This video is short and sweet.  Do you want to install solar panels but can’t afford it or wonder who should install it?  A solar cooperative might be able to help.  And there is probably one in your area.  It’s a new project called 1BOG, or One Block Off the Grid.   CleanTechnica writes:

There’s never been a better time to go solar, and in a growing number of cities across the US, it’s an economic no-brainer. You can see if solar is right for you by signing up here or on the form to your right. . . . . 1BOG gathers homeowners interested in solar and gets large discounts from top installers.

One Block Off the Grid is grassroots organizing meets consumer power, and together we’re helping drive the adoption of residential solar energy. You can learn more about 1BOG here: Everything you ever wanted to know about solar group purchasing.

This sounds like a great idea and a good way to get started with solar. I’m going to check them out personally for what’s available in my area.

You can also check out local hardware stores. I noticed my local super-hardware supplier has a solar panel package on sale this week and it’s really affordable. I wonder, though, what to do with with snow-covered solar panels. . . .

And for inspiration — my favorite Jackson song, Earth Song,  paid tribute to at the Grammys last week.

The week Jackson died I did a podcast and put a segment of this song at the end of it — not ever having heard it before, and finding it totally by accident.  Jackson was at least an environmentalist sympathizer, and wrote the song because of his love for the planet, or so goes the story.

“…a performance of the star’s “Earth Song” by Carrie Underwood, Celine Dion, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, and Smokey Robinson followed a recorded interview with Michael himself, where he talked about his passion for saving the planet. “That’s why I write these kind of songs, to give some kind of awareness and awakening and hope to people. I love the planet.  I love trees. . . . . . “