Flash forward to 2050 with Bill McKibben, a vision of what could be, plus, a report on Trump’s visit, his message to NM and the truth about his chances of turning NM red. Also, offered is a video on Picuris Pueblo’s solar transition.
In brief,
Today, we briefly report on Trump’s visit to Rio Rancho, but it is debilitating for the soul to focus on Trump and his lies, so we then quickly shift focus to a more hopeful vision of the future than I’ve seen in some time. We will report on Bill McKibben’s vision of 2050 if the slumbering wake and serious climate action begins to materialize in 2020.
We close with a short video of the Picuris Pueblo’s use of a $1 million Federal grant to solarize their community and create energy independence, a concrete example of what Community Solar and Local Choice Energy could bring to NM.
If you want to hear more about Picuris and how two legislative initiatives: Community Solar and Local Choice Energy can transform our future as the Federal grant has transformed Picuris and as Bill McKibben imagines 2050, you may want to come to our next Community Meeting.
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 6:30-8:30pm at the Center for Progress & Justice, 1420 Cerrillos. Panel Discussion with: Mariel Nanasi, New Energy Economy; Abbas Akhil, (D-District 20), NM House of Representatives and climate scientist, a representative from Picuris Pueblo, and Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (sponsor of Community Solar). Find out what Community Solar and Local Choice Energy are, how they can accelerate a just transition and democratize our energy use and what you can do now to make passage of these bills more likely. Put this in your calendar. More details coming. And if you live at a great distance and can’t make it to Santa Fe, we have obtained equipment that will solve the sound problem of our livestream and we will be streaming the panel live.
JOIN US. If you live in Santa Fe and have not been involved, to date, please plan to arrive at 6pm as our Action Team coordinators will be there to talk about the teams and their work. We have teams working on Media and Marketing; Outreach and Organizing; Research; and Climate Action. Join us.
For a description of how Community Solar and Local Choice Energy could advance a just transition in NM, click here for a New Energy Economy analysis. Very good stuff.
Actions & Events
LANL rally at the Roundhouse today, community forum in Taos, also today, a General Strike in Santa Fe, ABQ, Taos, Las Cruces, Silver City, Farmington and thousands of cities across the globe and an important film on Gaza this Saturday night. Be part of stage one in getting serious about the climate crisis and join the Strike on Friday….and bring allies! Click here for more information.
Go Back Where YOU Came From–A Message from Maggie Toulouse Oliver
Secretary of State and candidate for US Senate, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, had a message for Donald Trump posted along US Interstate 25. Good news: he’ll be gone soon, from our state this morning and from the White House on Jan 20, 2021.
At his rally in Rio Rancho, Trump told the crowd how polling numbers had informed his campaign that NM was ripe for a GOP victory in part to a huge surge of support among Hispanics. I am not sure what polling his staffers were looking at, but today’s New Mexican reported that: “A Sept. 2-5 ABC News/Washington Post survey found Trump’s approval rating was at 25 percent among Hispanics. His overall approval rating was 38 percent, 6 points lower than his rating in a July poll.” What’s more, ” A Morning Consult poll released late last month showed Trump’s net approval rating in New Mexico has dropped from plus-17 when he took office in January 2017 to minus-13 this July. ” So, the GOP has a ways to go to reverse these trends.
And so, in anticipation of the day we thirst for with so much hope:
Winning in Nov 2020 depends on you. We must transform a community of concern into an army of activists beginning at Friday’s General Strike.
Bill McKibben: What Could be If We Act to Prevent Complete Collapse
Of late, Retake has been reporting on some rather bleak projections for the future, given the current scientific and political trajectory of the climate crisis. But in the current issue of Time magazine Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, projected a different vision for 2050, one predicated upon an abrupt awakening, with that awakening being triggered by the 1% suddenly coming face to face with their own vulnerability.
I read an awful lot of doom and gloom projections related to the climate crisis, but after the demoralizing presence of 45 in our enchanted state, it was refreshing to read a fictionalized version of the next 30 years. McKibben isn’t all rose-tinted glasses here. He acknowledges throughout the article the degree to which the next 30 years will include catastrophic weather events, rising seas, and dislocated millions, but he also projects a path where beginning in 2020, people in power, pressed by an increasingly energetic worldwide movement. began to grapple with the need for dramatic sustained change in our economies and our energy use. From McKibben.
There was a point after 2020 when we began to collectively realize a few basic things.
One, we weren’t getting out of this unscathed. Climate change, even in its early stages, had begun to hurt: watching a California city literally called Paradise turn into hell inside of two hours made it clear that all Americans were at risk. When you breathe wildfire smoke half the summer in your Silicon Valley fortress, or struggle to find insurance for your Florida beach house, doubt creeps in even for those who imagined they were immune. “
I recommend your reviewing the full article, as one of the premises to McKibben’s vision of the next 30 years involves you, you and your neighbor, and your neighbor’s neighbor slowly awakening to the need to join hands and demand a just transition. And frankly, a trip through the next 30 years that includes not just the inevitable consequences of decades of inaction, but also a worldwide awakening to what could be, was just the tonic I needed this morning. Thank you, Bill McKibben.
General Strike: Friday, Sept. 20, 11:30-1:30, West Side of Roundhouse. After you read McKibben’s vision and watch what the Picuris Pueblo has done (below), shoot out an email to a few more friends and ask them to join you at the climate strike on Friday. Details here.
Our ability to dream, our ability to hold fast to McKibben’s vision needs nourishment. 5000 people at the Roundhouse on Friday will provide a badly needed boost to our collective spirits. And your knowing that you stepped outside your comfort zone and coaxed five friends to join you, will be an empowering boost to your own spirit.
In solidarity, Paul & Roxanne
We Can Do This; We Have No Choice
Categories: Uncategorized
This morning I read that 9,000 turned out for Trump’s rally in Rio Rancho yesterday, and that the Democractic and independent response to his visit was tepid by comparison. Maybe people were concerned about personal safety and other matters. But it seems to me that not turning out to protest in large numbers is not necessarily a good sign.
P. S. – I hope that the turnout for the Climate Strike on Friday, 9/20, will be a much stronger statement about where New Mexicans stand on 45. And while I agree that it’s somewhat depressing to spend time & energy on 45, we need to remain vigilant and not allow him to steal the 2020 election – which I am sure he will do if we don’t prevent it.
The TV coverage of Dumpf visit replayed footage from 2016, over and over and from different angles to give the impression there was more chaos and violence than there was. They were priming the fear channels in the watchers. I do not see anyone identifying how toxic and deceptive our local media is.
Well, you are, and you should keep on doing it, loudly, until the local media have to take notice and change.
I went to Tiguex Park. There was a good turn-out. If Bernie or Elizabeth had been advertised we would have beat Trump’s numbers…