White House won’t put solar on it … but we will | Grist

That's too bad. But it's also a great reminder of who the real leaders are. If the president can't climb up on the roof and hammer in some solar panels, clearly we need to push him up.

That's exactly what we're going to do on 10/10/10. There are actions all around the world where people are putting up solar panels and finding other ways to get to work on climate solutions. In the Maldives, President Mohamed Nasheed will be on his roof top putting in a set of panels donated by our friends at Sungevity. In Zimbabwe, students will trek out to a rural hospital to install a solar panel there. In thousands upon thousands of communities, we'll be showing our so-called leaders what leadership really looks like.

The San Bruno gas fire and the futility of harping on fossil-fuel disasters | Grist

People don't need hectoring told-you-so's. They need to see a vision of a sustainable future that actually looks appealing.

I grabbed a beer with Greenpeace USA Executive Director Phil Radford a few weeks ago, and he asked me what I'd do if I ran Greenpeace for a week. I offered the idea of an un-protest -- a twist on the group's classic strategy of staging high-visibility protests at sites where environmental damage is being done. Why not instead ambush places that are doing things right -- say, Ohio's Oberlin College, Sweden's Hammarby Sjostad neighborhood, or the car-free Times Square (for better visibility)? Hang banners and find a way to make a ruckus, in celebration rather than protest. Radford was amused -- we'll see if Greenpeace runs with it.

The Climate Post: Climate bill finally dead enough to be fondly remembered | Grist

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) found new ways to let the public know there is absolutely no way the U.S. will get a climate and energy bill this year, the failure of which climate activist Bill McKibben lays at the feet of attempts to make the issue about energy security and the economy.