It’s been exactly a year since this day, my last on the road: A lot has happened since that day. As I mentioned in my last post, it was only two weeks later that I left for Boston to join Solstice, a mission-driven, hybrid business/non-profit that is opening access to affordable solar for underserved American … Continue reading A Year in Photos
A quick life update: Hester (the bike) is sitting at home in my basement in Eugene, getting some well-deserved rest, while I’m across the country, getting used to a new city and a new job. Three weeks ago, I started a job with Solstice, a Boston-based social enterprise that is working to expand access to … Continue reading New Beginnings: Solstice, 2017, Boston
Eugene, OR to Walla Walla, WA– 1,011 km (Total Mileage: 20,103/40,075 km) Well, this is it, my last post from the road for at least a little while. I set out from my hometown of Eugene, Oregon about three weeks ago to look for renewable energy work in the Portland and Seattle areas, and then headed … Continue reading Halfway Around the World: 17 Photos from the Road
San Francisco, CA to Eugene, OR– 1,078 km (Total Mileage: 19,119/40,075 km) After nearly half an earth-circumference of cycling, I had yet to sleep in a soggy sleeping bag. I had simply been lucky enough to avoid evening rain or to be in places where I could afford to dry out in a hotel. That was … Continue reading Heading Home: 15 Photos from the Coast Highway
As I move towards long-term work supporting Energy Democracy, I’m taking time out to explore the ideas and models that define this world. So far, I’ve asked What is Energy Democracy? and examined one example of an Energy Democracy group that is finding success in Spain. Today, I want to take a look at the philosophy of the Xarxa per la … Continue reading Sobirania Energètica: New Ideas on Energy from Cataluña
Los Angeles, CA and San Francisco, CA– 450 km (Total Mileage: 18,041/40,075 km) It all feels so familiar. I was born in the Berkeley and have a few memories–images, really–from the time before my family moved north to Oregon. But it’s the West Coast culture that strikes me, the health foods and dominant liberal culture. I’ve been … Continue reading Back West: 11 Photos from LA and the Bay Area
I’ve written in my last few posts about my intention to focus in on models to pursue energy democracy–the idea that, as we transform our energy systems to run on renewable and stored energy, we should also aim for an equitable distribution of the ownership and control of these resources. There are a variety of ways … Continue reading An Energy Cooperative Grows in Spain
Pembroke Pines, FL to San Antonio, TX– 2,423 km (Total Mileage: 17,591/40,075 km) The last time I was in America, not a single vote had been cast–primary or general. No matter how much you may feel you’ve aged, that was just over a year ago. And after a year of questions from non-Americans about Trump … Continue reading Home Again? 13 Photos from the Southeastern US
This post is part of an ongoing focus on Energy Democracy as a force within the energy transition. Polling conducted in the wake of the most recent US presidential election showed held results that would surprise both national Republican leaders and climate activists. 60 per cent of respondents who labelled themselves as “very conservative” supported … Continue reading What is Energy Democracy?
When I left home nearly three years ago, my goal was to learn the concrete realities of climate change and the energy transition, and to communicate that knowledge to whoever might be interested. My subject was intentionally broad, because environmental problems and their solutions are inevitably complex and interlocking, and I believe that anyone working on … Continue reading What’s Next: The Road Home, Energy Democracy
360 by bike 