Brian Ebel, Dallas Green Community Examiner
October 13, 2011
Solar Power is obviously all over the news right now, with Solyndra and all that joyful press. I interviewed at Evergreen Solar in Massachusetts the day they decided to outsource all the manufacturing to China, where the Government subsidizes solar panels illegaly (they break international trade laws, the nerve). So when Solyndra tanked it was no suprise. I am at a standstill right now, I have my LEED Certificate, Environmental Science degree and tons of field experience and the thought of spending another 10 years like the ones I just experienced really doesn't thrill me. Occupy Dallas is careful to not be co-opted by corporate or political groups, which I totally agree with, I just think this is a win-win situation because energy independence decentralizes the power structure, it's a horizontal thinking thing. Then I realized I have this awesome Examiner account and will just plant the seed, thats what we green hippies do you know.
http://www.solarpowerinternational.com/2011/public/enter.aspx
A few months ago when I first moved to Dallas, my very first penny made in this state was on this very website, I have yet to recieve it, and my balance at Examiner.com is still one penny. Hoping that if I put enough key words in here I'll make 4 dollars to put towards my wedding. So I got a job riding a pedi-cab at Rangers Stadium, it was very 'green', heads up to the Green Cabbies there, they are a world class operation!! I'm from Boston Massachusetts and have really enjoyed getting to know the Texas culture, I have been on a trip to Houston and then up to rural Oklahoma, it's been amazing, I love it. I studied for my real estate license and by God's good grace I can now sell real estate in this State! I was oblivious to the fact that GW even lived here when I moved in and immediately had second thoughts about the whole move when I realized he did, but I'm cool with it now, as he was at Rangers stadium a few times when I was cabbing it and thought, maybe, just maybe he's cooler than I thought. I'm that kind of guy.
So I graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science from Lyndon State College of Vermont. *Note the year I graduated, yeah that was fun. I have cleaned up a lot of industrial waste lands, and I will refrain from naming names as a form of respect for my previous employers. What I can say is I've seen what most people don't want to realize exists. I've seen abandoned mills with major contamination directly next to town drinking water wells. I've seen Superfund sites drain into public water supplies. I cleaned up the site where the Golden Gate Bridge's cables were made. I removed 200 pounds of liquid mercury from a building, I have cleaned Boston Harbor of hundreds of years of mismanaged oil imports and storage. Most of this was done in nasty New England weather, but some in dry Los Angeles and swampy New Orleans. All the while wars have been raging overseas for oil profits, simply put. I even worked for Whole Foods Market, I'll leave that one alone!
So now here is this Occupy Dallas thing, its my first Fall in Texas and my very first trip to the JFK memorial was the day Occupy Dallas began. It rocked. I mentioned to everyone that it was my first time there and that I was from Boston. Being from Boston now means being from where the cops went nutty on the college kids for no good reason, other than for being in a 'green belt'. Knowing first hand how polluted Boston is, this cracks me up.
I was at Ted Kennedy's funeral outside in the rain back home in Boston. The funeral was intense. I saw Tom Brokaw incongnito, John Edwards walk seperately from his wife, I was interviewed and I think I hung out with a Kennedy who arrived late and was denied entry, having to watch the funeral at the convience store across the street. I had parked about 10 blocks from the event and took my time leaving, enjoying a cup of tea, warming up from being out in the rain all day. I was walking by myself on a quiet road and saw some police men. Thats when they stopped me in my tracks. A military transit with 50 guys with machine guns passed right in front of me at an intersection. Me and my tea and umbrella were there when the busses of dignitaries drove right in front of me. People who were on those busses were (probably):
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Vice President Al Gore
Vice President Dan Quayle
President George W. Bush
President Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn
President Bill Clinton
Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Sen. and Mrs. John Kerry
Hon. William Delahunt
Hon. Christopher Dodd
Sen. Orrin Hatch
Hon. Barney Frank
Rep. Niki Tsongas
Sen. Pat Leahy
Rep. Ed Markey
Sen. Mitch McConnell
Hon. Nancy Pelosi
Sen. Arlen Specter
All I did was give the peace sign and balance my tea and umbrella. It was the most bizarre thing in my life. The rain was pouring I thought, 'they can ALL see me, I hope the peace sign isn't completely worthless anymore' I put it on my facebook status and got a few hurrays. So yeah, flash forward to last week and I'm at JFK's memorial at Occupy Dallas. I make an announcement that this is the first time I've been to this location and that Occupy Dallas is more than just about money.
Today I went to check it out again, I have been stopping in for 1 hour increments throughout the week, it's been really fun and positive. I bring my dogs for a walk and I see a sign for the Solar Power International 11 convention happening directly adjacent to the park next week Monday the 17th through Thursday the 20th, right next to the tent city. My inner eco-nerd went crazy and I thought "this is what serendipity, and democracy looks like". Dallas Convention Center of all places, right next to Occupy Dallas, practically on top of it. I bring the idea up to a few of the people. They are too cool for school, so I know I'm good.
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