Illustrator Bochica uses knowledge to make the world a better place, to help people express the utopia inside them. He is a social muralist, who supports war-victims communities in Colombia. Concerning the cover art, he wrote the following:

*The technique used was mixed, acrylic and ink on canvas. Painting this piece was a real challenge—synthesizing and imagining a culture made of many ancestral cultures. The arch was inspired by art nouveau but also by Hindu art, while the figures reference both southern and northern Native American cultures. The pillars are like “totems” of Native American origin, but the figures are inspired by Indigenous peoples of South America and the South Pacific, from Easter Island, the Maori, through the Incas to the Mayans and Aztecs. These columns also reference the legend of “Huitaca” from the muysca people, which speaks of a demon who ascended and became the owl—a symbol of wisdom and knowledge in many cultures. In this case, I wanted to refer to the novel’s great library. The circles are inspired by the sun but are also inspired by speakers, referencing the “voice of the people” and social organization within solarpunk.

At the top, there’s a kind of staircase inspired by the “chakana,” an Incan symbol representing the connection between the human world and higher realms.

The mermaid is inspired by “Yemaya,” who is an Orisha or goddess in the Yoruba culture from Haiti.*

And if you read the post or watch the video instead of trying to discourage people from voting, you will see I have considered this and speak to it.

I think I’m a registered organ donor. Would prefer to donate my whole body to science and sidestep the whole funeral business.

Congratulations! Roleplay immersion is a great way to have a mental solarpunk vacation.

Thanks!

The market is horrible, but what I care more about is spreading solarpunk ideas in a fun way. 💚

Good eye.

Yes, in this city there is a fusion power plant. Whether fission power is worthwhile has been a lively debate. Fusion represents a more aspirational goal. In this story it is paired with DAC plants to remove carbon from the atmosphere, another aspirational technology that will be necessary in some form to reverse climate change.

Yes. It is called the Great Wall of Oakland. People dance on it too: Bandaloop.

More recently, Gavin’s cronies in the CPUC also slashed benefits for churches, schools, and farms from installing solar. Horrible. I love running past solar shading school parking lots. Now it is impossible.

Yup. Projected in Oakland.

This is a year before the next presidential election. It’s important to be critical of lesser evils, to force them to work for you. Specifically, this week at APEC, Biden will likely make economic decisions that could cause decades of damage, exploiting oil and labor reserves in Asian countries. Now is the time to call him out and the system as a whole.

Thanks! Hope you enjoy the story. 💚

“To earn revenue, the company is selling carbon removal credits to companies paying a premium to offset their own emissions.” So, this isn’t any help yet. But it will be an important technology to develop because otherwise it takes 300 years for carbon to leave the atmosphere.