GreenerPolitics

by Clayton B. Cornell, Gas 2.0

This could be it: the Th!nk City electric car, a four-seater with 110 mile range and top speed of 65 mph, priced under $25,000, made from 95% recyclable materials, and available in the U.S. in 2009.

The Th!nk City electric car is the product of Norwegian firm Th!nk Global, an auto manufacturer backed by Silicon Valley funding who has plans to assemble the cars in Southern California. In contrast to Tesla’s limited release of 300 cars per year, the Th!nk City is designed for mass production to the tune of 30-50,000 units within a few years. Th!nk already produces about 10,000 of these cars in Europe annually.

As an interesting aside, Ford Motor Company originally developed the vehicle, but (in a move they may soon regret), sold it to Norwegian investors in 2003. Why is it so cool? Because most of us don’t drive more than 40 miles in a day, and small electric cars are optimally suited for congested city driving. The benefits are pretty obvious, but if you’re worried about getting out for the weekend with the Th!nk City, don’t. Use it for city driving and keep that gas-guzzling SUV for forays into the mountains. You’ll still come out ahead.

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From Environmental Graffiti

As we all put our thinking caps on for this “save the environment” thing, and Americans begin to scream under the weight of rising fuel costs, one of the best ways around leaving a giant carbon footprint, or paying an arm and a leg, is to take the bus. Or the train. Or a subway.

After all, why take a car? CNN filmed people paying for gas yesterday like it was news!

So, without further ado here are the five best places for you to be shacked up on this planet if you want to have somebody else take you from place to place.

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by Lisa Margonelli, The Atlantic

Forty years ago, the steel mills and factories south of Chicago were known for their sooty smokestacks, plumes of steam, and throngs of workers. Clean-air laws have since gotten rid of the smoke, and labor-productivity initiatives have eliminated most of the workers. What remains is the steam, billowing up into the sky day after day, just as it did a generation ago.

The U.S. economy wastes 55 percent of the energy it consumes, and while American companies have ruthlessly wrung out other forms of inefficiency, that figure hasn’t changed much in recent decades. The amount lost by electric utilities alone could power all of Japan.

A 2005 report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that U.S. industry could profitably recycle enough waste energy—including steam, furnace gases, heat, and pressure—to reduce the country’s fossil-fuel use (and greenhouse-gas emissions) by nearly a fifth. A 2007 study by the Mc­Kinsey Global Institute sounded largely the same note; it concluded that domestic industry could use 19 percent less energy than it does today—and make more money as a result.

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By Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service, Calgary Herald
OTTAWA - David McGuinty was baffled when he first heard provocative advertising about global warming in the midst of the 2006 federal election.

The radio spots criticized a consumer energy conservation program along with the climate change policies of the government of the day and appeared to come from nowhere, he said.

“I was having to explain an awful lot about climate change at the door, as a candidate,” said McGuinty, the Liberal MP for Ottawa South, in an interview. “So when I heard this, I thought, ‘Well, why would anybody even run these ads in Ottawa? Why are they going here? And I didn’t know they were going across the province in five zones at the time.”

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Through the facility of facebook and other media, I have commissioned a survey to ask potential GP Radio listeners what they would like to hear in an internet broadcast designed specifically for them.

History of GP Radio

The first broadcast of GP Radio was May 22, 2007 and new broadcasts were uploaded every week until September 4, 2007. GP Radio hosted the very first live streaming Leaders’ Debate for the Green Party of British Columbia. GP Radio also helped to promote the Green Party of Ontario during its provincial election and the Yes to MMP campaigns in September 2007. This campaign was the first time that GP Radio broadcasts were available from multiple websites.

The GP Radio concept has enjoyed success over its short history:

1. Building an active audience listener base,
2. Soliciting input for small ‘g’ ideas from thinkers all over the world and offering a venue for Greens to discuss ideas and building relationships with the arts and science communities.
3. Promoting small ‘g’ green ideas, from e-voting to morphable materials.

In addition, GP Radio has provided a venue for the interaction of the Green Party with non-partisan groups, enabling the exchange and test marketing of ideas.

The New GP Radio: Greater Reach, Anytime, Anywhere

With the advent of new technology, it is now possible to provide a streaming audio broadcast 24 hours per day and available on any number of audio streaming devices. In addition, this technology enables the possibility of ‘live to air’ broadcast – that is, doing an interview with someone that immediately can be heard by listeners tuned into the station. This would enable GP Radio to function in many respects like a conventional radio station.

The Survey

Part I

1. Do you listen to the radio over the internet? If yes, list what stations/sites you listen to. If no, skip to question 5.

2. Where do you listen to the radio?
3. What kind of content do you listen to on internet radio?
4. When do you listen to internet radio?

Part II

If you were planning to take time to listen to an internet radio station, how would you rate the following content:

5 – Very interesting – would make time to listen
4 – Interesting
3 – Not sure / no opinion
2 – Boring
1 – Terribly boring/annoying – would avoid listening

1. Interviews with small ‘g’ green thinkers: scientists, politicians, philosophers, activists, etc.

2. Interviews with small ‘g’ green businesspeople: investors, futurists, entrepreneurs, engineers etc.

3. Interviews with small ‘g’ artists: musicians, painters, videographers, actors, directors, etc.

4. Interviews with prominent Green Party people from Canada and around the world.

5. Radio call in shows like CBC’s Cross Country Check Up

6. Live coverage of events as they unfold.

7. Coverage of activities local to your community.

8. OPEN QUESTION: What other program content would you enjoy listening to?

9. How important is it for you to have green oriented radio programming accessible through your computer?

10. Who is the person you would most like to hear from in an interview?

11. What kind of music do you enjoy?