This is your SolarWakeup for June 8th, 2020

Emergency Powers. Presidential powers through emergency declaration can be powerful, Trump has tested these limits including reallocating defense department funding for these declarations. Last week, under this presidential power, the White House removed a tranche of environmental reviews for infrastructure work that was required to make up from the economic woes caused by the pandemic. Climate change is an emergency of the highest degree, something that this White House will not pursue but something for us to think about going forward.

Clean Energy For Biden. I am excited to be helping and joining the effort of many solar professionals in the Clean Energy for Biden team. The goal is to elect Vice President Biden in November focusing on our work in clean energy. I joined the same effort 12 years ago for the Clean Energy for Obama campaign. You can join as well, take part in policy discussions, outreach, fundraisers and state campaigns. Visit cleanenergyforbiden.com to take part, more to come including more thorough SolarWakeup campaigns on this topic. 

Readers Write. I am sharing two posts shared with me about lived experiences by solar professionals. If you would like to share your post, please forward it along. 

Devin Hampton, Utility API CEO. As a clean energy leader and a black man, I often go to conferences and gatherings where I am one of a few, if not the only black person in the room. It is so glaring, that I’ve made a small game out of counting. I think the game is a way to not feel the horror that is creeping up in me. Often, when there are black and brown faces, they are the faces of the hired support staff, not conference attendees. I cannot count the amount of times other attendees have asked me to fetch them something or to park their car because they assume that I am also a support staffer. It doesn’t matter that my name tag says “CEO”, they are not looking for that. They have all the info they need by seeing the color of my skin. Full Post

Jason Barrett Writes. Two days ago I facilitated a discussion with 10 boys between the ages of 10-13 about George Floyd, Amy Cooper and subsequent protests. My colleague’s son, Jojo Yawson, said “the police broke the social contract with society and people are just angry”. He further said that “there should be a number that society can call, similar to 911, when the police are behaving badly”.  Sage words from a 10 yr old. I normally don’t share personal things like this. But I can no longer stay silent. The following incidents are my recollection of two encounters my family and I have had. Full Post

My 2 Cents. As we read the word of others, I want to end with my own privileged experience. An experience that is centered around luck. I was born in 1982, decades away from the world wars in Hamburg, Germany. Had I been born 40 years earlier, it would have been different because I’m jewish. I don’t know how many jews were born in Germany in 1982, but it can’t be many. The difference for me is that while I am born jewish and the son of a Moroccan mother, I look and sound like everyone else. There is no gold star on my jacket. While I have encountered anti-semitism, those with hatred have to know me to judge me. They have to hear me before they hate me, my unique circumstance is cloaked in what is currently considered the norm. It is no longer enough for me and others to simply not be racist, we have to be anti-racist and be part of the solution not just not part of the problem. They came for my ancestors before and I’m sure that your ancestors too. Let’s all be part of the solution with deliberate actions and hear from each other before we judge. 

Opinion

Best, Yann