Burning Man founder Larry Harvey chooses the theme for each year's event — such as 2002's the Floating World and last year's Hope and Fear — but it usually doesn't have much impact on the basic character of the event. This year's theme, Green Man, is different.
"It's the first theme that has any kind of practical, political character," Harvey told the Guardian, noting that Green Man has sparked big changes in how the event will be staged, a campaign to improve burners' environmental practices, and a new way of relating to the outside world.
"We're looking at every aspect of the event: solid waste, energy, and materials," said Tom Price, who has filled the newly created full-time position of environmental director, which was a natural offshoot from his previous work as Burning Man's lobbyist and the founder of Burners Without Borders, which formed to do Gulf Coast cleanup after Hurricane Katrina hit (see "From Here to Katrina," 2/22/06).
Harvey said it was the good that burners did in Mississippi that started him thinking about the green theme and the idea that Burning Man needed to start turning its energies outward at a time when global warming and other environmental problems are growing public concerns.
"We're working our way back into the world. Maybe not the mainstream but certainly onto Main Street," Harvey said. "There's a lot out there that needs reform. The time of the reformer is at hand, I believe."
Among the projects Price is now working on are expanding the already large recycling effort at the event, finding ways to use more solar panels and fewer generators, coordinating theme camps to share power sources, using the purchase of emissions credits to offset the greenhouse gases created by Burning Man, and creating incentives for art projects to use alternative fuels.
"The whole process is being driven by the community," Price said.
Ramping up Burning Man's environmental activism and commitment has been the goal of several movements within the larger event, such as Cooling Man (www.coolingman.net) and Greening the Burn (tribes.tribe.net/greeningtheburn), as well as being a priority for many Burning Man employees, such as technology dominatrix Heather Gallagher, a.k.a. Camera Girl, and facilities manager Paul Schreer, a.k.a. Mr. Blue.
"We've been hippie busybodies pushing for this on the inside," Gallagher told us. "And when [Harvey] announced the theme, I was, like, 'Yesss!' "
"What's exciting about the Green Man theme and this year's event is it's a perfect illustration of the power of community," Price said, noting that networking and experimentation have always been hallmarks of the event. "Going back 10 years, Burning Man has been a place for early adopters who are on the cutting edges of a lot of disciplines."
That makes it a good place to experiment with new technologies and evangelize those that work well.
"I've always believed Burning Man would eventually partner in some way with the environmental movement," Harvey said. "It's almost a historic inevitability."
Since the theme was announced, the organization has been overwhelmed with offers from individuals and groups that want to help green the event, from someone who donated ...
As a resident in Gerlach, I attended the Greater Gerlach Improvement District (GGID) meeting that Tom Price presented his idea for solar power. In Gerlach, we do not have extra cash for such “Green projects” as solar power. I asked Tom Price how much it would cost the town and he did not respond. He sat through the meeting playing on Tribe.net on his laptop. He seems to have missed the bigger part of the GGID meeting that involved the millions of dollars our town needs to come up with to replace our sewage treatment pools, immediately.
I am sure Tom Price means well, but why do these San Francisco residents have to mess with Gerlach—we already get some of our power from geothermal energy in Empire. I sense that this entire project is just a marketing venture and a way for Larry Harvey to get free advertising.
Why don't they make the Burning Man properties in Gerlach solar powered? They have a house, an office, a shower compound and a bar in Gerlach. Twenty miles outside Gerlach, they have a 200 acre ranch. People in Gerlach are not interested in paying for this project. Larry Harvey would do well to exercise his own “radical self reliance” and put his solar to work on all the properties he owns in Gerlach, unless he can give the people of Gerlach a straight answer as to what it will cost us.
And finally, as a former full time worker for Larry Harvey, I would ask him why he has money to solar power Gerlach when he cut the pay of his workers that restore the playa after the event by half in the last four years? How Green is that? Tom Price said at the GGID meeting that all the labor for the solar power would be free.
If this solar project is free, I am sure people in Gerlach would warm up to it. But perhaps Larry should take care of his workers, his properties and save a little cash for the legal fees to ensure this isn't the last Burning Man that happens because he screwed around lost the trademark for Burning Man.
Gerlach, NV
To your questions:
1) The solar project, if it happens, won't cost the residents of Gerlach anything. In return, and again this is still in development, the public buildings there would receive free power.
The details of the project will be discussed at length in public forums in Gerlach in the next few months, allowing everyone to comment and ask questions. The reason we didn't go into it in that forum was because (1) all the details aren't final and (2) it was the first time the project was being discussed, and we'd like to have more people there for a larger discussion. I "didn't respond" because the Chairman of the GGID asked me not to, asking that questions be held until after the formal meeting. Had you not left before the end of the meeting, you would have heard many questions asked and answered.
2) The solar project, if it happens, won't cost Burning Man anything, either. It will happen by bringing together rebates available from the public utility along with volunteers from the Burning Man community. ( Note: which means this has nothing to do with your concerns about BM and workers issues. The two aren't related, please don't confuse them. ) Again, there are many details to sort out, and they'll be publicly shared when they have been. There's nothing to hide with any of this; we just want to be able to be solid in everything we're saying.
3) As to the bigger part of the meeting re: water bills--I didn't miss it. In fact, you did when you left early. That's because you didn't hear about our plans to work with the power company to bring all of their low income assistance and elderly assistance programs ( in addition to all their conservation programs ) to people in Gerlach this April, for free. The result? Everyone's power bill will go down, and some will have theirs disappear entirely.
4) About making BM properties solar powered. We have applied for the solar rebate incentives for all BM property in town, however those likely won't come up until 2008. In the meantime, we're going to help bring solar to public buildings in Gerlach, just because it's the right thing to do.
I hope that addresses your concerns and comments, and if not get in touch: [Email]
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