Kilowatt Hours

One of my favorite sites on the Internet is Path to Freedom. I've loved it since long before I started blogging. It's a window into a world that I believe is the one in which we're meant to live, in which I, anyway, am trying to get anywhere close to living. Here is their own description of their home, their path, their vision of a life:

Founded by Jules Dervaes in 2001, Path to Freedom is a not for profit, family operated, viable urban homesteading project established to promote a simpler and more fulfilling lifestyle and reduce our family’s “footprint” on the earth’s dwindling resources. This project is slowly becoming legendary and is widely considered as a very successful model of functional organic farming-gardening.

Our objective is to live as sustainably and self-sufficiently as possible in an urban environment in harmony with nature and each other, while also inspiring others to “think globally, act locally.” Our homestead supports four adults, who live and work full time on a 66’ x 132’ city lot (1/5 acre).

It's a site that warrants many and lengthy visits, a place I never get tired of, on which I can always find something new. What I found when I went there this evening was an announcement of an event to be held Saturday, Jan. 21. If you live in or anywhere near Pasadena, CA you might just enjoy an evening at this amazing-sounding place, viewing a film called "Kilowatt Ours."

KILOWATT OURS: A Plan to Re-Energize America
What would you find if you traced the wires from your light switch to the energy source? Mountain top removal, global warming, childhood asthma… or hope?

FILM DESCRIPTION: 50% of America’s electricity is generated from coal. This dirty energy source is causing massive pollution, ecological destruction of natural beauty, and health problems all over the country.

Kilowatt Ours reveals the often unreported consequences of our predominantly coal and nuclear powered economy. The film opens with Vice President Dick Cheney's energy policy speech in which Cheney makes the claim that America needs nearly 1900 new power plants in the next 20 years to meet projected electricity demands.

From here, filmmaker Jeff Barrie takes viewers on a journey from the coal mines of West Virginia to the solar panel fields of Florida, as he discovers solutions to America's energy related problems.

Along the way, Jeff and his wife Heather share a plan to eliminate their use of coal and nuclear power at home by employing energy conservation, efficiency and clean, affordable renewable power. Through their learning experience, viewers discover how they can save hundreds of dollars annually on energy bills.

The evening includes a potluck dinner, but for me the best part would just be getting to visit this place that I know only as a virtual reality. Although it's all the way across the North American continent from me now, I dream of the day I could visit and learn more about moving along this path. And, yeah, I'd certainly love to see this film.

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