Gov. Rendell's "Energy Independence" program is not just a slogan or a program. It is a new standard by which citizens can reduce their dependence on others for their own subsistence. It is also a way to help each other by everyone "pulling their own weight" in energy needs, so that the nation's old and tired tranmission lines do not overheat and collapse during peak usage hours.

Most transmission line failures happen during hot summer afternoons when people use air conditioning to the max. It just so happens that the sun also shines brightest on solar panels at that time of day. Each home-generated kilowatt reduces the load on the transmission lines by at least 1.3 kilowatts, so that even a 3% home-power-generation can relieve transmission lines by 4% and possibly stave off looming blackouts.

At another level, if civilization can be defined as the time when humanity moved from hunting and gathering to growing its own food, it can be said that now is the time when humanity needs to move from "hunting" for energy in Mother Earth's womb to  "growing" its own.  

Besides the security associated with plugging our energy needs into a dependable source like the sun, there are also economic advantages to solar energy, which become even more obvious when the energy forecasts for the next decade are analyzed.