http://univercities.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/in-highland-park-a-region-raises-a-hoop-house/

written by Joel Batterman

A barn-raising in the heart of Detroit? That’s certainly what it felt like as activists from across the region gathered in Highland Park on Sunday, June 26, to construct a 2000-square-foot hoop house from plastic sheeting and metal tubes. This solar-powered greenhouse can grow food year-round—even in Michigan winters. Armed with the right equipment, it doesn’t take more than a day to construct one. As UniverCities Energy Data Intern Jordan Eizenga and other Suburbs Alliance staff found, it does take a number of willing hands.

Jordan Eizenga is framed by the house’s metal structure.

Jordan (not to be confused with Energy Policy Intern Jordan G.) found lending his hands easy enough. He moved to Ferndale this summer to be near the Suburbs Alliance main office, and biked the few short miles along Woodward Avenue from Ferndale to help build the house. The site was behind the Green Economy Leadership Training (GELT) house near Woodward and McNichols. A branch of a national youth network organizing for solutions to global climate change, GELT seeks to give young people a holistic understanding of the transition to a sustainable, community-scaled economy through neighborhood projects like the hoop house.

Things heat up in the hoop house’s interior.

By late morning, most of the metal hoops that formed the hoop house’s structure were already in place, and the lot was a hive of activity. Builders included master hoop-house mechanic Jeff McCabe, co-founder of Ann Arbor’s SELMA Café, Margaret Lewis, publisher of the Highland Park-based Legacy News, and scores of others from the block, the neighborhood and the greater region. Now that’s metropolitan cooperation in action! While at rest, the group traded farming tips and enjoyed impromptu rapping from the youngest attendees.

The plastic sheeting has been hauled into place.

“Billow it!” As the sun sank lower, the team gathered on either side of the curving metal frame to push and pull the plastic walls of the house into place, sending ripples through the giant sheets to carry them over the top. Slowly, under the careful hands of Jordan and two dozen others, the double sheets slid down to meet the wooden frame near the ground. What had been empty space open to the elements at dawn became a warmer interior where plants will grow come winter.

Collective celebration with the help of a timpani.

There’s much more to be done before the hoop house produces its first crops. For Jordan and the other six Suburbs Alliance staff on hand, though, the day was an inspiring confirmation that people from all over the area can come together to build a healthier, greener and tastier future. Working cooperatively, the group built in one day what a single person couldn’t have constructed alone. Metro Detroit needs to bring that lesson to a regional scale: we’re stronger together.

In the aftermath of the Japanese disaster, politicians around the globe have been debating the necessity of including nuclear as part of the transition to a clean energy future. Unlike other leaders who have placed moratoriums on the licensing of new plants, American politicians have largely stuck by nuclear–a consensus that perhaps was aided by storm of nuclear lobbyists on Capitol Hill.

But, as of last month, the U.S. renewable energy industry has reached an important milestone: domestic production is now greater than that of nuclear power.

This milestone has been reached by important leaps in the renewable sector, particularly from solar-generated electricity which increased by 104.8 percent in the first three months of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010.

While renewable energy still has a long way to go before it catches up to fossil fuels, the recent jump in production could play a major role in a nuclear debate that has often denounced the ability of renewable energy to provide stable and sufficient power. While most people agree that nuclear carries inherent meltdown risks and poses the serious challenge of radioactive waste storage, support for nuclear power was at an all-time high among the American public before the disaster in Japan.

Last February, the World Wildlife Fund released a provocative energy report  of an future world run entirely by renewable energy, set in 2050. The report was quickly followed by two papers from professors at Stanford and UC Davis envisioning a similar future but one solely reliant on already existing renewables, mainly solar and wind.

The tide is clearly changing with more academics, politicians and activists agreeing that renewable energy is the way of the future. Whereas nuclear power plants go for at least $10 billion a pop, Summer of Solutions Oakland is partnering with Solar Mosaic to build community solar projects with investments as small as $100. I know where I’m putting my money…

Cross-posted at  the Solar Mosaic blog http://solarmosaic.com/blog/renewable-energy-nuclear

Picture this: ten young West Virginians carrying a 350-lb fiberglass giraffe through the grounds of a community center in a low-income neighborhood in the Chemical Valley.

