
|
most clean energy sources of any state, including sunshine, wind, powerful tides and waves, and cold ocean depths.”
Jeff Mikulina, the former head of the Sierra Club in Hawaii whom Rogers tapped to become executive director of the foundation, is leading the charge to raise the consciousness for renewable energy in Hawaii.
“If Hawaii hopes to free itself from this dangerous addiction to imported fuel, we need to change our energy game,” says Mikulina. “Rolling the dice on the availability of cheap oil is a gamble that just doesn’t work in an era of changing economies, changing world order and a changing climate.
“When all is said and done, Hawaii will be much different and better off. We will see fewer power lines, more rooftops covered with photovoltaics and people driving to work in electric vehicles. And there will be $5 billion or $6 billion circulating in our economy because we’re not shipping it away for oil.”
Mikulina says of his collaboration with Rogers, “Henk is a lot of fun. He’s a big thinker, and his experience in life gives him ample canvas to explore. He’s full of brilliant ideas. He has a very positive outlook on life. Most importantly, he’s motivated to make real change happen. His compass is pointing in the right place, and he has the resources to actually move the needle.”
That direction is sustainability for the Islands.
Rogers reminds us that Hawaii signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to obtain 70 percent of its power from clean energy by 2030. It makes Hawaii the most aggressive in pursuing renewable energy and will serve as the greenprint for the rest of the country.
But that timeframe has Rogers worried: “When you put a goal that far into the future, no one is going to remember it a couple of years from now. We went to the moon faster.
“We have to roll up our sleeves and get the job done. We need the will power of the people and the politicians.”
Meanwhile, Blue Planet is right on his game. There are tactics as well as strategy in play.
The foundation promotes simple ways residents can practice energy efficiency, like changing light bulbs, car pooling and proper inflation of tires. The organization has distributed nearly 5,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs and 3,250 tire pressure gauges to Oahu residents.
“We changed all the light bulbs on Molokai,” Rogers boasts about a recent campaign on the Friendly Isle. “Up to 90,000 bulbs will be replaced with CFLs, saving up to $1.8 million annually in energy expense.
|
“In the future, perhaps we’ll swap out shower heads.”
These are rudimentary steps, but as any smart game-player knows, it takes basic steps to build momentum. Beyond that, keen observation, agility and instantaneous reaction are required. It’s the same in Rogers’world of designing games or slaying ecological dragons in society.
“I’m in my second youth,” he says of this stage of life. “My greatest motivation is turning ideas into reality. The worst thing is when someone else has a great idea before I do. It makes me more determined to get my idea out there quicker.
“Bottom line is you can’t be afraid of failure. You have to fail a bunch of times before you’re successful.”
But the successful entrepreneur, acclaimed computer game wizard, impassioned advocate for Hawaii’s tech industry and part-time Big Island rancher shows no signs of slowing down. His game board is full of real-time, real-world missions that he lists on his Facebook page as:
“To end the use of carbon based fuel, end war, make a backup of life as we know it and figure out how the universe ends.”
Seeing the list, one observer reacts, “Well, I hope he hurries up with the end of the universe thing because I don’t have all day ...”
When it comes to carbon fuels, Rogers would argue, Hawaii doesn’t have all day either.
Page 2 of 2 pages for this story < 1 2
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS
Most Recent Comment(s):
