![\"Eastside-Sol_final-1000pxw\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2015\/08\/Eastside-Sol_final-1000pxw-154x300.jpg\")
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Walking around my neighborhood in Boyle Heights, on the eastside of Los Angeles, I see murals and street art conveying pride in the community and the cultural roots of its residents. I see street vendors and informal entrepreneurs trying to capture the America dream, smell delicious food, and hear infectious Latin music that will make you want to move with the rhythm. What I don\u2019t see are solar panels, plentiful shade under trees and green space, electric vehicles, and other icons of the growing clean energy economy. Instead, I smell vehicle exhaust and feel the heat trapped in my neighborhood and many like it on the eastside, where communities are bisected by freeways, surrounded by toxic facilities, and bound by a jungle of concrete.<\/p>\n
But it doesn\u2019t have to be like this. Recently a coalition of labor, environmental justice, and community organizations teamed up with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to put together Eastside Sol, the first 100 percent solar powered art and music festival on the eastside of Los Angeles. The goal of the event was to create a vision of what the community might look like with abundant solar power, more trees and greenspace, and a fair share of the growing clean energy economy.<\/span><\/p>\n But there was a twist: We also wanted to create a space that reflected the rich culture, values, and aesthetics of the community, while engaging residents in a conversation about solar power in a way that was accessible and open to all.\u00a0At the end of the day, over 350 eastside residents came out to enjoy a day of art, music, good food, and clean energy!<\/p>\n See for yourself in the video and picture below:<\/p>\n