Caspar’s Climate March
The Climate March turned out to be a Stand, and I was glad to participate. Mainly a group of perhaps 25 old hippies and lefties, coming together for a variety of causes including climate change. George had stood for peace at that location for two hours every Sunday for years, and others are involved in disarmament, Syria, local issues… Lots of honks and thumbs-ups from drivers, then natural dissolution after an hour or so.
I’m a member of Northern New Mexico Climate Activists, formed out of those who signed 350.org’s Pledge of Resistance against the Keystone XL pipeline, and others in the Santa Fe area. Obama’s decision on letting the pipeline be built has been put off indefinitely, so in that respect the 80,000 or so who signed the Pledge (to be willing to commit civil disobedience against it) “won”. But as we never got to take any action for which we trained, the March and further local work allow us to remain cohesive and do effective work. Currently the work is developing as alternatives to PNM’s fossil and nuclear replacement for closing two of the four San Juan Generating Station cola plants; we want to see far more renewables in the mix.
The Cabrillo Point Lighthouse, in use, run by the Coast Guard and beautifully restored by volunteers
Somebody’s had a bit too much of their product when they spelled this sign
After that hat I rode five miles up from the coast to meet and spend one night with Bruce Erickson and Maggie Watson of Mendocino Solar. With four employees, they are in a similar place as I was around 2002, before the partnership allowed Positive Energy to grow. Also, like me, Bruce was a builder (I was a carpenter) who wanted to get into renewable energy and did. I had been encouraged to look up and meet them as kindred spirits. Maggie has written a well-received book clawed “A Graceful Farewell: Putting Your Affairs in Order”, and I’ll buy a copy and do at least some of that important work when I return home.
Bruce Erickson of Mendocino Solar Service, a Sunpower dealer like Positive Energy
The next phase is simply riding down the coast toward the Bay Area, about 200 miles away.