July 2011
Is Solar too Expensive?
Jul 1st
Larry Mapes
A friend of mine called the other day, very agitated because she heard a commentator/professor from MIT say on a national newscast, “Solar is too expensive.” The newscast was about the nuclear plant meltdown in Fukushima, Japan.
“Too expensive?” I was at a loss for words. With over three decades of experience in the solar energy industry, this is a tag line I hear all too often from the folks who are more familiar with traditional energy sources. For some reason, people in the U.S. have a hard time understanding that solar energy is cost-effective; this is especially true if More >
From E-Trash to E-Icons: Recycling Modern Materials into Timeless Images
Jul 1st
Tori Lee
Circuit boards transform into Our Lady of Guadalupe. Ribbon cable and resistors combine to form a mask. CDs and memory chips morph into Native American totems. These timeless depictions of potency and hope, created from technological discards, are the work of Marion C. Martínez, a very modern santera (saint maker).
Martínez’s entire life can be seen as preparation for her sacred art created from e-trash. She was born into a traditional Hispanic Catholic farming family in Los Luceros, just north of Española. She grew up in a religious house, presided over by her Tewa-speaking father and Spanish-speaking mother. Rooted in More >
Fresh AIRE: Revitalizing Local Agriculture
Jul 1st
Miguel Santistevan
I have worked on a variety of agricultural-related projects over the years: starting with a community garden sponsored by the Atrisco Land Rights Council; moving on to my own garden and caretaking orchards in Chimayo while working for the Rio de Chama Acequia Association on water planning; going to Davis, Calif. for graduate school and planting gardens with the students of DQ University; and finally returning home to study acequia agriculture by conducting dozens of interviews with farmers, ranchers and community members about their land-based practices and changes over time. After receiving my Master’s degree from UC/Davis, I worked More >
Faren Dancer’s Green Talk: Children Are the Present and the Future
Jul 1st
Faren Dancer
Oh, those fuzzy memories of childhood – moments of laughter, heartache, and the countless contrasts that helped form our beliefs, our sense of self, and impressions of the world. Faint glimpses remain of early times when our innocent fascination with nature was eclipsed only by the pure exuberance felt when, somehow, we knew we were great.
We were a vital part of a grander scheme, interconnected with the birds and the bugs and the stars that shone so brightly. Somehow we knew who we were, though that sense began to fade as the years flowed by, quickly replaced with the More >
Everyday Green – Connect in Nature
Jul 1st
Susan Guyette
Mother Earth is issuing us a wake-up call. As we view the picture of unfolding natural disasters, the concept of Mother Earth or Gaia, the living breathing organism supporting all life, is vital to remember. We are a part of nature, in nature, rather than connected to or with – important distinctions. We are here, at the crossroads, now.
Waking up to the presence of what is happening to the planet and sensing our being in nature is a first step. Information overload and the overuse of electronics shorten our attention span. We are truly suffering from cultural exhaustion.
The oncoming More >
Discovering Pathways
Jul 1st
Peter Callen
The land is already connected. Fortunately for us, wildlife pathways exist in New Mexico. The virtue of our low human population and large ranch sizes puts us ahead of many states that abound in barriers to wildlife migration. Still, what is needed is a greater human awareness of the existence of animal pathways, because the lack of awareness contributes to the barriers to wildlife.
When people are aware of wildlife’s specific needs for movement through “their” area, then these barriers can be mitigated, removed or redressed in a positive way. People are often very open and willing to learn about More >
Citizens for Sustainable Home Ownership
Jul 1st
Charles Cambron
A small group currently living in Cerrillos, New Mexico has established a new nonprofit corporation called Citizens for Sustainable Home Ownership. Our mission is 1) to help people trying to modify their home mortgages, 2) to help restore effective national financial regulation of the banks and Wall Street, and 3) to promote green building as a part of the international effort to stem global warming.
We are undertaking these objectives at a time when the Administration’s efforts to alleviate the wave of home foreclosures has largely been pronounced a failure. The Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP), has worked for a More >
A Fly-Over along the Western Wildway
Jul 1st
Jan-Willem Jansens
BOZEMAN, MT – My small plane landed with a sudden thud as it nearly fell through curtains of rain and skidded on the sopping wet landing strip of Gallatin Field Airport. The flight attendant announced that it was only 49 degrees outside. I had brought a thin raincoat and a sleeveless fleece, just in case. I needed it, and more. In town, I learned that it had just snowed on Yellowstone National Park the night before. To date, the area had had 180% of its annual snowfall and there was a flood warning throughout southwestern Montana; clearly, all the More >
In the Green Fire Times we spotlight initiatives that create positive social impacts on climate change, energy independence, and green job development...
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