As a child of the most southern reaches of Metro Detroit, I have an image burned permanently into my memory. The image results from the one trip that my family made into the actual City of Detroit each year to see my beloved Tigers.
Just south of Detroit's border, my father would grip the steering wheel firmly, gun the engine and race to the top of the Rouge River Bridge. As I looked on with equal measure terror and exhilaration, an amazing scene opened before me.
To the west a massive refinery spilled spherical holding tanks painted with pleasant smiley faces and baseball stitch lines. Vented fuels burned vigorously from the tops of tall stacks and pipes. Acrid smoke spread menacingly to the clouds. My sister and I pinched our noses as the fumes surrounded the family wheels.
Slightly north and west, the grand outline of the Ford Rouge Plant menaced the horizon. This was the famed Arsenal of Democracy that cranked out tanks, bombers and all manner of industrial might during the heady days of the Second World War. By my childhood in the early 1980s, it was a dirty and imposing place, with acre upon acre of ramshackle factory, all overseen by a giant tower stamped with the icon blue Ford oval. Who would take credit for such a sight?
To the east, massive silos reached hundreds of feet towards the sky. God only knows what kind of industrial treasure these silos protected, but I could only imagine what it might be like to stand on top. Just the thought of that precipice hundreds of feet in the air brought terror to my heart.
Beyond these towers resided a particularly forbidding presence. Zug Island graced the meetingplace of the Detroit and Rouge Rivers. Trains and semi trucks and barges and freighters all stopped at Zug to shift loads of steel, coal and fuel to the waiting factories. But this industry turned Zug into a black hole. Everything on the island was dark with industry. If any color remained, it was certainly not bright enough to escape the island and reach my nine-year-old eyes.
As we crested the top of the Rouge River Bridge, we were treated by what I still believe to be the most beautiful view of Detroit. The Ambassador Bridge reached her arms to Canada. The Renaissance Center sparkled on the riverfront. The Fisher Building shined gold at the center of a skyline filled with great beauty and awesome decay.
In the midst of this scene, an almost revolutionary endeavor is now budding. Crain's Detroit Business tells the tale of an army of investors who plan to turn Zug Island and the entire Rouge industrial zone into a research and production ground for alternative energy.
A company called NextEnergy is leading the planned $100+ million project. Investors and collaborators include GE, the State of Michigan, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the Sandia National Laboratories. The plan only needs a match from the federal government.
This consortium would research and test drivetrains for wind turbines that could generate 15 to 20 megawatts of energy each. This would more than double the size of the largest wind turbines in existence.
The spot has fantastic infrastructure. The river and lakes could provide transportation for the largest towers and turbines. Water is abundant. Engineering and production talent fills the area. The nearby Great Lakes boast miles upon miles in which these energy farms of the future could be built.
And just as I said to myself on my way to the Tigers' game that this was the place that won WWII, there might be another little boy 50 years from now who says to himself that this is the place where we won the war on climate change.
Crain's Story
Wikipedia: Arsenal of Democracy