permaculture

[Elinor Jean <u3288545@anu.edu.au>]

Sharonka, I know this is slightly going off on a tangent, but your comments 
about solar power really struck a chord with me. It really pisses me off 
the way prominent, mainstream thinking insists that solar and wind are 
still the solutions of the far-distant future, but not practical for now. I 
have lived all my life in a solar powered house (I am 22). But recently in 
Australia there was a conference on Future Energy Solutions and all that 
was discussed prominently was nuclear power and ways to make coal/gas less 
damaging to the environment. I just wanted to get in there and shout: 
solar/wind is not some far-fetched idea that hasn't been thought quite 
through properly yet, it is available and on the ground now. All Australian 
energy needs could easily be supplied by solar farms alone (easy because we 
have lots of sun all year round). Yet these possibilities are ignored, to a 
great extent because big industry has tied too much up in coal and needs to 
protect its investment. Meanwhile we suffer and they destroy our world.

But: best not to run to county commissioner, local government or whatever. 
I don't think anyone -- however firmly committed -- can ever get the 
massive changes we need at that level. Because you can't change the system 
by working within the system and the system is what is stuffed. We need to 
work from the ground up, organizing together at a grass-roots level, 
building protest movements and changing the world from below. It is great 
there are so many wonderful people out there all over the world who care 
and are trying to live sustainably. Now we have to fight to change things.

Elin.

PS: I would love to hear more about how you lived in Bangladesh years ago.

At 07:57 PM 10/26/04 -0400, you wrote:
> Three Cheers For Cow Shit,
>
> I just went thru a miserable day trying to get a permit from county
> jackasses to put up a greenhouse on my 5 acres zones Ag-1.
> It did lift my heart to read about the use of cow dung for power production.
> Also made me miss the nightly BBC report and reminded
> me of my time so long ago in Bangladesh where the women collected cow pies to
> dry and uses as cooking fuel.  Breaking up
> a few arguments too, over who got to the cow shit first.  How simple
> my life was then, how idealist I was, how old I grown and what
> idiots are in charge of "Community Development" in my county.
>
> How dare they tell me, a farmers daughter, a nurseryman's sister where and
> how and why and that solar power can't keep be installed.  I must pull the 
> power
> line to the back acres.  Refund my taxes please.
>
> I'm a tired old woman, I gave it my best.  Those of you just starting
> your adult lives or in the middle, please run for county commissioner or
> other local level elected position.  That seems to be where the
> idiocy starts, yes I believe it does.
>
> Hey, try some dry cow pies next summer to boil water for your sweet corn. I
> promise it will be fun and the farmer will gladly give you some shit a 
> week in
> advance to dry out on your garage wall.
>
> Good night.  Hold your ideals close to your heart and we may survive as a
> species.  Your emails were a good night cap, bye now.
>
> Sharonka
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