OCTOBER MEETING AGENDA
October 1, 6-8pm
OFF-GRID SYSTEMS
October 8, 6-8pm
OFF-GRID SYSTEMS
October 15, 6-8pm
OFF-GRID SYSTEMS
October 22, 6-8pm
GALLUP SOLAR BOARD MEETING
October 29, 6-8pm
GALLUP SOLAR SOCIAL
Potluck & Stories
For months Gallup Solar has been trying to figure out what is the solar solution for the reported 18,000 homes on the Navajo Nation
without electricity.
These include hogans, far from any power lines, to houses, wired but not connected to nearby power lines because of prohibitive cost.
As in town, on the Navajo Reservation there are strict conservationists and those who would like to use electricity for everything.
Through our partnership with the Eagle Energy Entrepreneur program we have been exploring the capabilities of small systems to power lights, charge cell phones, computers and DVD players. These can make a huge difference to people depending on kerosene and gas generators.
But as prices of PV systems come down it seems reasonable that more people should have a full system to run refrigerators, power tools,
pumps and more.
We know of at least three designers who are working on off-grid systems that can meet these challenges and are compact, portable and affordable and we have invited them to present in October.
Please join us.
SONG OF THE
CLIMATE MARCH
These photos were taken by Gallup Solar friends and family at the Climate Pilgrimage in Albuquerque on September 20 and in the People’s Climate March in New York City on September 21.
Even for the Koch brothers!
All the people speaking all the languages are together on this planet.
One disappointment: no roadrunners joined us; they were busy feasting on grasshoppers away from the city's concrete.
The signs at both Albuquerque and New York were inspiring. Many people put a great deal of time and thought into them, like the woman who told me she spent 4 hours getting hers "just right". Others were simple but got the message across, like "Stop the Frack, Jack"
lettered on a piece of cardboard.
No downside to taking measures for reducing the impacts of
global warming
Diverse groups and individuals gathered for climate marches in Albuquerque and Santa Fe with a collective attendance of 1000 citizens saying we need to ACT NOW on climate change. Both events had petitions that people signed asking PNM to propose more renewables in the San Juan case and also supporting the EPA clean power guidelines that are in the comment period until December of this year.
Verses are by Vera Spohr, Don Hyde, Betsy Windisch, Pat Sheely, and Joan Brown.
Joining 400,000 at the
People’s Climate March
in New York City
Rose Marie with END
September 21
st, historic day of the People’s March for Climate Action in New York City, our group of nine Maryknoll Sisters boarded an early morning train at Woodcliff, NJ, heading for the City and the March. Cheers and shouts of welcome greeted us as we entered the train compartment and found ourselves among a large New Jersey contingent also bound for the March. Some had prepared extra signs, posters and climate change buttons, which they quickly shared with us. We exchanged names, where we were from, and joined in the festive spirit that pervaded this enthusiastic group. After three train transfers to reach our destination, we emerged from the subway at Columbus Circle and were immediately engulfed in a multi-generational sea of humanity converging on 59
th Street.
Participants in the March were to assemble in six different sections according to their affiliated groups or organizations. Each section was assigned specific numbers of city blocks, and each had a different Climate Change theme, to help weave the many powerful messages together. The purpose was to tell the story of today’s Climate Movement, different from the one of decades past.
This was the line-up:
·
Section 1 was Frontlines of Crisis, Forefront of Change. Leading the March were the people who are first and most impacted and are leading the change: Indigenous, Environmental Justice
and other frontline communities.
· Section 2 emphasized We Can Build the Future. This group focused on how every generation’s future is at stake from Climate Change, and included students, labor, families and elders.
· Section 3 featured We Have Solutions. Renewable energy, food and water, environmental organizations carried poster messages showing that a just transition is possible.
· Section 4 signaled We Know Who Is Responsible. Anti-corporate campaigns, peace and justice organizations called for engaging and challenging those who are holding back progress.
· Section 5 emphasized The Debate is Over. Interfaith groups and scientists made clear that the facts are in!
Taking action is a moral necessity.
· Section 6 called out the message To Change Everything, We Need Everyone. And in the rear guard, everyone was represented: NYC boroughs, community groups, LGBTQ, neighborhoods,
cities, states and countries.
Moving among hundreds of people, we finally found
The Debate is Over section between 8
th and 9
th Avenues, already overflowing
with people from every known faith tradition.
Over thirty-five different religious affiliations were listed.
In front of us was a large stage, with mics and sound system. To the left of the stage was a wooden replica of Noah’s Arc, the size of a school bus, symbolic of the Judaic-Christian traditions. To the right of the stage, a lofty inflatable mosque hovered high overhead, representing the Muslim tradition. These symbols were to remind all who gathered that the whole Earth is a sanctuary, a sacred place of prayer.
From 11:00 am until 1:30 pm, everyone in this vastly diverse multi-faith gathering stood literally shoulder to shoulder, singing and praying with a spirit of oneness and unity that was exhilarating. Undergirding all our diversity was love and concern for the One Earth Community and our threatened planet. For two and half hours, we heard prayers of healing, blessing and lamentation over what we humans have done to Earth’s fragile web of life. In turn, robed Buddhist monks and nuns, turbaned Sikhs, grandmothers from indigenous communities, Evangelicals, Christian pastors, Baha’I, Hindu, Jain, Quaker, Jewish, Shinto, Muslim and other faith representatives offered their prayer. Interspersed with the invocations were lively, joyful songs lead by popular musicians and instrumentalists who kept the patient marchers in good spirit while waiting for the long-anticipated People’s Climate March to begin.
At 1:30 pm a conch shell sounded announcing that our Section would begin to move forward at last. What an awesome experience it was walking in solidarity with 400,000 from across the United States and many other nations as we moved slowly along the route, down Central Park West, east on 59
th Street, then 6
th Avenue to 42nd Street, heading for Times Square. Green Guard volunteers in bright T-shirts walked alongside the marchers providing a buffer zone next to thousands of police stationed along the route. Participants in the march had been prepared by agreeing to The People’s Climate March Code of Conduct, which insured that nonviolence would prevail throughout the day.
People along the entire March reflected a sense of unity and deep commitment in the shared resolve to address impacts of climate change, especially on peoples and communities already suffering the devastating effects of extreme weather events. Meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced recently that the summer of 2014 – June, July and August – was on track to break the record for the hottest year, set in 2010. It was concern about the consequences of that warming that drew hundreds of thousands to the People’s March for Climate Action in New York City. The message to world leaders is loud and clear: the time for action is long overdue to cut global emissions of green house gases and
phase out fossil fuel-based economies.
by Rose Marie Cecchini, MM
September 29, 2014
The non-profit Work in Beauty gave birth to Gallup Solar in 2007
Here is an event you don't want to miss!
For more information go to
gallupsolar.org
