Green Spotlight #1: Labrador Coastal Ltd.
Monday, January 23, 2006
The Green Spotlight feature will be a regular addition to this blog as time moves on, even beyond the Jan 23rd election (where it will then be located at NLgreenparty.blogspot.com) As you may or may not know, the Green movement is ever going and our campaign will not end on election day.
This feature will focus on individuals and companies who promote a Green way of life in Newfoundland and Labrador. These people deserve acknowledgement for the values they keep and the work they put into not only being Green but spreadin' it as well.
Our first spotlight is focused on Labrador Coastal Ltd; a company based in St. Phillips, Newfoundland and Labrador which promotes wind and solar alternatives for energy.
"Around the Province or around the globe, we have your alternative energy solution. We offer a wide selection of alternative energy products along with complete system design and installation." (labradorcoastal.com)
Gerry Skinner is the owner of this company and I recently spoke with him about Labrador Coastal Ltd. and his aspirations to make it grow. It was quite a lengthy discussion actually and incredibly informative. I had no idea there was such a Green company locally, let alone one that has been around for 4 years.
Gerry spoke very passionately about a couple of projects that he'd like to see happen here in the Province and one that already has. Recently his company was awarded a contract to construct 132 wind towers here in Newfoundland and Labrador with the first 22 being built very soon; 16 in Labrador and 6 on the island. These primary ones are to replace some of the diesel generated power stations that many communities currently are using as primary energy sources.
This is great news, fantastic even, however there is much potential for this to be exponentially bigger and both Gerry and myself can see that. He spoke with me about a proposal that he has developed and submitted to our government which was in effort to construct a 5000 MW wind generated station here on the island portion of the province. Unfortunately, this proposal has been turned down with the major reason being the doubt behind the profit it could make. Personally, I think a lot of it has to do, at this point, with bright eyes for black gold. Nobody'll actually come out and say that though.
He also informs me that a German company is looking to build a manufacturing plant in Canada that will build huge wind towers and ship worldwide. He's currently rallying the people of this province to convince this company to build the plant here... and so it should be. Currently, they're looking to build it in Alberta which is poorly situated (not to mention rich enough!) considering these towers have to be shipped by boat. This should be here. Perhaps situated in Stephenville where it would create 4 times more work than Abatibi did... and they're looking to build now. Perfect! We're have space.
This should be here, in this province. Gerry knows it. I know it. What can't our government see it?
The beautiful thing about Gerry is that he sees the business side of promoting Green technology, not just the Green side. In fact, I'm pretty sure (but not positive), that he didn't really know how Green he was until speaking with us.
Why is that beautiful? Well, he has the ability to see the two benefits of going green; it's economically sound and environmentally friendly. What a package! It's people like Gerry who will help this industry grow while educating others on not only the importance of going Green but, also the value of doing so too.
Congrats Gerry! Welcome to the Green side.
Labrador Coastal Ltd can be found on the web at labradorcoastal.com) and is filled with information on Solar Panels and Wind Turbines and gives the people of Newfoundland and Labrador another option. Please, take a look at the site and be sure to check out the photo gallery.
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Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, green party, wind power
