solarpunk-rambles

[solarpunk-rambles]

most of us have heard of the red car game. you’re on a road trip, you’re bored, you start looking for red cars to do something.

and then they’re everywhere. you notice them nearly every few minutes.

there aren’t suddenly more red cars now, of course. you were seeing them already, but you weren’t noticing. you weren’t looking.

I am noticing things.

there is a plant I notice everywhere now, a small bushy plant in suburbs, along streets, by shops on the highways. dwarf umbrella bush is what the internet tells me when I look for it’s name. I did this because I wanted to know why,

every time I ever saw it, every place,

it was always dying. always the leaves turning yellow, the branches small and scraggly. inside out - nitrogen definitely. their soil drained.

I am noticing how many of these landscaping plants are yellowing, how small and sickly they look in just a few years. I am noticing how often the grass outside the house is replaced when it once again turns brown and dry, how the type never changes and the cycle starts again. I am noticing how the unmowed, unkempt spaces on lakesides and roadsides look more alive than this. how the preserve I grew up next to was miles of “messy” unmanicured nature and the ground was covered in leaves instead of grass and there was life.

I am noticing the birds that come by the lake. there was a flash of blue wings and red chest - eastern bluebird, male, relatively common. I had never seen one before. there is a family of ducks that appear every spring; i cannot say if it’s successive generations or different ducks, but I can always look forward to ducklings. there are little brown birds with white heads whose names I do not know - are they some kind of piper? why don’t I already know?

why is it so hard to learn about my native plants (accurately, that is)? why are so many gardening sites littered with people who think a plants value is based on how pretty or useful it is to them, who think a tree shedding leaves is “messy”?

why is knowing about the world we live in so… odd? why is it a hobby and not vital knowledge? I learned about polar equations. I taught myself about mycorrhizal networks and species of insects.

(did you know there are shiny green bees? a special species of wasp pollinating figs? that white flowers bloom at night for moths? do you know? have you looked?)

I cannot look at a lawn and see life anymore. it is a wasteland, devoid of life, dying slowly itself. everywhere is grass, grass, doused in water that runs over into storm drains, soaked in fertilizer and pesticides and a hundred other poisons and sending one clear message:

this is a place of death. life is not welcome here.

I do not think I could live in a city. too loud, yes, too busy, yes, too many people, yes, but the plants would bother me. a tree allotted only a convenient square, surrounded by dead stone and metal.

a forest cleared for this, for burning asphalt streets and racing cars and shops whose bathrooms are “for paying customers only”.

this is a place of death. life is not welcome here.

and now I am noticing.

[solarpunk-rambles]

Source

To be clear, Biden approved an oil project that will release an estimated 287 million metric tons of emissions over 30 years and likely harm local wildlife. But yay for 300 long-term jobs.

A reminder of what Biden campaigned on in 2020: “No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill”

[solarpunk-rambles]

somewhere in the world

a mother is singing her baby a lullaby for the first time, a shelter cat is going home with an excited family, a kid is starting the first pages of what will be their favorite book series, a couple in a long engagement is finally having their wedding, a gardener is stepping outside to see their produce flourishing and almost ready to be picked, a father is becoming a grandfather eager to hold his new little love, a teenager is putting the keys into their first car, someone is moving on from a break up and walking past a place they used to go with their ex without feeling an ache, a patient is taking their first steps forward after a long surgery, a child is getting all giddy with anticipation for their birthday party

because life all around us is beautiful even though there is chaos and sorrow that can often overshadow it.

[solarpunk-rambles]

Something deeply painful is the fact that seasons, especially fall, dont feel the same. Not because of individual maturity but because climate change has impacted the weather patterns so so so much that we cant even experience the same annual shifts that our ancestors have for centuries

I feel displaced, i yearn for the spring, summer, fall, and winter that i can barely remember experiencing

[solarpunk-rambles]

[solarpunk-rambles]

(not sure why the quality's so bad, hopefully isn't so for other people...)

