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The Company We Keep

Dear Reader,
This blog is now an archive. John Abrams (Founder of South Mountain, author of this blog, and a book of the same name) retired on December 31, 2022. All posts published up until this date are preserved below.

For updates on John's next chapter, visit abramsangell.com.

For updates on South Mountain's second act, subscribe to our newsletter using the form below.

Vineyard Gazette

Clearing a Path to Energy Independence

February 25, 2015 by John Abrams Leave a Comment

The Vineyard remains uncommonly chilly.  Snow on the ground since late January, more last night.  The other morning it was 6 below zero, the coldest since we arrived 40 years ago.  Mal Jones told me the last time it was colder than that was in 1961.  Quite a winter.  But if we’re going to live in Vermont, I think we oughta get to have some mountains!! No such luck.

Recently Julie Wells, the editor of the Vineyard Gazette, asked me to write an article about the demise of Cape Wind.  Reasonable request, but I declined.   What I could do, I suggested, is include a few thoughts about Cape Wind in a larger context.  She agreed to that, and here’s the piece that emerged, published in the Gazette on February 5, 2015.

On the Gazette website there were many comments about the article, both positive and negative.  My favorite, from someone in Oak Bluffs, who called himself (or herself) BS:  “I’m tired of shoveling all this global warming from my driveway.”

That was the only one I responded to.  I said:  “Hah, BS, I’m tired of it too – you shovel mine and I’ll shovel yours. But you’re not shoveling Global Warming, it’s Climate Change you’re shoveling, which brings, over time, greater weather extremes – more precipitation, more drought, colder temps, warmer temps. Some even call it Global Wilding.”

Onward.

Filed Under: Climate Change, Energy, Martha's Vineyard Tagged With: Cape Wind, Climate change, Julie Wells, Mal Jones, Vineyard Gazette

The Once & Future Blog

August 2, 2012 by John Abrams 1 Comment


This blog has been dormant the last four months.  This is partly due to the busiest spring/summer in South Mountain’s history, for which I’m grateful.  It’s also partly due to our six-month endeavor to re-design and re-build our website (which consumed whatever time might have been left over for blogging, or anything else for that matter).

The new website will be ready to launch in 3-5 weeks, and blogging will resume at that time with renewed vigor and greater regularity.

There is plenty to tell.  I’ll leave that mostly for later, but while I’m at it I’ll show two recent solar projects.

Read More about The Once & Future Blog

Filed Under: Energy, South Mountain Company Tagged With: Cronig's Market, Eran Ben-Joseph, Vineyard Gazette

Where Will All The Solar Go?

May 6, 2011 by John Abrams 9 Comments

This was published as an op-ed today in the Vineyard Gazette.

Wind turbines get all the negative ink.  Noise, vibration, flicker, interruption of beloved views.  Big troublemakers, aren’t they?

Solar panels, on the other hand, are considered to be quite benign.  The Nantucket Historic District Commission doesn’t like them much, and some people would rather see roofs without them, but by and large they have come to be widely accepted.

But what about when we scale them up with considerably larger installations that can make a meaningful contribution to our energy supply?  Are they really so benign?

Read More about Where Will All The Solar Go?

Filed Under: Energy, Martha's Vineyard, South Mountain Company Tagged With: Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative, Grey Barn, Vineyard Gazette, Vineyard Power

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