If you’ve read some of my earlier posts, it won’t shock you to learn that I am somewhat obsessed with renewable energy and energy efficiency, and that politically I lean to the left, fitting a common local demographic. Predictably, I drive a Prius. My husband Mike drives a Volt. We’ve had solar panels at our home since 2003, and we recently added a bunch more. I shop at Weaver Street Market and buy organic fruit and fair trade coffee. I could go on, but you get the picture.

It turns out, though, that my affection for clean energy is shared by a few parties that don’t necessarily fit my demographic. Like the military. The last two Quadrennial Defense Reviews – in 2010 and 2014 – emphasized the national security threat posed by climate change. As a result, the military has embraced clean energy and energy-saving measures throughout all of its branches, in the interest of using less fossil fuel, improving base security, and above all ensuring national security. (Fuel convoys were a favorite target of attack in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the role oil played in enticing us to war in the first place). For example, Camp Lejeune has installed “tens of thousands of photovoltaic panels on guardhouses, barracks and family housing.” Fort Bragg has installed solar panels, ground source heat pumps, and a combined heat and power plant; it has also made efficiency upgrades that save $13 million a year.

MapleSpring-solarAnd then there’s the Green Tea Coalition. In Georgia, the Green Tea Party has been partnering with the Sierra Club (!) to promote solar energy. Why? Because individual freedom. In Georgia, as here in North Carolina, electricity is delivered by a monopoly utility. There’s no competition – no free market. To the good conservatives of the Green Tea Party, that’s uncool.

They’re spreading their message to other states, too. In Florida, a Tea Party group has been leading a petition drive for a ballot measure to permit third-party sales of electricity, so that residents would be able to choose a power provider other than the current monopoly utility. Florida – and North Carolina – are two of just a handful of states than ban third-party sales. Some Republicans in our General Assembly have thought about lifting our ban as well.

On the flip side, there are crucial social and environmental justice components of the struggle to transition away from fossil fuels. When it comes to being victimized by dirty air or dirty water, more often than not low-income communities feel the greatest pain, from blown-up mountains poisoning drinking water in West Virginia to fracking upending life in rural Pennsylvania. And dirty facilities are all too frequently sited on the doorsteps of low income communities of color, from Rogers Road to the South Bronx to Richmond, California.

I’ve been pondering all this in light of the impossibly short timeframe within which we need to stop burning fossil fuels to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Big Fossil Fuel interests spend massive amounts of money to strangle the progress of clean energy and fund disinformation about it. Until now they’ve succeeded in keeping lots of regular folks ignorant of our common interests and suspicious of one other. But maybe we’re hitting a tipping point the other way.

Coal_Burning_Power_Plant_Smoke_StacksIn West Virginia, the most impenetrable fortress of folks beleaguered by Big Coal and pounded by propaganda convincing them there is no other way to earn a living, there have been pockets of rebellion. The people of Coal River Mountain Watch, for example, are battling mountaintop removal and fighting for economic diversification. They also want to bring wind turbines to their mountaintops, where the wind resources are ideal.

Closer to home, clean energy and energy efficiency have brought a lot of good jobs to the Old North State in recent years. These are both blue collar – think solar installation and building efficiency improvements – and white collar – think clean tech research, managers at solar companies, and firms like Cree. According to the 2014 North Carolina Clean Energy Industry Census, almost 23,000 people in our state are employed in the industry, and that number has been growing by 25% per year recently.

The revolution may not be televised, but it is underway.

************************************************

Want to be part of the green revolution? Here are four ways:

        1. Cut your power use! There are many low-cost fixes that go a long way, like window treatment, weather-stripping, fixing leaks, etc. Check out the energy efficiency pyramid for a host of examples.
        2. Join Solarize Orange, and get clean energy on your roof! The program is starting another round and will be offering the same discounts and one-stop shopping as before. Attend an informational meeting:
          1. Wednesday evening April 29, 7:00pm, Carrboro Town Hall (more info at http://www.solarizenc.org/carrboro), or
          2. Wednesday evening May 6, 6:30pm at the Chapel Hill Library, (more info at http://www.solarizenc.org/ch) or
          3. Date TBA in mid-May at the Orange County campus of Durham Tech (info will be posted at http://www.solarizenc.org/hillsborough.)
        3. Get trained! Learn how to install solar panels or conduct energy audits through Durham Tech’s Sustainable Technologies program.

 

Get involved! Here are some local and statewide groups helping to move us forward (in no particular order): Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, NC Sustainable Energy AssociationNC WARN, Environment NC, NC Conservation Network, NC Sierra Club, and Transition Carrboro-Chapel Hill.