Village Wiring Vision: every place needs one


Wherever your place and community may be, you need a guiding question. DO YOU HAVE A VILLAGE WIRING VISION? Whether you’re a faith community, university, city, rural community, or other community of interest, this ought to be a central organizing question. Of course AIRE’s specific focus is community-owned renewable energy, but Sister Mary Baird gives


Time to see through the smoke: Fires, utilities, faulty perception and technical debt


We have an electric power problem. Of course our sustainability problem is bigger and more complex than just electricity. But, as California’s PG&E continues to be in the news (for all the wrong reasons again this year!) with it’s strategic blackouts in response to the latest climate change fueled hellscape, one wonders why we believe


Solar Power, Historic Theatre Renovations & Community Building


Solar projects are obviously valuable ecologically and financially, but they can also spread enthusiasm in a community. Last Monday we had the pleasure of meeting a group of folks who are doing just that in the beautiful little town of Plymouth, in northwestern Indiana. They’re well into the restoration of their historic “main street” (N.


Ancilla College: Showing the Way in Solar and Electric Vehicle Adoption


With an enrollment of 550 students, Ancilla College may just have more solar per student than any other college. I haven’t actually verified that because my point isn’t quantitative. Rather, it’s qualitative. It’s about doing what is necessary and what is urgent. DOING. It’s about doing what our youth know that we must and that’s


A Lesson in Critical Reading: Michael Barnard Deconstructs Deceitful Energy Journalism


As the planet smolders, the Amazon burns, and the Bahamas are in ruin, and as Columbia Journalism Review just launched a project called Covering Climate Now to hold media accountable for real climate coverage, Michael Barnard just posted a piece over on CleanTechnica that is a textbook example of critical reading. His piece, Adventures in


Walking the plank: Hurricane Dorian and the self-fulfilling prophecy of a fragile energy system


I was in Mexico Beach last winter and stood in the midst of Hurricane Michael’s lingering devastation– broken glass, shredded trees, leveled houses, piles of debris, “don’t forget us” graffiti, and blue tarp band-aids. One week ago, I monitored the developments of Hurricane Dorian, having planned to be in Miami during its anticipated landfall. Once


Poor Handmaids’ Ancilla College Solar ready for the semester!


Ancilla College is going green! so says South Bend, Indiana ABC channel 57. This is most certainly not fake news. We’re mighty proud of Poor Handmaids and the folks behind their groundbreaking work. The provincial leadership is worthy of 5-stars for it’s leadership and the lay staff (CFO, building/maintenance/engineering, fleet management, etc.) have perfectly executed