A friend of mine sent me a link to Left Coast Electric and after I read through the site and saw the video it really sparked my interest.Now I know that given the current energy crisis we are now experiencing electric cars have been one of the many ways we can ween this country off imported carbon based fuels.
Now as I see it we have to take into consideration price because when at the end of the day to go green cost a lot green and especially when it comes to the electric car
market. GM has entered this market showing off there Chevy Volt with a confirmed price tag of 39,000.00 dollars is just to high and out of reach for the masses.
On the other end of the spectrum is the the Tata Nano with a price tag of 2500.00 dollars for the gas powered version and soon to be released will be an electric version with a price point somewhere around 4200.00 dollars.Tata motors is trying to make transportation affordable but I guess I do need a bit more form with than function when comes to my ride and there cars just look like go carts.
So here comes Left Coast Electric they will take an existing car and covert it to an electric car for the price of a new honda civic or any other entry level compact car (17,000.00) in my opinion that is within reach of most consumers and and it will pay way more dividends than buying that Civic.
1.It would reduce the amount of fossil fuel we would need to power our cars.
2.It would greatly reduce the number of cars in that are in junk yards and land fills polluting our environment.
3.It would reduce the amount toxic emissions that our cars spew into the atmosphere.
4.With mass production of these systems and components you will see the price come down and a whole new cottage industry that will create jobs and stimulate the economy.
Now I know we all want to do our part to make this world a greener place to live but for now it just seems out of reach financially for most of us but if companies like Left Coast Electric can succeed we will all benefit from there success for years to come.
I just read an article online about Freiburg, Germany and came away thinking this could be a model for how small cities and towns could manage there renewable initiatives. First I must mention that Freiburg’s voting district is lead by Germany’s Green party and as you might expect has a local government that is very green friendly with respect to encouraging and even mandating that it citizen’s and business adopt alternative energy solutions.
Freiburg likes to be known as “Solar City”. The town hall and the football stadium, swimming pools and the train station boast mirrors to create solar power. New houses have to consume a third less energy than German law requires.Now i know it seems that our local governments are not going to pursue this aggressive approach to mandating renewables but I think that Freiburgs model would be a good place to start. As I look forward to a changing energy policy in our federal government I am hoping local governments can adopt there own grass roots approach’s to tackle there energy needs with renewables.
1. City and town buildings should be powered by solar.
2. Where ever possible to mandate that all publicly owned vehicles with exception of first responders be hybrids or even electric cars.
3. If the geography would allow to consider wind turbines and or wind farms
4. Utilizing landfill’s for either capturing methane or erecting a solar farm
I understand our country is in a recession and local cities and towns are feeling the pinch but if our President is truly committed to make renewables a major part of his administrations agenda it has to start at the local level and what better time than now.
I recently visited an interesting blog, Von Trapper Keeper and watched a video that was aired on Cambridge Cable Television. Dan Nolan is freelance artist and writer and avid sports fan and after I watched the video I directed my attention to his web site http://dannolan.com/ and poked around for a while and what I found in Dan’s work that he has a firm grasp on capturing the sentiment and feeling of what he is painting, I especially liked the R. Crumb portrait as well as his baseball themes.
But I feel where Dan’s really shines is his ability to meld his talents as an artist and a writer with “Business Casual Stag Devil Death Boy”
Now I am not en expert on graphic novels but I have read “Watchmen” and “Dark Tower”although these are not the same theme I feel Dan’s work was every bit as interesting as well thought provoking and well worth the 25.00$ investment.
Dan also mentioned in the interview that he was trying to sell his paintings in an around Fenway Park but has come up against some of the local red tape with regard to obtaining a peddlers license and that is where I feel this system is broken.
Dan supports himself entirely from his work as an artist and has a very special product that would appeal to any fan of the Red Sox and they won’t let him within five miles of the ball park, I just think thats wrong and I hope this will change in the future.
Dan does some really great work and I hoping that he will get the success that he and his work deserves.
Corporate social responsibility it is sort of a ubiquitous term you here flying around these days, CSR is now seen as a vital tool in promoting and improving the public image of some of the world’s largest companies and corporations, now I know this blog primarily deals with green topics but I think this is where it gets relevant
Now when we think of CSR as big corporations giving back with regard to social causes but social responsibility can and should include a green initiatives as well. After a little poking around the web I found one such company that I would like to feature in this blog and its uber computer web search giant Google.
Now after I saw that video I know its not possible for all companies to go to such great lengths with there green programs but I think they can use Google as model how to break down some of the norms and dare I say “think outside the box”. I have friend who works for a software company who encourages there employees to carpool so the owner of the company will reward those employees if they carpool by allowing them to leave earlier on Fridays thats just one example another example is a leading mutual fund company will provide shuttle service to and from train stations to employees who commute by train into the city of Boston,now these may seem like small steps compared to Google but they are very important step in the right direction and I hope it continues to grow in the years to come.
