In September 2017, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, completely
upending the energy grid of the small island. The nearly year-long
power outage that followed vividly shows how the new climate reality
intersects with race and access to energy. The island is home to
brown and black US citizens who lack the political power of those
living in the continental US. As the world continues to warm and
storms like Maria become more commonplace, it is critical that we
rethink our current energy system to enable reliable, locally
produced, and locally controlled energy without replicating the
current structures of power and control.
In Revolutionary
Power, Shalanda Baker arms those made most vulnerable by our
current energy system with the tools they need to remake the system
in the service of their humanity. She argues that people of color,
poor people, and indigenous people must engage in the creation of the
new energy system in order to upend the unequal power dynamics of the
current system.
Revolutionary
Power is a playbook for the energy transformation complete with a
step-by-step analysis of the key energy policy areas that are ripe
for intervention. Baker tells the stories of those who have been left
behind in our current system and those who are working to be
architects of a more just system. She draws from her experience as an
energy-justice advocate, a lawyer, and a queer woman of color to
inspire activists working to build our new energy system.
Climate change will
force us to rethink the way we generate and distribute energy and
regulate the system. But how much are we willing to change the
system? This unique moment in history provides an unprecedented
opening for a deeper transformation of the energy system, and thus,
an opportunity to transform society. Revolutionary Power shows
us how.