Take a look at these incredible photos from Los Angeles, where aerial artist Spectral Q and community members assembled this amazing image of a "Solar Eagle" soaring towards climate solutions.
Photo by Jeff Pantukhoff / Spectral Q
The L.A. event was designed to show the world how the people and businesses of Los Angeles are implementing global climate solutions from “Earth to Sky.” Urban gardeners from around the City got involved to show how increasing numbers are growing food in their yards as well as in community gardens, saving money as well as reducing the fossil fuel emissions from growing and transporting food from distant agri-businesses.
Photo by Jeff Pantukhoff / Spectral Q
The Syllabic word accompanying the Solar Eagle means ‘Well Being’ in Inuktitut (Inuit language), which stands for ‘Harmony, Balance & Health,’ the Goal of our global efforts.
This is third in a series of images, dating back to the Arctic, 2005. On Earth Day 2005, Inuit elders issued a warning to humanity from the sea ice off of Baffin Island, Canada, about the urgent dangers of global warming. The image of an Inuit Drum Dancer was accompanied by the words ‘Arctic Warning’ and the word ‘Listen’ in Inuktitut. In January 2007, the school children of Park City, Utah responded with an image that included a Bear Drum with the words, ‘We Hear You’ in Inuktitut, accompanied by ‘Step It Up.’ This helped launch the Step It Up campaign, our first large-scale activism project which later led to the international 350.org project.
The artist behind the project, John Quigley, also known as Spectral Q, commented on his vision for the event, “For over 200 years the eagle has been a symbol of America. The Solar Eagle represents an America based on a clean green energy economy. As the Solar Eagle takes flight, so too will our prosperity.”
The City of Los Angeles launched the Green LA initiative in 2007 to reduce the City’s carbon emissions to 35 percent below 1990 levels. The cornerstone of the aggressive plan is to increase LADWP’s Renewables Portfolio Standard to 35 percent by 2020. A major component of this is the Solar LA program which is the largest solar plan undertaken by any single city in the world. It will create a 1.3 gigawatt solar network of residential, commercial, and municipally owned solar energy systems, which will lower carbon emissions in Los Angeles and increase the City’s solar portfolio by nearly 100-fold.
Solar LA also represents a major opportunity to turn environmental solutions into economic opportunities for Angelenos by investing in and stimulating the local economy. Since every 10 megawatts (MW) of solar can create 200 to 400 jobs, the opportunity for green-collar jobs in Los Angeles is substantial and reaches across a broad range of occupations including research and development, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance.
Sponsors of ‘Solar Eagle Taking Flight’ include Olin Brass and Madico, who both provided solar panel elements.