No one is better at keeping hope alive than Rebecca Solnit, the historian and essayist whose *Hope in the Dark* got me through the first Trump administration and whose *A Paradise Built In Hell* inspired my novel *Walkaway*:
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@pluralistic Although, that image is not as powerful and optimistic as the creator probably thinks it is, even of orange lenin is amusing. The high iq lawyer from the best schools
@Kierkegaanks Lucky for you the image is CC BY and you are free to remix it if you would like a different one. Here's the hi-rez, please do show me yours when you've finished it:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/55246650565/in/dateposted/
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No one is better at keeping hope alive than Rebecca Solnit, the historian and essayist whose *Hope in the Dark* got me through the first Trump administration and whose *A Paradise Built In Hell* inspired my novel *Walkaway*:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070/a-paradise-built-in-hell-by-rebecca-solnit/
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/04/hope-in-the-dark/#hormuzed-into-the-gretacene
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@pluralistic I can tell you from anecdotal evidence here in Germany...a LOT of people seem to have invested in private photovoltaic installations in Q1/Q2 of 2026.
One of the big online solar retailers here currently has shipping dispatch times of 24 - 29 workdays (massive increase from previous dispatch times of ~5-7 days).
When people buy these installations, especially the bigger, non-balcony systems they are planned for a lifetime of ~15 years.
That's roughly 8,000-10,000kWh of external energy demand destroyed per household per year!And honestly I'd say forever, because it seems very unlikely that after 15 years of getting used to free solar energy you'd go back. Especially considering future technological improvements and falling unit prices for both solar panels and battery storage.
I think Rebecca Solnit is absolutely right here.
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@NewtonMark @wall_e @pluralistic it's doing that in midwinter? What's it going to be like next summer?
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@NewtonMark @wall_e @pluralistic Welcome to the solarpunk era
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@NewtonMark @wall_e @pluralistic
Didn't somebody say something about "Electricity too cheap to meter"
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No one is better at keeping hope alive than Rebecca Solnit, the historian and essayist whose *Hope in the Dark* got me through the first Trump administration and whose *A Paradise Built In Hell* inspired my novel *Walkaway*:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070/a-paradise-built-in-hell-by-rebecca-solnit/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/04/hope-in-the-dark/#hormuzed-into-the-gretacene
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In the US, at least, another factor may be hatred of utility companies. In the US, being natural monopolies, utilities often take advantage of that by being arrogant, greedy, & unresponsive to users.
There is a lot of anger & hatred of utilities floating around, but not doing anything because there is no realistic alternative.
Given a choice that is reliable and not too much more expensive, lots of people will go off the grid just so they can give the utility company the finger.
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@NewtonMark out of curiosity, if you don't mind - what were the costs (for the battery and the rest)?
I've talked to my father recently who wasn't very happy with his initial investment in panels from 3 years ago. He was complaining about the utility company's rules (which really sucked and made this not cost effective), but also the cost of battery.
And I guess there's a lot less sunshine coming to Poland than to Australia!
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No one is better at keeping hope alive than Rebecca Solnit, the historian and essayist whose *Hope in the Dark* got me through the first Trump administration and whose *A Paradise Built In Hell* inspired my novel *Walkaway*:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070/a-paradise-built-in-hell-by-rebecca-solnit/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/04/hope-in-the-dark/#hormuzed-into-the-gretacene
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If somebody hasn't done so already, I think Solnit's article (referenced in Cory's blog/post) is worth surfacing:
https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/truth-consequences-climate-and-demand-destruction/
#Energy #FossilFuels #ClimateCrisis #USpol #Iran #StraitOfHormuz
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If somebody hasn't done so already, I think Solnit's article (referenced in Cory's blog/post) is worth surfacing:
https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/truth-consequences-climate-and-demand-destruction/
#Energy #FossilFuels #ClimateCrisis #USpol #Iran #StraitOfHormuz
"the sun and wind will never be blockaded"
Gods, I wish people wouldn't say shit like this. There is almost certainly some state-level actor who would take this as a challenge....
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@NewtonMark @wall_e @pluralistic
How big is that 42 kWh storage? I mean, what kind of cubic does it occupy? (Asking for a condo-dweller whose local utility can't be arsed to bury their powerlines, but who threatens "proactive blackouts" on windy days as a hedge against wildfire.) (Who is me.)
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No one is better at keeping hope alive than Rebecca Solnit, the historian and essayist whose *Hope in the Dark* got me through the first Trump administration and whose *A Paradise Built In Hell* inspired my novel *Walkaway*:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070/a-paradise-built-in-hell-by-rebecca-solnit/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/04/hope-in-the-dark/#hormuzed-into-the-gretacene
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Wouldn't it be just •delightful• if we woke up someday in the not-too-distant future, & fossil fuel prices had fallen off a cliff bc mostly nobody bothers with them anymore?
(I'm now pondering fertilizer & plastics replacements with renewables. Dunno if the urban algal farming I've read about would would scale, but it def gives me itchy thoughts....)
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"the sun and wind will never be blockaded"
Gods, I wish people wouldn't say shit like this. There is almost certainly some state-level actor who would take this as a challenge....
"They seem to have been unprepared for the reactions to the invasions of both Iran and Minneapolis"
This sounds like a line from a Douglas Adams book, and yet, here we are....
I am sooo embarrassed by & ashamed of my country, right now....
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"They seem to have been unprepared for the reactions to the invasions of both Iran and Minneapolis"
This sounds like a line from a Douglas Adams book, and yet, here we are....
I am sooo embarrassed by & ashamed of my country, right now....
Holy shit, this essay. Go read it, it's great!
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No one is better at keeping hope alive than Rebecca Solnit, the historian and essayist whose *Hope in the Dark* got me through the first Trump administration and whose *A Paradise Built In Hell* inspired my novel *Walkaway*:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070/a-paradise-built-in-hell-by-rebecca-solnit/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/04/hope-in-the-dark/#hormuzed-into-the-gretacene
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"Strait of #Epstein," 
, 
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Holy shit, this essay. Go read it, it's great!
"A salt-Ion battery"
PLEASE tell me somebody's already done this one...?
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No one is better at keeping hope alive than Rebecca Solnit, the historian and essayist whose *Hope in the Dark* got me through the first Trump administration and whose *A Paradise Built In Hell* inspired my novel *Walkaway*:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070/a-paradise-built-in-hell-by-rebecca-solnit/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/04/hope-in-the-dark/#hormuzed-into-the-gretacene
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I hope somebody's keeping an eye out for the enshittification potentials in renewables, so that we can head those off when the Predator Class starts trying to enclose those commons. (I think I've seen some reports of those kinds of things already being tried, though not yet at national scale.)
Relatedly, I'm looking forward to the day when solar becomes bicycle-level back-yard tech that's essentially impossible to enclose.
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I hope somebody's keeping an eye out for the enshittification potentials in renewables, so that we can head those off when the Predator Class starts trying to enclose those commons. (I think I've seen some reports of those kinds of things already being tried, though not yet at national scale.)
Relatedly, I'm looking forward to the day when solar becomes bicycle-level back-yard tech that's essentially impossible to enclose.
@cavyherd it’s already there, if you count the “virtual batteries” offerings that made no investment whosoever in any infrastructure (batteries or otherwise)
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@pluralistic Although, that image is not as powerful and optimistic as the creator probably thinks it is, even of orange lenin is amusing. The high iq lawyer from the best schools
on a side note:
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on a side note:
@amiserabilist prelude to the dictatorship of the proletariat?
