Oh, Hello Mr. President

Yesterday, we got to meet the president of Iceland and he seems like such a cool man. Anyone can drive up to his house. He lives across the bay from Reykjavik on a little, windy peninsula. I think the drive was less than 20 minutes from our dorm to his house, so he’s definitely a visible member of society. Even if the prime minister is the one with most of the power.

But it was a great experience. We all got to shake his hand and then while he spoke to us, they offered us champagne and the greatest cookies I’ve ever had. He spoke of geothermal energy and how Iceland is trying to help out other countries with geothermal potential. He mentioned how he feels like China will be ahead of the US and the European Union in terms of renewable energy if the politicians in the western world don’t step it up.
Though he also said that a lot of times national politicians aren’t going to do anything, but if you start small, you can actually make a change. I thought he sounded like he could have been an engineer discussing energy topics, yet he was a political figure instead. I’m not too sure if some of the American politicians have that much knowledge on scientific subjects.
Overall, his speech was very moving. Plus, I loved how he mentioned that Iceland is one of the few really trusting countries left. In the United States, you couldn’t just drive up to the White House and walk in without being searched, yet that’s exactly what we did here. But Iceland is founded in trust, not fear, which makes everything seem much more laidback and calm.

The president and several other speakers we’ve had the past week mentioned that Iceland used to be the poorest country in Europe. That’s something I find so hard to believe since they’re so technologically advanced now.
They seem to have everything and Reykjavik is a happening city. But I guess having such a huge supply of constant energy definitely helps to progress a society.

I just hope the US can follow in Iceland’s footsteps and get on the renewable energy train. The huge project that my group has been working on the past month is to design an electric grid for the US that is only for renewable energy. I think we’re trying to make renewable count for 30-40% of the current usages of coal, since coal is such a dirty fuel. My professor told the president about our project, and now he would like a copy of it when we’re done. Which makes it a much more intimidating challenge, but my motivation for it has increased a lot. Our little project may not do much, but maybe it’ll launch at least one of us into that field and they’ll be able to make the change that puts the US on the right track for the future.