Ancient Italian towns pull ahead of the US in race to modernize

This is shameful and inspiring. While we putz around trying to make our citizens like GM enough to buy a new car, and promise thrilling 0-60s in electric roadsters, and encourage people to buy FEWER plastic bottles of water and use FEWER plastic bags, entire rural villages in Italy are simply taking the steps necessary to bring themselves online with the future . . . (more)

Faced with sky-high electricity rates, small communities across a country known more for garbage than environmental citizenship are finding economic salvation in making renewable energy. More than 800 Italian communities now make more energy than they use because of the recent addition of renewable energy plants, according to a survey this year by the Italian environmental group Legambiente. 

In this way, small town America could, with a simple initial investment, begin to MAKE MONEY selling power back to the grid, put it's citizens to work building and maintaining their green power sources, and see their mainstreets begin to be reborn . . . Picture this:  Shops, streetcars, cafes, schools . . . all powered by the windmills on the hill.  Anyone want to move to this new progressive, clean-aired town?  I would.