In this update we bring you a selection of other people’s substacks we feel have solarpunky relevance and links to other things you might enjoy.
Why We Need the Jetsons and Solarpunk
A really interesting long read by Brink Lindsey
where he makes the case for a combination of eco-modernist utopianism along with a more rooted anti-consumerist solarpunk.It touches on themes we’ve already raised in our Protopia post and deep-dive into the different shades of solarpunk.
The most interesting part for me is how sees solarpunk as a cultural movement with the greatest potential power to help us avoid the slide into “Wall-E fication” of humanity.
Do you think we need The Jetsons and solarpunk? Or just one of them?
Fear or Positivity? What Climate Messaging is Most Effective?
A team-up between climate communicators Jessica Kleczka (pictured) and
. They touch on some of the key themes of why solarpunk is so needed.Which do you think is more effective for climate communication - fear or positivity? Or some combination of the two?
Heat Pumps for Peace and Freedom
As we mark the sad second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine this piece released on the first by
is interesting.Bill makes the case for state support to scale up technology like heat pumps. He argues this would lead to good jobs, less pollution and undermine the war machines of fossil fuel funded tyrants like Putin.
Do you think governments should use emergency powers to rapidly scale up things like heat pumps? What do you think of the European Green Party posters we’ve used in this post?
And…
The nature-inspired art bringing delight to dull urban spaces @ Positive News (Pictured above)
How the UN is Holding Back the Sahara Desert @ Andrew Millison
New Jersey requires climate change education. A year in, here's how it's going @ NPR
The REAL Problem with Floating Cities @ Dami lee
Until Next Time
That's all for this update. If you like what we’re trying to do here and know someone else who might do too then please like, comment and share.
See you in the sunshine,
Alex Holland
Founder, SolarPunk Stories
Thanks for this, I was looking for new reading material!
Should governments use emergency powers to rapidly scale up things like heat pumps? Sure, but it wouldn't be very solarpunk. And why use these powers to "scale up" when they could as easily be used to scale back? Wouldn't a ban on the sale of anything other than heat pumps be just as effective, if not more so?