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Cool Solutions: Stories of climate action from the bottom up


Apr 11, 2019

Solar streetlights are hyperlocal clean energy that can help US cities survive extreme weather events and break free of utility monopolies. We visit 3 cities where solar street lights do a fine job lighting the streets, but also do much more. 

In a struggling rustbelt city, they're a beacon of hope for sustainable development. In a high end housing development, they attract buyers of luxury estates. In a working class town, they save the city money.  And in all locations, they're protecting the climate and helping remodel our energy system from a centralized for profit model, to a more dispersed, democratic, and resilient system. 

We talk with a community activist, a real estate developer, and a street light electrician from these communities about their experiences with solar street lights.