Dear Ursula Sladek,

First of all, congratulations for the Golden Prize you received in San Francisco this Monday! That’s really something! But more than just the award, I want to congratulate you for your initiative and for fighting to do the things your way, for believing in your cause.

I wish I could tell you my name, but I don’t have one. Still, you can call me Greeny. I’m a tree from the Black Forest and I live really close to you.  Some say I’m a survivor, because every Christmas, someone looks at me with big interested eyes. But, thanks to the Tree’s God, they realize just in time that I’m not a fir. And, that adding a shiny star on top of me won’t help:)

I write you because I’m a mother too. During my last 30 years I took care of my tiny tree babies all around. I tried to protect them from heavy rain and thunder, from drought or powerful wind. You know how moms are.  There’s only one thing I can never be sure of – the power of man.

In 1986, when the Chernobyl tragedy has happened, I was just a kid. But mom told me what the nuclear power is all about and how it can affect us all.  We were really wondering if someone will ever take this initiative to start a renewable energy company here, in Germany. The wind, the sun, the rivers, they all said they’d be glad to help. They just needed someone to believe in their power. Someone to take the first step.

I can hardly describe how happy we all were when we heard about you and your company – the first renewable energy company in Germany – built not by a corporation, but 100% by your personal initiative and your ability to get the civil society involved. I know you worked a lot for this project, because 20 years may be just a little for the life of a tree, but for a man…it’s pretty much. But, now, that you look around and see almost 100.000 clients using your renewable energy, I bet it feels good! All I can hope both for you and for me is that you will manage to get to 1 million clients until 2015, as you wish.

I don’t want to get you bored anymore with my appreciation. Just wanted to add that, if you’ll ever get around, in a trip with your kids, I’d more than happy to offer you shadow and fresh air!

Best green regards,

Greeny.