Page 18 RAIN January 1978 toward a solar-based economy. And, since it is Califdr~ia, and Brown is running for the presidency, anything that happens there will have a major impact on federal and other states' policies. The second issue involved with solar is decentralizatio~. This has two parts. First, who will own solar energy? Second, who will own-the non-renewable resources? Do we want GE to produce the collectors? Do we want Con Ed to lease them to us? These are not simple questions. Do we want horizontal divestiture by the oil and coal companies of solar corp'orations? S_uddenly, we fin.d that our constituency for solar energy begms to drop off. Although Americans very much want their own ·utility companies, it is not clear that they are·willing to confront oil and gas companies. Jane Fonda, maybe. But Mary Tyler Moore and Paul Newman? Indeed, some of these issues are not clear cut. It is very different to have an oil company making us pay every month. It produces an enormous cash flow. If GE sells us collectors that last 40 ydrs, they become appliance·manufacturers, and we have less reason to opp_ose them. Also~if solar is undergoing ·a rapid evolution, leasmg may prevent obsolescence from undermining people's buying power. The question ofhorizontal divestiture is extrem~ly important since there is a scarcity of capital for new businesses. If we reduce our reliance on fossil fuels do we then begin to think about public ownership of the 'nonrenewable resource companies? The third issue involved with solar is that of class. How do we get solar·to lo~-income people? This could become a major • p~oble1:1, for the nch can now purchase passive designed homes with w~nd generators and opt out of the energy crisi~. The poor can never opt out. What do we do for renters? How do , ':1e design finan,cin~ rpechanisms for low-income people? This issue of class may fmd a very small c~nstituency behind it. Americans do not like poor people to begin with. A.T. p.eople stress that poor people ca:n build their own collectors using rec;ycled m.aterialr That may be so, but that isn't going to dent the problem unless there are public resources put behind this. . .1 t~ink that any demo~stra:tion of support for ·solar energy 1s an important step in the right direction. I am afraid, however,'that its power will be diluted by not defining the issues distinctly, and not laying out an agenda. It should not be an i~troduction to solar and an endorsement by stars. It should be the beginning of a struggle for redefining the goals of the country. Unfortunately, the more defining we do, the less general support we will have. It's a problem, I know. Best wishes, David Morris Institute for Local Self-Reliance 1717 18th St. N.W. Washington, DC 20009 .r---------------------------1 Corrections,on California Issue, Nov. '77 Pacific Horticulture is $6/year from: Pacific Horticulture Foundation P.O. Box 22609 San Francisco, CA 94122 The article "Biological Treatment of Waste Water" was written solely by Wade Rose and not co-authored by Joyce Hochmuth-Nowell as listed C GOOD THINGS) Magnifications, David Scharf, 1977, $24.95 from: Schocken Books 200 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 This is the kind of book, like Behold Man, that is usually too expensive to buy for yourself, but great to find in a library or doctor's office or any "waiting room" where you're bored and open to have your •sense of you in the universe tweaked a bit. Of the photography books dealing with the microworld, this is the first we've seen with a ge~tly cosmic perspective (Two • Aphids Grazing on a Lemon Leaf, A Mite on the Neck of a Termite) and a sense for the strange and stunning beauty of the world of the little things. It's hard to feel separate from these things once you've experienced their world and begun to sense what beauty and attraction a flea or bee feels for other'members of its species. - TB "Aphids Gr~zing on a L~mon Tree Leaf"
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