It’s a bizarre sight – and it certainly isn’t what the socially-conscious participants expected when they signed up for a summer with Build-It-Up! West Virginia, to build infrastructure and expand the capacity of long-term community-run sustainable economic projects in the coalfields. Continue reading →

It’s hard to believe that we’re nearly four weeks into Summer of Solutions. I’ll be honest–the world hasn’t changed yet. It is still powered by fossil fuels, the income gap continues to expand, hunger and poverty remain rampant in far too many places, biodiversity is quietly but rapidly stepping out, and what’s worse? The steadfast warming of the planet can only enhance these problems.

The world may not have changed (at least noticeably) in the last four weeks, but something has. There’s a mysterious energy I’ve been getting from the world around me that I’ve struggled to place. Something around me has surely changed. But what? For some reason, my perception of the world has become more positive. I have become more and more optimistic about the abilities of people to overcome the daunting challenges posed by ubiquitous, systemic failures. But why? Continue reading →

Two days ago, the United States celebrated the 235th anniversary of our declaration of independence from British Rule. Like most American holidays, we tend to use this as an excuse to have parties, eat a lot, and buy stuff – in this case, fireworks. Many Americans also use it as a time to share their views on patriotism, freedom, and the other concepts our founding fathers talked about – as if the only time it’s appropriate to bring up these words is in the context of the American history or right-wing political rallies.

But when did this language become “right wing”? When did it become cliched/ironic to wear a T-shirt with a bald eagle or an American flag? When did the noble ideal of “liberty and justice for all” become just something we repeat in public school classrooms, not what guides our daily decisions? Continue reading →

Cross-posted from WeArePowershift.org

By Anna Nilles

During my first day as a solutionary, I drifted into a conversation among my program leaders about the “side yard wish list.” Simply put, this is all the stuff they wanted to put in the grassy space next to our house. There was mention of chicken coops, bike racks, 3-bin compost systems, tool sheds, and rain barrels. I took one look at the side of the house and chuckled. This would be like when my parents talk about fixing their garbage disposal— it sounds like a great idea, but they never quite get it done.

Little did I know, a week later I would be drafting a floor plan of this infamous side yard and submitting it to a carpenter, who will complete the project next week thanks to a group of volunteers. In addition to fitting all of the “wish list” items into the yard, we will be adding a rain garden, demolishing 2 flights of stairs, and extending the space an additional 8 feet. Continue reading →

by Daria Kieffer

It is so hot outside. I guess summer finally decided to show itself in Minnesota, and, as much as I love it, I’ve decided to retreat into a nice cold coffee shop to spend some quality time with my laptop. I’ve officially been living in the Twin Cities, working and playing with Summer of Solutions, for three weeks now, and it’s been a crazy blur of activity the whole time.

It’s funny- when I think about all that we’ve been doing for the past 21 days (farming, repairing bikes, meeting with millions of community partners, potlucks, more meetings), I wonder why I’m not about to keel over with exhaustion. I so clearly remember last summer, when I was working 40 hours per week at a consignment store, and all I felt like doing after an eight hour day was plopping down on my couch with some ice cream. Why aren’t these long days depleting me that way? Continue reading →

By Cecelia Watkins

Wake up. Bike from my home in St Paul over to South Minneapolis. Meet up with other passionate people to plan how to deliver 40 free workshops on home energy efficiency to local residents. Attend a fabulously raucous group lunch and engage in a vibrant discussion on how capitalism fits into our vision of the green economy. Learn about urban bee keeping, then bike back across the shimmering Mississippi to repair donated bikes and laugh with a motley crew of community members while learning how to distinguish brake from shifter housing. Bike home under blue skies, listening to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution TED Talk on my MP3 player.

Kirsten, Elena and Daria show off a rusty chain at Sibley Bike Depot

A year ago, I would have termed that a youthful fantasy born out of an head too full of wanting to do it all at once: biking and gardening and weatherizing—making a positive difference in the world while growing personally and maintaining personal well-being in the process. Now, I would call that description a Monday at Summer of Solutions Twin Cities.

Continue reading →

Pioneer Valley Summer of Solutions Hits the Ground Running