Bill McKibben’s Comments on GRID Alternatives and Rooftop Solar in an Exclusive Greenius Video

The Greenius asks Bill McKibben a question at his L.A. Times Book Festival appearance at UCLA

The 2010 focus for 350.org is “Get To Work” and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing here in Southern California even before the year began.

Personally I haven’t stopped working since I began organizing for 350.org in June of 2009, and I know myself well enough to understand that I’ve been keeping the throttle open to avoid thinking about the consequences of the global warming we’re already too late to stop.

I asked Bill about the issues of optimism and pessimism and whether he still felt as he did a year ago when he told an interviewer that he no longer thought in terms of optimism and pessimism, he just got up every morning and got to work.

He said that today he draws his energy and inspiration from the young people, mostly in their 20s, who he works with.  They’re not discouraged or to bummed to carry on.  They know they’re being given damaged goods by the generation handing off to them and they’re ready to deal with it.  They understand that the most powerful, most monied interests are lined up against them with a vengeance and they never expected it to be any different.  They’re not ready to give up.  And so… neither am I.

I asked Bill about the work my friends at GRID Alternative are doing and his thoughts on the adoption of rooftop solar in this final segment of my video interview with him.

Another Exclusive Greenius Video: 350.org’s Bill McKibben on Biking and the SBBC

Bill McKibben signs his new book "Eaarth" at the L.A. Times Book Festival (photo by Debra Bushweit Galliani)

I really enjoyed getting to table for 350.org at the same table author, Bill McKibben, was signing copies of his new book “Eaarth.”  What I dug most was the way Bill personally connected with each person who had a book for him to sign.  He took his time and had a brief but unrushed conversation with each person who came by.

Bill was just as unrushed and kind in his time with me in answering some questions for my video interview.

In this second of three video segments, I asked Bill about the work the South Bay Bicycle Coalition is doing in bringing a Master Bike Plan to the area that links the cities of the South Bay:

Exclusive Greenius Video: Bill McKibben on Hermosa Beach as a Carbon Neutral City

Renown environmental author and activist, Bill McKibben, is in Los Angeles today where we met him at the L.A. Times Festival of Books.

Bill is the founder of 350.org and we’ve only previously talked together on the radio, so it was a great joy for me to meet Bill in person and exchange hugs and fist bumps.

Bill’s newest book, Eaarth was the topic of of his wide ranging discussion with L.A. Times staff writer, Susan Salter Reynolds, well known for her book reviews and “Discoveries” column.

I got a chance to talk to Bill about a few of the things we’re working on here in the Los Angeles area and the first subject was our Carbon Neutral City efforts in Hermosa Beach.


The Solangelist is Back! Greenius & GRID Alternative Get to Work Installing Solar in Inglewood

Last Tuesday and Wednesday I lucked out and landed another volunteer slot on a solar installation gig with my old pals from GRID Alternatives.  It’s the most physically exciting work I do as an environmental activist and I always feel like I’ve won the lottery when I get the email that says I’m part of the installation crew.

A low income homeowner in Inglelwood was the recipient of 14 – 215 kW primo Sunpower panels and a beautiful Sunny Boy inverter started showing the amount of carbon it was cutting just a few minutes after we turned it on

Check out my slide show after the jump –

Greenius Celebrates Earth Week with South Bay Environmental Services Center

The Greenius at Sea Lab Earth Day in Redondo Beach

What an Earth Week!

The Greenius helped bring the South Bay Environmental Services Center message of saving energy, saving water, and saving the environment to Earth Day events at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes,

to the 18th annual VOICE Earth Day Celebration at Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach,

to Northrup Grumman’s Earth Day Celebration at their Manhattan Beach facility on the actual Earth Day on Thursday April 22…

to today’s Earth Day event at Sea Lab

I was also happy to help the South Bay Bicycle Coalition launch our first Earth Day outreach efforts too –  including the first ever bicycle parade at Polliwog Park.

Tomorrow I’ll be at UCLA with Bill McKibben of 350.org…

Greenius on Patch.com – Helping AOL Get HyperLocal

It’s been weeks since I’ve opined on this page and one of  the reasons why is the time it’s taken launching two new columns for AOL’s Patch.com.  I’m writing a weekly column on environmental issues for Hermosa Beach Patch and a weekly column on bicycling and the South Bay Bicycle Coalition news for Redondo Beach Patch.

AOL is backing Patch.com with an initial $50 million and hiring journalists to provide hyperlocal coverage in communities of 15,000-100,000 on both coasts.  And I’m helping to provide that coverage in Redondo and Hermosa including shooting photos and video.

I’ve only been doing it for or a month or so, but so far I’m digging the experience and happy to broaden my local readership and Creative Greenius reach.

There was an interesting piece by James Rainey in today’s LAT focusing specifically on Manhattan Beach Patch but I don’t think Rainy has any particular insight or perspective on the issue.

Unlike yours truly who has nothing BUT particular insight and perspective on not only this issue but so many more.  And that’s exactly what a brain dead populace is looking for these days and exactly why I’m stretching my already overburdened schedule to  bring my fellow South Bay citizens Patch pieces like these I’ve already had published:

Miss Misinformation Pageant – Who Is The Biggest Liar About Climate?

Kudos for the brilliant work on this new Greenpeace production to my good friend, Jenny Binstock, and the great cast and crew of volunteers from Greenpeace Southern California.

This would be even funnier if it weren’t so truly sad and sadly true.  Too bad Meg Whitman wasn’t available because she would have been a contender!

Greenius Says No to Offshore Drilling. Mr. President, You Are Following A Failed Strategy & Wasting Time

It’s perfectly obvious that President Obama is attempting to reach out to the right and members of Congress who are owned by the oil industry with his move this week to make offshore drilling part of his energy mix.  The Greenius understands full well this “Let’s Keep Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman Aboard the Climate Bill Bandwagon” approach, just as I can grok how ineffective and nonproductive that approach is.  It’s not the first time the President has followed the same failed path of imaginary bipartisanship with people who only seek a return to the disastrous Katrina-style polices  of the past – and it no doubt won’t be the last.

What did we expect?  The dude is a politician, not problem solver. That’s MY job.  I’m not running for nothing.  I’m already the Greenius and there’s no term limits that come with this territory.

My pals at Surfrider Foundation aren’t running for anything either and they’re not about kissing ass to politicians who are nothing more than paid shills for big oil.  That’s why they’re among the environmental organizations offering the public the truth and reality on the issue this week.  With all due respect to the White House, all they offered was bullshit and spin this week.  To see the difference for yourself, join us after the jump to read the four biggest Offshore Drilling Myths and Legends straight from the folks at Surfrider: