The Solar Living Institute will open the World's First Solar-Powered Carousel on Wed., May 25 at the Institute's annual Earth Day for Kids event to be held at the Solar Living Center in Hopland, California.

The carousel, hand-crafted by fifth-generation carousel maker Bill Dentzel in Port Townsend (Washington), boasts eight animals from our own bioregion -- fox, mountain lion, skunk, horse, wild turkey, jack rabbit, wild boar, coho salmon, and deer. As a fun challenge, riders can also grab rings and toss them into a clown's face.

Bring your kids to the Solar Living Center and enjoy a ride on the World's First Solar-Powered Carousel for only $1 per ride this summer. (Note: riders must be 125 pounds or less.)

Here's a great opportunity to get some "hands on" natural building experience and instruction from one of the Solar Living Institute's most admired instructors, Massey Burke, for FREE!

We are having a work party to complete a small natural building to be used as intern space.

• Where: 13771 S. Hwy. 101, Hopland, CA at the Solar Living Center
• When: 9 AM - 5 PM -- Thurs., May 26 - Sun., May 29
• What: Plaster, Cob, Living Roofs, Rock Work, Alternative Insulation, and Laid Reed Ceiling

There will be a potluck dinner Sat., May 28.

Complete the web form or call 707-744-2017 to volunteer. Please provide at least one day's notice so instructors and team leaders can plan accordingly. Space is limited to a a maximum of 20 participants.

View a list of workshops by date or by category.

Our second print workshop catalog of the year will be issued in a few weeks. New workshops that have been added include: Natural Plasters (Oct. 7), Natural Paints (Oct. 8), Earthen Floors (Oct. 9), and Organizing Sustainable Communities (Oct. 21).

For a complete listing of our workshops see:

• Complete 2005 Schedule
• Solar & Photovoltaics
• Green Building & Design
• Sustainable Living and Water
• Wind and Biofuels
• Permaculture & Gardening
• Workshops for Women
• Peak Oil Preparation
• Special Offers

Prices are currently reduced on most of our workshops, so be sure to register soon and get the workshop of your choice.

Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy by Matthew R. Simmons

To be released by the publisher Fri., May 27. We anticipate shipping next week.

The most critical question facing the world energy market is whether Saudi Arabia can substantially increase its oil production to meet rising world demand in the years ahead. Sparked by personal observations of Saudi oil wells which led him to suspect that some Saudi fields were in decline, energy investment analyst Matt Simmons has created a compelling case that Saudi Arabia production will soon reach an apex, after which its production will decline and the world will be confronted with an immense and potentially catastrophic oil shortage.

Based on his analysis, Mr. Simmons asserts that sudden and sharp oil production declines could happen at any time. Even under the most optimistic scenario, Saudi Arabia may be able to maintain current rates of production for several years, but will not be able to increase production enough to meet the expected increase in world demand. Eventually, the reckoning day will come and the world economy will be confronted with a major shock that will stunt economic growth, increase inflation, and potentially destabilize the Middle East.

The book is written in a concise and engaging style, providing background on Saudi Arabia, the oil industry, the world oil market, and the management of the Saudi oil resources. Mr. Simmons addresses technical issues about oil production in a clear, interesting style, providing documentation but not losing the reader in details. The book is written with a strong focus and passion, and the overall sense is of a behind-the-scenes expose, akin to a "60 Minutes" investigative piece.

This promises to be a very important book. Reserve your copy early at our special discounted price of $22.95

The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century by James Howard Kunstler

The last two hundred years have seen the greatest explosion of progress and wealth in the history of mankind. But the oil age is at an end. The depletion of nonrenewable fossil fuels is about to radically change life as we know it, and much sooner than we think. As a result of artificially cheap fossil-fuel energy we have developed global models of industry, commerce, food production, and finance that will collapse. The Long Emergency tells us just what to expect after we pass the tipping point of global peak oil production and the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale.

Riveting and authoritative, The Long Emergency is a devastating indictment that brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore. It is bound to become a classic of social science.

This also promises to be a very important book. Purchase your copy today at our special discounted price of $21.95

We are currently running a web-based special with our PARTNER membership program. Join at our $100 LEVEL and receive the following great benefits:

• four one-day fully-transferable tickets to SolFest 2005 -- an $80 value;
• the NEW 12th Edition of the Solar Living Source Book -- a $35 value;
• a copy of The End of Suburbia DVD -- a $24 value;
• a copy of the Oil on Ice DVD -- a $20 value;
• a one-year subscription (3 issues) or our SOLutions newsletter; and
• a waiver of the $10 telephone registration fee for all workshops for a year.

On the weekend of August 20 & 21, the Solar Living Institute will welcome thousands of people from around the country to SolFest. During the festival, our 12-acre solar-powered demonstration site becomes a hotbed of education and world-class entertainment, as a benefit for the non-profit Solar Living Institute. SolFest 2005 marks our 10th anniversary, and we hope you will join us for an unforgettable weekend of celebratory music, informative workshops, tasty organic food and drink, and a hearty helping of inspiration.

SolFest this year features nationally-known keynote speakers including Amy Goodman (Democracy Now! Radio), L. Hunter Lovins (an award winning author, speaker and consultant on sustainability), Richard Heinberg (author of Powerdown and The Party's Over), Michael Toms (New Dimensions World Broadcasting Network), Mike Ruppert (author of Crossing the Rubicon) and others, as well as world-class entertainment, including folk-legend Holly Near and Grammy-nominated acoustic guitar wizard Alex de Grassi and his trio. Admission includes access to dozens of informative workshops. Educational topics this year will include solar power, composting, green farming, home-brewing biodiesel, and much, much more. Attendees will also be able to partake in book signings with world-famous authors, and browse over 190 exhibitors and vendors.

In addition to the above, we hope to have a "state of solar in California" panel with activists and elected officials. Also new this year, we will offer an opportunity to start each day with Living Yoga thanks to our sponsors Gaiam and Sharp Solar.

We will have new workshop areas to explore, and new interactive activities for the entire family. If you have been to SolFest before, then you know it is a weekend not to be missed. If you have not, then this summer will be a great time to come on up to Hopland, and join us as we celebrate ten years of powerful ideas.

Between now and SolFest, become an Institute Partner (member) at the $50 level and get two free one-day tickets to SolFest. Become a Partner at the $100 level and get two additional free one-day tickets and free admission to the SolFest Saturday Night Party. Or, you can also order your SolFest tickets at a discount for a limited time.

Richard Heinberg made the issue of oil depletion more understandable to the general public with his groundbreaking book The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies in March 2003. Now The Party's Over (Revised and Updated Edition) will be released on July 6. You won't want to miss this important updated editon of the best-selling book on the end of oil -- and its consequences. Be sure to place your order for this new edition today.

The world is about to run out of cheap oil and change dramatically. Within the next few years, global production will peak. Thereafter, even if industrial societies begin to switch to alternative energy sources, they will have less net energy each year to do all the work essential to the survival of complex societies. We are entering a new era, as different from the industrial era as the latter was from medieval times.

In The Party's Over, Richard Heinberg places this momentous transition in historical context, showing how industrialism arose from the harnessing of fossil fuels, how competition to control access to oil shaped the geopolitics of the 20th century, and how contention for dwindling energy resources in the 21st century will lead to resource wars in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South America. He describes the likely impacts of oil depletion, and all of the energy alternatives. Predicting chaos unless the U.S. -- the world's foremost oil consumer -- is willing to join with other countries to implement a global program of resource conservation and sharing, he also recommends a "managed collapse" that might make way for a slower-paced, low-energy, sustainable society in the future.

More readable than other accounts of this issue, with fuller discussion of the context, social implications, and recommendations for personal, community, national, and global action, Heinberg's updated book is a riveting wake-up call for humankind as the oil era winds down, and a critical tool for understanding and influencing current U.S. foreign policy.

Finally, there is a loan program that rewards you, the borrower, for thinking about the environmental impact of your purchasing decisions. The Permaculture Credit Union has created a unique Sustainability Discount Program. This loan program allows the interest rate to be discounted on loans for approved purchases. When the discounts are subtracted from their already competitive base rates, the results are some of the best around.

The Permaculture Credit Union offers share and certificate secured loans, signature loans, auto loans, and real estate loans. They can offer members loans up to $300,000.

The Permaculture Credit Union is a not-for-proft organization composed of members who have made the decision to invest their money in a financial institution that follows a code of ethics rather than the common investment practice of only considering the bottom line. They place their funds in the local community and choose not to invest in destructive technologies, exploitative industries, or insensitive social practices.

Jan Lundberg, founder of Culture Change in 1988, writes about the Congressional discussion of oil depletion in the Culture Change #96 e-Letter. Below are excerpts:

The meaning of peak oil is beginning to be explored in The People's House, a.k.a. the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. One Congressman, Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican of Maryland, has followed the issues of oil supply for many years and has begun to wake people up in the nation's capital and for the national C-SPAN cable television audience.

The phrase "peak oil" is short for the global peaking of oil extraction, whereby supply only tightens. This column has repeatedly anticipated the economic effects and the role of the market in suddenly exacerbating the geological shortage at hand.

On May 12, the Congressman spoke for one hour before the House in a "Special Order speech," routinely featured at end of business for either party's representative to speak his or her mind following the "leadership hour." He recited a passage from one of my syndicated Culture Change Letter reports, "Peak Oil in a Nutshell - Here Comes the Nutcracker." He prefaced it by saying "You all have heard of the Lundberg Survey, well this is what Jan Lundberg wrote:"

"The trucks will no longer pull into Wal-Mart. Or Safeway or other food stores. The freighters bringing packaged techno-toys and whatnot from China will have no fuel. There will be fuel in many places, but hoarding and uncertainty will trigger outages, violence and chaos. For only a short time will the police and military be able to maintain order, if at all."

He then added his own warning: "You can imagine what might happen when the lights go out. The veneer of civilization is very thin." Congressman Bartlett obtained my quote from Matt Savinar's website which got it from Energy Bulletin which got it from BlueGreenEarth.com.

A definite trend is afoot. What we can call The Convergence of America is just ahead. It will not be as in the past, but more in spirit as we grapple with the loss of petroleum and the end of economic growth. Rather than as a nationalistic single entity, we will come together in the knowledge that our separate and equal, diverse bioregions are our real homelands.

Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy by Greg Pahl:

Biodiesel has powered tour buses for Neil Young, Bonnie Raitt, and Willie Nelson. Daryl Hannah's private vehicle runs on it, while Republican and Democratic politicians alike are backing its development. It's more biodegradable than sugar and less toxic than table salt, and the production process can take place on a massive industrial scale or gallon by gallon in your garage.

In this essential new book, Greg Pahl shares the history of biodiesel, explains the technology in straightforward terms, and explores its exciting potential in the U.S. and beyond, including resources you can use to buy or make your own biodiesel.

The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream (DVD or VHS)

WE OFFER THE BEST PRICE ON THE INTERNET AT $19.50.

Order from us, and help support our work.

The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era and as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary. The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia?

This DVD, or VHS, is an excellent introduction to the issue of oil and natural gas depletion coming soon to a neighborhood near you. If you haven't picked up a copy of this rivoting documentary, do so today! You won't want to miss it!

Regular price is $24, but we sell it for only $19.50 -- the best price on the Internet. Ordering your copy of this DVD or VHS from the Solar Living Institute helps support the work that we do.

Books recently added include the following titles: The Long Emergency, The Party's Over (Revised and Updated Edition) , Going Solar, The Earth Care Manual, Green Building Products, a new DVD about GMOs entitled Fed Up!, Twilight in the Desert, Hidden Dangers in Kids' Meals (DVD), The Eco-Foods Guide, Garden Seed Inventory, The Beauty of Craft, Whole Foods Companion, Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally, The Basics of Permaculture Design, The Sauna, Solviva, Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy, Dancing with the Tiger: Learning Sustainability Step by Natural Step, Futures That Work, Sewage Solutions, The Sustainability Advantage, Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, The Growth Illusion, and Making a Living While Making a Difference.

Be sure to check out our other titles in the following categories:

• Ecological Design and Planning
• Energy and Appropriate Technology
• Environment and Economy
• Natural and Green Building
• Oil and Natural Gas Depletion
• Progressive Leadership
• Sustainable Living
• Food and Permaculture

We encourage you to shop with us. Our online bookstore is growing rapidly. We are adding titles weekly to bring you some of the best reads on sustainable living available. Shop with the Solar Living Institute, and help support our valuable work!

Administrative Assistant
Solar Living Institute
Hopland, CA
Application Deadline: Open until filled
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Installation and Solar Technician for Solar Hot Water, Solar Pool Heaters, and Solar Electric Systems
Horizon Solar Systems, Inc.
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More information: mike@horizonsolar.com

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