Tired of the big money in politics? Tired of corporations running the country? If so, you’re not alone – and, according to the “Move to Amend Coalition,” a grassroots national organization spearheading resolution efforts across the country, people of all political persuasions feel exactly like you do. And if it’s true of people generally, it’s true of Vermonters in spades, who just made their state the first to call for an amendment to abolish the doctrine known as “Corporate Personhood” which gives corporations constitutional rights meant to protect people.
Just a quick note to let you know that our project to assemble audio/visual learning aids aimed at renewable energy is complete (for now, at least), and ready for distribution to any young people or newcomers in the subject you feel may benefit. It’s a compilation of a few short videos, in which I lay out each of the five major “flavors” of clean energy (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydro), and briefly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each. Also included are “infographics” that further explore these technologies and the issues that surround them.
My aim, of course, is to introduce this subject to as many people as possible, in the hopes that we can drive up the number of informed discussions, so necessary to the success of the democratic process.
Please feel free to send this link to anyone in your life who you feel may benefit. Thanks.
When I asked him about the pros and cons of adding electric vehicles to the line-up, I got some very interesting and thought-provoking answers that I thought I’d share: (more…)
I’m on the board of advisors for the Clean Business Investment Summit (CBIS), held each year in August, linking the very best business plans with the hungriest investors. I just got back from a meeting in which we discussed keynote speakers, and, of course, the names of the top people at Patagonia came up. Fortunately, some of them are “friends of friends,” and so I think there is a reasonable chance that this will work.
If you happen not to be familiar with the incredible leadership that these folks have shown in sustainable manufacturing, I hope you’ll check out the video I linked here.
Scientists tell us that the threat of climate change (not to mention the other issues associated with the depletion of natural resources in the face of population growth) is the most important event facing mankind in the entire history of humanity. That’s quite a thought, when you reflect on it. After 10,000 years of our living in organized society, we’ve come to the point at which our ability to limit the damage we’re doing to our environment over the next few decades will mean the difference between our success and failure as a species. (more…)
A reader from Savannah, GA and I spoke on the phone the other day and became fast friends. In response to my piece on subsidies for solar, he writes:
I keep going back and forth on this very difficult issue. On balance, I’m against photo-opp seeking politicians and their bureaucrats (pol-crats) picking winners and losers.
Still, the last decade’s big gush of subsidy bucks (grants, credits, feed-in-tariffs) may be cited as birthing a gold-rush style ramp-up of solar PV production that maybe would not have otherwise happened. (more…)
I just had a great conversation with Allan Schurr, IBM’s Vice President of Energy and Utilities. I performed quite a few projects for IBM over the 30 years that I functioned as a marketing consultant for the tech sector, and thus they’ll always occupy a warm spot in my heart — even if they did achieve their dominance in the late 20th century with the borderline abusive business tactics for which they were well known at the time.
Nowadays, we have a kinder, gentler — and I would say smarter IBM, a company dedicated to adding true value with its level of innovation, business strategy, and industry expertise. I’m delighted to see that IBM embraces electric transportation, and focuses on integrating its many information-related pieces, e.g., smart-grid. IBM’s done a great deal of work in early-adopter Denmark, where, for instance, an EV comes home at the end of a workday, gets plugged in, and waits patiently for the wind speed to cross a certain threshold, at which its charger switches on, thus minimizing the use of fossil fuels and maximizing the penetration of wind into the Danish grid-mix.
I’m spending the day in San Diego at the Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure USA 2012, meeting people, listening to talks, and doing an on-camera interview with industry guru Jon LeSage at Green Car Digest.
I just had an interesting conversation with the Qualcomm’s Senior Director of marketing, Joe Barrett, who told me about his company’s acquisition of the wireless (inductive) charging technology that they’re taking to market under the name “Halo.” I have to admit, Qualcomm really is in a good position to take this forward, given their size, and their success in establishing standards in a large and (vaguely) related industry: cellular telephony. (more…)
Throughout the history, earthquakes are known to cause high level of destructions and damages to our planet. Depending on the intensity of seismic waves, an earthquake can just shake our ground or literally cause ground rupture. The severity of damage is high in the case of ground rupture as it can dislocate large engineering structures like bridges, chemical plants, power plants, and very importantly nuclear power plants.
A couple of times a year, I order up a free “press pass” and head out to a conference on electric vehicles. Tonight, I’ll be driving south, staying with a friend in Los Angeles, then getting up early and continuing down to San Diego for the first day of the Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure USA 2012.
I don’t think I’ll be the only one asking tough questions of the panelists, insofar as anyone can see that the EV adoption curve isn’t what most people (including me) had predicted a few years ago. What really happening here?
By my wits, it’s summed up in the new Ford Focus Electric ad, featuring photographs of the gasoline-powered car and its new battery-powered brother side by side. They look identical, but the electric version is $40,000 — about two-and-a-half times the sticker price of the other ($16,500). So the customer now can have a who-cares car, worry about running out of charge, and pay an extra $23,500 for the privilege. That’s something to get excited about, isn’t it?
If I were trying to show customers the folly of electric vehicles, and get them to stick with the good ol’ gas-burners for as long as possible, this is exactly the way I’d do it. Sure makes you wonder who composed that ad, and why.
I notice that the head of market strategy at Coda has been asked to make a presentation. Seriously? Isn’t this like learning about sobriety from Charlie Sheen or Lindsay Lohan? And in the case of Coda, the consumer value proposition contains all the nonsensical elements of the Ford Focus Electric — but wait, there’s more! Not only is the car even far less attractive than the Ford, but the customer is expected to buy the car (and its warranty) from a company whose continued existence is incredibly unlikely. Sounds like the deal of the century.
Sorry for the sarcasm; regular readers will recognize that I actually support electric transportation. But I’m also a big fan of sanity and reason, ingredients that, for some reason, are distinctly lacking here.
Just a quick note to let you know that our project to assemble 
