I've been toying with the idea of some sort of Solarpunk/Library Socialism Movement in St. Louis for a while. I do not feel like any current organization deals with the specific issues I'm concerned with in a comprehensive, local way.
As a result, I have a vision I've been toying with that I feel ready to share: https://nextcloud.nullarch.com/s/qkkisXnC5iw2EAX
I'm very open to feedback or interest in this idea/project.
Went through the full emotional range today: gratitude for my writer life, joy with my kids, then despair at the "home & garden" show (zero plants, I was clueless) with its massive focus on consumerism.
Rallied by dropping #solarpunk zines at little free libraries.
istg the world is exhausting
Say hi to Finn-Tuan Le, the main character of the comic I'm currently working on!
With a very near-future setting and the first volume basically being a roadtrip between #Nürnberg and #Ansbach, this illustration doesn't really give away it's genre. But drastic environmental changes (and a touch of fantasy because rule of cool) lead to a slow but thorough breakdown of globalization and now people have to rebuild a more resilient society.
Next up from last year's conference: Solarpunk Education & Children's Literature.
This two-part talk explores ways to integrate Solarpunk into everyday education. Check out the full video on our YouTube channel now!
#solarpunk #solarpunkconference
I oscillate between rage/determination to fight the fash wherever possible ( #TeamFight ) and digging deep into building the world that has to come after the nightmare, the one worth fighting for ( #TeamHope ).
#solarpunk #fascism #climatecrisis #climatechange
Six inches forward and five inches back, the #Petrofuture Florida map is one of the more dramatic ones. 66m sea level rise will emasculate the state.
Melted ice caps on a 1956 Shell Oil road map.
Higher-res images:
https://conspiracyofcartographers.com/petrofuturegallery/
#climateChange #maps #cartography #climateCrisis #outsiderArt #solarPunk #steamPunk #greenWashing #Florida #worldBuilding
This is why somebody needs to make a TV series out of one of Iain M Banks' Culture novels.
A single movie wouldn't work.
I would argue Solarpunk is Techno-Optimist, which this person hasn't heard of, so perhaps don't read too much into this opinion piece
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/10/technology-breakthrough-polycrisis
Btw, my #library offers free tickets to local attractions! And did you know most have subscriptions you can use to read paywalled newspapers? You can borrow CDs and rebuild the kickass music library you used to have!
Stop in to your library today and ask what bennies you don't yet know about! :O
PARSEC is a Pittsburgh based SF org that does all kinds of stuff — coordinates the annual Confluence conference, runs contests and crit groups, and has a beautiful newsletter with all the latest... including this month my review of the #solarpunk movie FLOW and the announcement that my #hopepunk story got published in @lunastation !
Check out the zine here: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/5e44d653e5.html#page/1
Less happily, climate disasters provide status quo disruption (ask anyone who's lived through one).
Or when the immigrant who runs the Mexican restaurant is hauled away by ICE&the community rallies: people may might not have much in common, but they all like tacos.
The critical difference: people were self-motivated.
This required no big emotional labor on the part of liberals, no hectoring & an actual problem to work together on.
Out of that grew the desire to get to know each other better, have block parties (again), etc.
No way my neighborhood would come together for anything… but being sold out to a hostile corp HOA management company? That did it.
It disrupted the status quo enuf: people were roused self-organize & put aside any differences (politics literally didn’t matter) & work together.
7/n
#solarpunk
So either you go completely counter-culture and import your friends to be your neighbors (this is happening more) or you look for opportunities/crisis and lean into that... like what happened recently with my HOA...
"Work harder to connect w/conservatives" seems like moralizing (we *should* do it) or wishful thinking (we *wish* it was possible).
It’s posed as a solution to the fact that people love fascism, as if they’ll turn away if you just do more hard work to convince them...
4/n
My neighborhood has many conservatives. My take: you’re not going to “make friends” w/ conservative neighbors without a lot of (probably fruitless) emotional labor on your side.
I see a lot of advocacy for this & I think it’s actually not the right approach...
3/n
2) we had a discussion about “making friends with the neighbors” vs. “making your friends into your neighbors (co-housing, buying out the neighborhood etc)” (latter is a real trend people yearn for; former is something we struggle with).
At book club last night (highly recommend Serviceberry) I had two realizations that feel important: 
1/n
1) bridging ideas (library economies) are super important to helping people move toward change
https://brightgreenfutures.substack.com/p/episode-25-library-economies-and
Highlighting for #SolarPunkSunday:
@breadandcircuses Let's talk about #Degrowth...
"Imagine an economy designed to serve the planet and ALL its inhabitants, not just the most powerful. What might that look like?
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Countries that have overshot ecological limits would scale back their non-essential production and consumption to lessen environmental impacts and to decarbonise more rapidly by:
Reducing reliance on cheap fossil energy Reducing the use of material-intensive luxuries like SUVs, private jets, and oversized homes Stopping unsustainable practices such as the industrial production of meat and the culture of fast fashion Curbing the wealth excesses of the very rich Promoting public transportation over private vehicle use Fostering a culture of durability and repairability in consumer goods
Simultaneously, the focus would shift toward enhancing social progress and human well-being by:
Guaranteeing universal access to high-quality essential public services like healthcare, education, childcare, and transportation Ensuring affordable housing and living wages for all Implementing a public job guarantee; a nationally-funded program where the municipal government provides jobs to those willing and able to work
Embracing these changes does *not* mean rejecting technology. A balanced approach where technological innovation and efficiency improvements are pursued as long as they are sustainable, safe, and equitable should be encouraged. The focus is on using resources efficiently, distributing them fairly, and scaling down non-essential production to help societies achieve self-sufficiency and justice."
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LEARN MORE 
https://explore.degrowth.net/degrowth/a-degrowth-economy-explained/
Original post:
https://kolektiva.social/@breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social/114115863645398123
#Degrowth #SelfSufficiency #RightToRepair #Decarbonize #SolarPunk
(she/her) 
