These devotional candles were on the fence enclosing a neighbor’s garden. I appreciate the sentiment, and am grateful and have financially supported both.
I am also moved to ask why it is we put people on pedestals. Could it also be in part a way of letting oneself off the hook for doing what is in our capabilities because only the contributions of those who are more than human have real meaning?
I received this email last night that I wanted to share. If you own a house in the District and haven’t gone solar, think about it. If you rent, write your landlord. If you live in another jurisdiction, work with like-minded citizens and work for alternative sources of energy. FYI, since my solar panels were active, my highest electricity bill was $20 (and for the past two months, the meter has run backwards).
Here’s the full text of the email (with a link on how to get involved at the bottom):
Today, thanks to your hard work the Distributed Generation Act of 2011 (19-10) passed the DC Council. The vote was unanimous!!! We only await the Mayor’s signature for the bill to become law. Although, there may be a lag of up to a year for SREC prices on the spot market to recover–we expect the bill to create a strong vibrant solar market in DC for the next DECADE!! In response to the expected improvement in market conditions SOLSYSTEMS announced today the availability of an upfront SREC payment through its installer partners of $1,200/kw installed. This means for example, that you could get $4,800 up front for a 4kw system!
Many many people worked on the bill! Many of you showed up to testify! More than a thousand of you signed the petition in support of the legislation. http://signon.org/sign/build-dc-solar-dont-let?source=s.em.cr&r_by=118605 Many of you sent emails or made phone calls. Many of you showed up to deliver our petition to each of the Council Member’s offices. Many of you turned out to create a field of sunflowers–in the Council Chamber during the first reading of the bill! A special shout out to MDVSEIA that worked hand and hand with us throughout the process!
It is important that the DC Council understand that this bill has very strong, and broad support from across the city. We want them to feel good about passing this bill and feel good about passing similar legislation in the future. This bill will create the market mechanism to allow homeowners, churches, community organizations, businesses and government buildings to go solar! While there is much left to do to make solar affordable and accessible to every DC resident—this bill is a very important step.
PLEASE write to the DC council today and THANK them for their support! dccouncil@dccouncil.us A quick email, a quick thanks! Thank them for leading DC toward a solar future.
Anya Schoolman
President
DC Solar United Neighborhoods
Thinking of Going Solar? Want to Get More Involved ? Become a DC Sun Member– Join the Discussion at
I walked over to the Capitol building at lunchtime to see the rally in support of the Jobs Bill. As I approached, attendees were chanting “jobs not war, jobs not war, jobs not war, jobs not war, jobs not war, jobs not war, jobs not war, jobs not war, jobs not war….”
The act of chanting gathered the energy together. The chanting empowered those at the rally to deepen their resolve. In this instance, their resolve was to seek in an ever more coordinated and expansive way a shift away from war and big finance and to community, environment, education, and infrastructure repair and development, employing the millions who have been out of work in this double recession. Chanting also helped bring the message into the conscious awareness of those hearing the chant, which in its simplicity served as a sign post both for the more elaborate meaning and for a more universal call for unity and change. This power to work both within and without with chanting at a rally can give a taste the powers attributed to the yoga practices of mantra repetition (japa) or meditation with a mantra. Just how mantra and chanting work is a curious and wondrous matter, but it is hard to think of a culture that has not spontaneously used chants for both individual and collective worship and power.
Ultimate fullness or ultimate emptiness? I think I believe in the former rather than the latter, but is that a distinction without a difference? Certainly not one worth fighting over. Worthy, perhaps, though, of discussion and contemplation.
