~~~~~~~~~~~~------------------------------------------------------------------------- AWEA on Cape Cod As usual, when a couple hundred windpower types get together in one place there are a couple of things that stand out. First, and most enjoyably even if you pull a thigh muscle like I did, the present and former Windworks people usually organize a soccer game of the 25-35 year olds who were the early pioneers of small wind-turbine development, say 6 to 8 years ago, and who've now gone on to start small wind energy businesses, work as congressional energy staffers (the I Solar Coalition") in state energy offices, or in their own nonprofit research and education organizations pushing wind , power like AWEA. Second, as you might-expect in any conference, everyone takes at least a day to get updated on what their faraway friends are now doing. This is the most enriching part of it all. For after a while the new patterns of work and life emerge from hallway conversations as small knots of people explain what new areas they're moving into and why-a kind of selfjustification and feedback session with one's peers providing experienced wisdom. Third, from this socializing often emerges profound evaluations of people, hardware and concepts that one does not really get in the "real" conference presentations where everything is down on paper and can't be taken back. It's here that the political and ~ocial meaning of diverse efforts are discussed in depth. APERS There were at least three of those events worth mentioning. First, according to Jim Lerner of the California Energy Commission wind energy staff, that state is so dismayed with the tortoise slowness and general misdirection of the U.S. Dept. of Energy's wind program that it is starting, with an $800,000 bill signed by Governor Brown during the conference, its own, more aggressive implementation of wind energy. The political importance of this is profound indeed, as it is not only the first official state disaffection from the Federal Wind Energy Program because it is not being as forcefully managed as it should be to tap the enormous, near-term potential of wind energy, but also is the start of Jerry Brown's staking out a much J'!1ore progressive, vote-getting stance on renewable energy than has President Carter. Evidently Jerry, ever watchful of the wind vane of public opinion, saw the 20 to 30 mjllion of us (10 percent of the U.S. population) out there on SUN Day and, like his speedy re-adoption of a post-Proposition 13 tax cut mantle of fiscal tightwaddedness, decided to step out in front of Carter in supporting solar energy's handmaiden- the wind. If votes to be gained from Carter in 1980 were the carrots, then the sticks are votes that could be lost to Tom Hayden, whose view of solar energy includes a more employment-oriented, populist perspective very appealing to the entire liberal-to-conservative spectrum that wants more personal and local control of their energy systems. Given the IDSA '78 at Asilomar, Monterey Bay, California After being at this state-run, wood-and-stone building conference center for a day, a couple of observations that highlight the difference between the east and west coast lifestyles seemed appropriate. In Hyannis it seemed to be extraordinarily difficult for people to unwind, even in the after-dinner cocktail parties. The wind professionals seemed unable to relax, loosen their ties and discard their three-piece suits. In California, YOll could tell the east coast attendees by their vests and ties, yet even they were able to mellow out by following the local customs. Oddly enough, the proper Cape Codders were the worst kamikaze drivers I've seen since Italy. Could this be compensation for repressing oneself? Critical Mass '78 in D.C. This was one of the most disorganized and un-focused conferences I've ever attended, an especially ironic judgment given Ralph Nader's well-known personal penchant for order. There was too little attention by conference coordinators to the small but crucial details of audio-visual equipment and handouts from speakers so that a picture can really be "worth ONSCIOUSNESS
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