Disconnecting from the grid put me in touch with a few people preparing themselves and their families for an apocalypse, as does just living in America. It seems that population includes many people who buy portable solar panels like the ones I bought. I can’t criticize them. On the contrary, it occurred to me that their believing that people can live sustainably can make them great role models, in contrast[…] Keep reading →

You tell me what you fear you’ll lose without pollution and I’ll tell you what you’ll gain more of. If you think you’ll connect les with family, you’ll actually connect more. If you think the poor will be hurt the most, they’ll benefit the most. If you’re worried about losing your job, you’ll find greater job security. If you think your health or the economy will suffer, they’ll improve. What[…] Keep reading →

Talking about an amendment banning pollution raises many questions. One of the biggest is how to define pollution. I’d expect an actual law would result from democratic processes. Encyclopedia Brittanica‘s definition isn’t bad: Pollution occurs when an amount of any substance or any form of energy is put into the environment at a rate faster than it can be dispersed or safely stored. The term pollution can refer to both[…] Keep reading →

Many people point out how suffering from environmental problems like pollution and sea level rise correlate with skin color and ascribe the cause to racism. You don’t have to look hard to see who lives in America’s Cancer Alley and Sacrifice Zones and compare their skin colors against the largest shareholders and board members of the companies profiting from creating those areas, or the people displaced from their land to[…] Keep reading →

I’ve been learning more about abolition in the United States. In 1776, thirteen slave states, likely no one could imagine a world or nation without slavery. Yet in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment made us one free nation comprising thirty-six free states. Today no one would seriously propose repealing the Thirteenth Amendment, what Lincoln called the “king’s solution.” No law, judicial interpretation, or executive order could achieve what it did. On[…] Keep reading →

Katherine Roth interviewed me about unplugging my fridge and apartment from the electric grid and Bebeto Matthews photographed me cooking and putting my solar panels on my roof. Read the story and see the pictures at A fridge too far? Living sustainably in NYC by unplugging. I hope it helps achieve one of my main goals for this experiment: for a few people to say “You can do that!? I[…] Keep reading →

People think if they can’t fly, they won’t be able to see their family. They think, “if I’m here and my parents or children are flying distance away, if I don’t fly, I won’t be able to see them.” They also think, “if my business can’t compete there, I’ll lose revenue and go bankrupt.” Then they conclude, “I may not want to pollute, but family is more important and I’m[…] Keep reading →