With oil prices on everyone’s mind it feels a bit like the future we were all wondering about is actually here – no doubt things will not stay the same. Here are a few news items of projects, people and events who are ahead of the curve, climbing the next mountain.

If you have seen pictures of mountain top mining in Appalachia, you know what distressing sight this is, let alone the enormous costs to wildlife, rivers and humans this brutal method of coal mining occurs.

Enter John Todd, research professor in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. His plan for the renewal and restoration of the region has just won the first Buckminster Fuller Award. This $100,000 prize is awarded annually to “comprehensive solutions that radically advance human well-being and ecosystem health.” Watch their more than inspiring video clip. There are a number of very inspiring projects to be found there. Todd’s proposal is a beautiful example of the possibility to reverse even some of the most atrocious environmental mistakes.

From my home country… a world wide first! The city of Marburg in Germany has passed into law obligatory installations of solar panels on all houses. Ignoring the law will incur a hefty 1000 Euro fine!

And – from villages to individual families, people in Germany are pooling resources (and getting their local banks involved) to fund their own local wind turbines and solar power systems. By feeding the surplus of created energy into the grid a good number of them are actually making money in the process, earning a healthy return on their investment. In Germany, companies are forced to accept this feeding into the grid at a preset rate.

Next time you are in Florida, take an excursion into the future. Visit the Venus Project, in Venus, FL and be inspired by the incredible Jacque Fresco, who developed his passion for invention as an adolescent during the Great Depression and has been thinking about humanity’s future ever since. His designs might be slightly outdated, but his spirit, sheer energy and breadth of thinking are amazing.

A DVD set, Future by Design by William Gazeki, was just released, featuring a thorough overview of his inventions that span buildings, transportation and whole city designs all the way down to the bathroom of the future. And what is most impressive about this modern day Da Vinci is that he does not simply think about design and technology in isolation – his inquiry reaches deep into human nature and the human mind.

Friends just told me about an interesting workshop they went to here in MA, where Governor Deval Patrick is pushing for big increases in the use of solar power. If you followed this issue for the past few years, you really get the sense we are almost at a point where it will be downhill from here. One of the latest growth industries is Third Party Ownership of solar energy installations – meaning, a company will set up your solar system at no cost to you and you will sign a contract, agreeing to buy your power from this system at a set price. Any surplus belongs to the owner of the installtion and can be sold to the general electricity company – really smart!