I first heard this concept of "passive support" vs "active support," or, activism, when I first joined the Sunrise Movement. Right now, in my climate activism, I have been discouraged by how few people in my area, especially young people, are organizing. It isn't because people don't care, necessarily, they are just passive in their support. While ranting about the climate crisis (which, believe me, I am as guilty of as anyone,) is satisfying in the moment, why not use that energy to mobilize and build a moment and community fighting for our future? Are there climate actions you could organize in your community? Are there movements you can join?

(Important disclaimer: I completely understand there are people for whom civil disobedience and organizing is more dangerous. I am working on some art about this right now, in fact-- so stay tuned! The fact that in our society the people who are most likely to be impacted by the climate crisis are in the worst positions to take action means that those of us privileged enough to be able to be active in these movements have even more responsibilities.)

[solarpunk-rambles]

[solarpunk-rambles]

I think Americans need to understand how normal it is in other countries to have extremely limited hours of operation to ensure the sanity and health of workers are kept in tact. We are so accustomed and entitled to demanding people’s time that we forget that they’re… y’know… people

[solarpunk-rambles]

One of the major challenges in substituting green energy for fossil fuels throughout the entire power grid is reliably storing that energy for times when green energy sources are not producing enough energy to meet demand. Lithium ion batteries are one solution to this problem, but (although lithium ion technology is rapidly improving) they have sustainability issues and are very expensive, especially at scale.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is working on a system that would allow massive amounts of renewable energy to be stored by superheating silica sand. This method is far, far cheaper than lithium ion batteries and uses much more sustainable materials. If this technology takes off, we may one day see several story tall silos full of sand replacing decommissioned oil and gas power plants.

“The system works when the silica sand, which has a high potential for retaining and conducting thermal, is gravity fed through a heater that can reach a staggering 1,200° Celsius. Once toasted, the particles are fed into insulated silos made of concrete for days of storage. When energy is needed, the sand goes through a heat exchanger that then pressurizes gas to power turbomachinery and spin generators that create the electricity.”

[solarpunk-rambles]

Really shows how much money and power are prioritized in society. Like for people to literally be able to ignore how they are devastating the earth for all generations to come but they are willing to do that--obv these people are selfish and devastating to the Earth and all the rest, and I'm not trying to make excuses for anyone, but worth acknowledging that the mindset that leads to this kind of extreme selfishness is also a result of capitalist society that leaves you without basic needs if you don't have money+power in a hierarchy and extreme luxury if you do. We incentivize selfishness, and as corporations get bigger and capitalism gets bigger, the selfishness gets bigger too.

Sometimes it just strikes me in full force that corporations will sacrifice the environment for more profit, knowing all the while that doing so will eventually kill both them and all of us - and still not fucking caring

[solarpunk-rambles]

american leftists seem extremely focused on anti imperialism (good) but rarely- if at all- discuss decolonization in their own fucking country, despite acknowledging that it is a settler colonial state.

[solarpunk-rambles]

Image Description.

Facebook post from Matt Norris.

Post reads like a conversation between 2 people:

Prison labor is a problem we need to address soon.

Convicts in prison should have to work like the rest of us.

You mean like slavery?

No, we’re giving them 3 meals and a bed, at our expense, while they just sit around and watch TV. They should have to work!

Right. Like slavery.

It’s not like slavery!

Can they leave?

No.

Can they refuse work?

No.

So how exactly isn’t this slavery?

We DO pay them!

Do we pay in accordance with labor laws?

No. We pay them between 33 cents and $1.41/hour with a maximum daily wage below $5, then take up to half of that as room&board fees and victim compensation.

Right. So like slavery.

BUT.

No.

Image then links to this url.

Below URL image reads “fun bonus fact: enough of our labor market currently relies on labor at these depressed rates, that it has a substantial downward pressure on both wages and job availability in low-skilled sectors. Immigrants aren’t taking your jobs. Slavery is.

End description.

I’d also like to add it’s not just private prisons. It’s also private detention centers where ICE keeps the immigrants.

