The excellent piece written by Kim Keiser and entitled "My Voice: Moving beyond oil: Leadership needed" was printed in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader on May 2nd, 2008.

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805020319

I was born in Iowa and raised in South Dakota but lived throughout my 20s in New York City. During that time I was stereotyped as ignorant because I was from a small Midwestern town. This was a painful stereotype to overcome given that people I know in the Midwest are some of the brightest and most talented I have met.

But it was through my experience of this stereotype that I developed the ability to look outside my own culture and develop a larger frame of reference. I developed a way of relating to two cultures: the culture of my home in the Midwest and the culture of being a citizen of the world.

In the Midwest we live in the center of the United States and our borders are buffered by thousands of miles of land. Our culture is insulated, rarely challenged by direct contact with cultures different from ours. The perception of ignorance that I encountered in part could stem from our sheltered environment. By its nature, a sheltered environment cultivates a local rather than global mindset.

The ability to understand how our actions affect the global picture is the responsibility of each person, but it is our leaders who must shape our lives with an understanding of a broader perspective. While one individual can live his or her life with a local perspective, leadership that operates in this way is destined to fail.

One thing has been striking throughout discussions of the proposed Hyperion oil refinery is that our leaders - city and county elected officials and Gov. Mike Rounds - have endorsed the project. Yet every day I read that the use of fossil fuels is out of favor (even as consumption is rising), alternative forms of energy are being developed, pollution from refineries increases carbon-dioxide emissions responsible for heat-producing greenhouse gases and more. Many cities throughout the country and other government leaders, scientists and community organizations are starting to embrace environmentally responsible living and sustainable energy practices. Yet South Dakota is entertaining the idea of building one of the largest and most toxic oil refineries in the country.

These same leaders are encouraging the youth of South Dakota to stay and find jobs here. If you want to develop a community and keep youth here and innovation alive, your leadership decisions should support economic development that is itself innovative. The Hyperion oil refinery and energy production based on fossil fuels are not innovative or environmentally sustainable, and this is not the type of leadership decision upon which the future is built.

Ushering in tomorrow's energy practices will not happen by wish, a stroke of luck or by merely thinking about it. It will happen when our leaders put in place policies that support the energy sources of tomorrow. This is one time when we must look outside of our local communities to understand what the Hyperion oil refinery would mean, not only to the area but to the growth of sustainable energy production across the country.

Leaders can choose to capitalize on old hat, or they can be true innovators. When JFK said that he wanted to put a man on the moon, industries rallied and new businesses were born - businesses that developed many of the technologies used today.

It has been said that we need the same type of leadership today to usher in a new era of energy sources and production. It requires ingenuity and vision to seek new possibilities for energy use. Leaders in many cities throughout the county are taking stands on tomorrow's energy sources and implementing change in their communities. Through the endorsement of the Hyperion oil refinery, our leaders appear to be willing to trade in the heart and soul of our state agriculture and family-farm culture in Union County for a dying energy source that will lead to short-term economic development.

When our ancestors settled in South Dakota, they set out using innovative agricultural practices. My grandfather operated one of the first milking parlors in the state, starting in 1964. What does that next generation of farmers have to look forward to when their land has been turned from pristine rolling hills into an industrial landscape? What would my grandfather think? Perhaps if Rounds and other leaders in our smaller towns want to keep more young people in state and develop local economies, they should consider rebuilding the family farm through the use of sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar.

For the rest of us: Be progressive. Be your own leader. Vote no on the Hyperion oil refinery!