Private Sector to the Rescue

I've mentioned before that the private sector will help initiate a green revolution. The same venture capitalists and pioneering business people that fueled the dot com boom will shift their resources toward creating, developing, and marketing environmentally friendly goods and services. The entrepreneurial spirit is a primary factor to developing green business, but inject the fact that such ventures help reduce pollution and global warming gasses, and you get a zeal that further motivates environmentally concerned pioneers.

One of these pioneering companies, Tesla Motors, has developed an electric roadster that can compete with other vehicles in its class. The roadster cranks out 248 horse power which is comparable to a V6 Altima, goes 0 to 60 in four seconds, Top speed is 130 mph, and can go 200 miles on a full charge. For $350 you can purchase a mobile charging system that allows you to plug the car into a standard power outlet, so you can power up while you sleep: and the cost to operate the all electric roadster - 2 cents per mile. Not a bad deal. Hey, even former Standard Oil executive Condi Rice likes it.
http://www.teslamotors.com

~Moe

By Sebastian Blanco:

Condi Rice and Aussie minister ride a Tesla

Say, who's that in one of the Tesla Roadster prototypes? Why, it's none other than Tesla sales manager Tom O'Leary. Oh, you mean on the left? That's U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice out at Moffett Field, California over last week. Rice was meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and the two took some trips on the tarmac (up to 110 mph. Jealous yet?) Here's the official transcript of their comments:

Secretary Rice: Well, the Foreign Minister and I have just gone in what felt like a little rocket ship. We went down the runway there. We've been looking at some of the ways that energy efficiency can improve our ability to get off of hydrocarbons but also to improve the environment and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is an issue of great concern to me and to Foreign Minister Downer as well. So we're delighted to be here at this great company. And we expect to see great things from Tesla, but it was a wonderful to meet with the engineers, to meet with the founder, but it was especially wonderful to ride in the car. (Laughter.)

Foreign Minister Downer: I can only repeat all of that. Fantastic car. We got it up to 110 miles an hour. It's entirely legal on an airport here. (Laughter.) And great acceleration, naught to 60 miles an hour in four seconds is pretty breathtaking, so a genuine sports car. And an electric car like this has great environmental advantages, including being quiet, actually. The silence of the car is extraordinary. But maybe for those who love the tone of the Ferrari engine or whatever it is, they'll miss that with electric cars, but very much the technology of the future and exciting to see. And I think this company has done incredibly well with private venture capital. It's not a government initiative. It's a private initiative and it's great to see the private sector coming up with solutions like this to some of our environmental problems.

I love the reflections of all the media (and, presumably, security) folks we can see in the shiny front fender bumper.

[Source: State Department, h/t to Linton]

NYC's taxi fleet going green by 2012

NY already has electric hybrid buses. Bloomberg is suggesting that a carbon production fee to motorists entering Manhattan could be initiated. Some cities like London are charging congestion fees to motorists. The initiative was initially controversial, but it passed. The result was public transit use went up 30%. London, like New York, has good public transit infrastructure to aggressively implement such environmentally friendly measures, but California cities greatly lack transportation alternatives.

By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - The city's yellow taxi fleet will go entirely hybrid within five years, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday.

"There's an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City," Bloomberg said. "These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes.

"This does a lot less. It's a lot better for all of us," he said of the hybrid plan.

Nearly 400 fuel-efficient hybrids have been tested in the city's taxi fleet over the past 18 months, with models including the Toyota Prius, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, the Lexus RX 400h and the Ford Escape.

Under Bloomberg's plan, that number will increase to 1,000 by October 2008, then will grow by about 20 percent each year until 2012, when every yellow cab — currently numbering 13,000 — will be a hybrid.

Hybrid vehicles run on a combination of gasoline and electricity, emitting less exhaust and achieving higher gas mileage per gallon.

The standard yellow cab vehicle, the Ford Crown Victoria, gets 14 miles per gallon. In contrast, the Ford Escape taxis get 36 miles per gallon.

In addition to making the yellow cab brigade entirely green within five years, the city will require all new vehicles entering the fleet after October 2008 to achieve a minimum of 25 miles per gallon. A year later, all new vehicles must get 30 miles per gallon and be hybrid. Bloomberg made the announcement on NBC's "Today" show.

Hybrid vehicles are typically more expensive, but the city said the increase in fuel efficiency will save taxi operators more than $10,000 per year. Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) said it would donate 10 hybrid Ford Escapes for the city's effort.

Shifting the taxi fleet to hybrids is part of Bloomberg's wider sustainability plan for the city, which includes a goal of a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Part of the plan could include congestion pricing for drivers entering some of the busiest parts of Manhattan.

Turning over the taxi fleet by 2012 is not an impossible goal. The life of a New York City taxi is typically about three to five years; the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission requires all vehicles to be retired within a certain time frame.

Fernando Mateo, president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, an advocacy trade group, applauded the city's effort to go green.

"In the short term, they're going to have to spend more money, but in the long run they will save money," he said. "We support getting more hybrids on the road."

The government does not own the city's yellow cabs, but sells licenses to individual drivers and operators, who must purchase their own vehicles that meet the specifications of the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The agency serves as the regulating and licensing authority for all vehicles per hire in the city.

Fourteen New Companies Join U.S. Climate Change Fight

The United States Climate Action Partnership announced today that it has added 14 new members to its roster, doubling the size of the coalition.

The new members of the group include American International Group (AIG), Alcan, Boston Scientific, ConocoPhillips, Deere & Company, The Dow Chemical Company, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Marsh, PepsiCo, Shell and Siemens, along with The Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation.

The coalition, which continues to broaden and deepen its membership, brings together key sectors of the economy -- from energy, transportation, agriculture and technology to telecommunications, infrastructure and financial services -- with environmental and conservation leaders.

USCAP's main goal is to urge the federal government to immediately pass mandatory legislation to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

With its new members, USCAP companies now have total revenues of $1.7 trillion, a collective workforce of more than 2 million and operations in all 50 states; the group also has a combined market capitalization of more than $1.9 trillion.

The two new non-governmental organizations in USCAP, The Nature Conservancy and the Wildlife Federation, have more than two million members worldwide, and represent America's environmental interests and its conservation traditions.

In January, USCAP issued a report that outlined principles and recommendations for a policy framework on climate change. The report, "A Call for Action," laid out a blueprint for a mandatory economy-wide, market-driven approach to slowing and then reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Today's new members join the 13 founding members of USCAP: Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, FPL Group, General Electric, PG&E, and PNM Resources, Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pew Center on Global Climate Change and World Resources Institute.