-fae

[solarpunk-rambles]

what in the world is solarpunk please tell me

Across the last six or so years, solarpunk has graduated from an aesthetic to a combination of art and politics that focuses on everything from a positive imagining of our collective future to actually creating it. It began mostly as a visual vocabulary and literary subgenre of science fiction like steampunk ( steampunk focuses on the past and the industrial revolution). Solarpunk focuses on a positive future grounded in our existing world that emphasizes the need for environmental sustainability, self governance and social justice.

-It is a movement that is dedicated to human-centric and eco-centric ends. It looks beyond capitalism and the current rift between humanity and nature.

-Solarpunk a futurism that focuses on what we should hope for rather than on what to avoid. It recognizes that climate change, the consequences of centuries of damage aren’t averted in the future. Yet it still manages to incorporate hope. A future where we have a lot of work to do, but we are doing better. Using technology in more uplifting ends. Solarpunk emphasizes real-world application, Its all what we do here and now from DIY projects to larger organization.

-It’s other core aspect is that it’s very aesthetic and artistic and it uses a lot of nature motifs and takes inspiration from art nouveau, upcycleing, and asian and African styles and artistic movements.

-What is not solar punk is slapping trees and flowers on steel skyscrapers or concrete buildings, that is green washing which as the appearance of sustainability but is actually really damaging to the environment. A ton of water is used to maintain those “green” buildings and they are often not built with sustainable or durable material.

When having no hope for a positive post-climate change future is completely understandable, we also have to understand that the first step to mitigating climate change is knowing that it’s a future that’s possible and worth fighting against. Regardless of the odds stacked against us.

ways to incorporate solarpunk into your life☀️

Learning how to fix/adapt things instead of buying new replacements every time something breaks.

Starting personal or community gardens and weatherproofing them to hell and back because seasons are becoming less and less predictable.

Support local craftsmen and artisans as well as learning crafts/trades yourself!

Normalize walking or cycling (If possible depending on geography and weather because biking in Minnesota winters is a fools errand).

Educate (if you are able) people on the dangers of climate change and how to take care of the environment.

Employ solar panels no matter how small.

Practice upcycleing and learn how to properly recycle.

Voluntier in humanitarian aid and practice organizing and taking care of your community.

[solarpunk-rambles]

This is a place for thoughts and ideas.

I'm still figuring it out. I'm still trying to figure out what I want the future to look like, and, even more, how we get there.

All I know is that I want to learn. I want to learn about different ideas, ones that aren't taught in school, ones that are "radical," and "unrealistic." I want to be able to imagine my future more clearly, and have it be a future where the Earth and its inhabitants are able to work together, without exploiting land and resources-- or each other.

I think it is important to take more traditional political action right now, and to try and reform current systems to lessen their blows on humanity. That kind of activist work is undoubtedly essential, and I both participate in and deeply admire those taking action in whatever way they can.

But I also think there should be a space for dreaming, for hoping, for thinking beyond policy, and beyond the current era of humanity. The way we run things right now is not sustainable. It never was, but now is the time it's catching up to us. And that goes beyond policy, beyond reform. It goes back, ultimately, to colonialism, to capitalism, to slavery; and it is becoming clearer and clearer what a grip these practices still have upon our current political, economic, and social systems.

That, to me, is what makes it all the more important for us to have an idea in our heads of what kinds of different systems could come when finally enough of us realize that the cost of how we live right now is too great upon the Earth and each other.

So what this blog will be is not a set of facts, but a quest to form a political philosophy of my own, or at least to synthesize different opinions and philosophies into a view of a future I'd like to live. Come along for the journey if you'd like, but please be kind. I'm trying to learn, and I know I'll make mistakes. Be forewarned that this blog will also contain lots of sensitive/potentially triggering topics. I'll try to trigger-warn, but be cautious.

I hope anyone reading this has a wonderful day. And remember that small acts of empathy and kindness can change the world just as much as big ideas and actions.

[solarpunk-rambles]

Colonizers write about flowers. I tell you about children throwing rocks at Israeli tanks seconds before becoming daisies. I want to be like those poets who care about the moon. Palestinians don’t see the moon from jail cells and prisons. It’s so beautiful, the moon. They’re so beautiful, the flowers.

— Noor Hindi, from “Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying,” DEAR GOD. DEAR BONES. DEAR YELLOW.