The oil spill has motivated some of us to think again about solar power. (Read it and weep: Italy — which is about the size of California — installs more solar power in two months than California does in a year.) We’re horribly late to this party, just as we’re laggards on wind power, but better late than never.

 

There are problems with solar and wind power, but the biggest has more to do with dirty profits than clean energy: If they really caught on, they’d damage the profitability of Big Oil. That’s one reason you’re seeing more commercials now for Big Oil’s first cousin, natural gas. As the commercials trumpet, natural gas is plentiful right here in the US of A. It doesn’t put money into the hands of people who finance terrorism. And it surely doesn’t push 444 million gallons of oil into a body of water that’s crucial for wildlife, fishing and tourism.

 

That’s a fairly compelling argument — on the surface. What the natural gas advocates don’t tell you: the human and environmental cost of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” This is a process of injecting water at high pressure into gas-rich rock, which splits and releases its precious fuel. It’s nothing new — over the last 60 years, fracking has been used to create more than one million wells.

 

The problem with fracking — according to “Gasland,” a new documentary I recently watched on HBO — is that the chemicals used in this process pollute the underground water supply. Long term damage is just that: It takes years to measure. But you only have to see the effect of fracking on residential water to be thoroughly freaked out — watch a homeowner put a cigarette lighter next to the faucet of his kitchen sink and light his drinking water on fire:

 

If you’ve got two-and-a-half minutes for a primer on fracking and can wait until almost the end for the “fire water” shot, watch this:

 

 

Pissed off? I am. And have been for other reasons. I’ve just read Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle, an often exciting but sadly uneven book by Chris Hedges, author of War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning. Read, if you can stand it, his final, tragic chapter.

 

Pay attention to this stuff, and just the phrase “off the grid” starts to generate dreamy fantasies of escape. I know: I’m not getting off the grid any time soon, and neither are you. But that doesn’t mean giant corporations have to make us passive, depressed and defeated. There are things we can do to cast our vote on the side of sanity and raise the general level of consciousness, even if it’s only a smidge…

 

So when I discovered there’s such a thing as solar powered garden/path lights, I cheered up. These lights won’t have you selling electricity back to the power company — they won’t even save you a ton of money. You’d like l00 watts of brightness? You’ll have to settle for 40.

 

But LED bulbs do last longer. The aesthetics will make your guests aware that they too can light their pathways and gardens using solar power. And though they’re plastic and may strike you as flimsy, they’re generally sturdy and will hold up to extremes of weather.

 

As an economy purchase, I commend the Moonrays Light. Or rather: 10 lights, sold at $29.99. Set along a driveway or path, they’re like a row of miniature flying saucers. The solar cells are inset on top so discreetly your visitors may never notice them.

 

The Moonlight Markers lights are angled circles, with the solar cell right on the face. There are two (for $14.95) in each pack; when fully charged, the batteries have power for eight hours.