Word: solarity
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Despite the need for, and advantages of, solar energy, there has not yet arisen a strong base of grassroots support for solar development. One reason is common ignorance of the continuing energy crisis and of the inability of nuclear power to safely meet national, or international, energy needs. El Camino owners still fly down the pikes doing CB 70 flashing a chrome-framed message from their jacked-up bumpers: I hope all of you ecological bastards freeze to death in the dark. A second reason is the lack of effective leadership--field representatives from national Sun Day headquarters...
...unprepared for "communal, free" energy as they were for unwed mothers and organic apples. Talk about "soft" energy alternatives conjures up notions of Carvel or Dentu-creme, neither of which seems the likely source of progress and power in this country. Furthermore, Sun Day sponsors and others defined solar energy so as to include "indirect" solar sources, such as manure and windmills, that do even less to lend credence to the idea of a solar "strong America...
Organizers should limit this approach to alternative publications where the readership is more receptive. A national campaign should focus on the viability of solar power within the context of the trash compacter mentality. If solar energy really changes society away from its energy-eating technological obsession, then there is no need to force such ideas upon the general public. Nevertheless, one aspect of solar energy not linked to its technical or economic feasibility should be stressed--its potential to create jobs...
...economic viability of solar energy depends on the establishment of legislated support for both development and implementation. Tax incentives and direct loans for solar installations should be augmented and distributed promptly--1375 Massachusetts homeowners have waited for more than a year for $400 solar hot water heating grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Citizens should encourages Congress to repeal legislation that encourages fossil fuel consumption--such as that establishing federal highway funds--and urge legislatures and councils to modify those institutional arrangements--such as outmoded utility rate structures and building codes--that hinder the application of solar...
Unfortunately, most of the present pressure on legislators comes from utility front organizations, such as the Edison Electric Institute, that recognize the threat solar energy poses to their profits. Solar flares, although spectacular, won't bring us closer to solar energy either. But better presentations--along the lines of Sun Day--can inform people of the practicality and inevitability of a massive American turn towards...