Well, we did it. We were signed up as early recipients of a Nissan Leaf but we saw something more affordable for us. We bought a Mitsubishi MiEV . It’s like driving a futuristic over-sized laptop on wheels. It’s shaped like an egg and sounds like a quiet space ship. We have about 400 mi. on it so far and have not burned one ounce of gas. Before we try to explain how good that feels, we’d like to personally thank BP at this time.

Thank you BP for helping us to realize a goal of getting off of your gasoline IV. When we set out one Saturday a few weeks ago to trade a stick shift in for an automatic transmission car. Our first stop was the gas station. To our extreme disappointment, the price was 4.05/gal. We stopped the pump at 2 gallons and went back home to get online. Sure enough our Google search of “Pittsburgh electric vehicle” directed us to South Park Mitsubishi dealer (tell them Tesla Clifford referred you please) just a few miles away selling the MiEV. Our limit on what we’ll pay at the pump is reached. We took action and bought the EV. It performs better than most cars we’ve owned and uses no gas. Thanks BP. And thanks again for the Gulf shrimp we’ll never eat again, that was Not cool, you are unforgiven.

This car is functional. That’s the main thing. It’s a valid replacement. A to B. We’ve hauled the four of us, and the dog, (close to 600 lbs worth of cargo, most of which is me and the dog, we have too many treats) to the park 10 miles away. No problems. We’ve not gone more than 20 mi. one way yet but are anxious to do so.
The first day we went to town and I was tinkering with the stereo. The built in Navigation and Audio system is very cool.

I quickly started sync’ing music from my phone onto the audio subsystem (300 GB). I had the Nav system find me a new way home, made a call to my wife with one touch of a button on the steering wheel and voice dial system.
This is an amazing car. It’s climbing these Pittsburgh hills with ease and regenerative breaking on the down hill side. I’ve had it up to 75 mph and that’s as fast as I would ever go but it’s capable of more. It’s pretty convenient that when we go shopping, we can pull up to a free charging station. Charging at home is like running a couple of computers on 120v.

I added up the expense of driving my last car, with sticker price, repairs and 2.50/gal and came up with $98,000 to drive 160,000 mi. I’ve estimated to do the same in this car to be $62,000 and that includes tires, charging and 2 battery replacements though I’m not sure we’ll need to do that.

So this is our new primary vehicle. (to run errands with and commute). Our next car will
be an SUV, hydrogen fuel cell / EV and we’ll make our own bubbles of hydrogen with a few solar panels. We hope. If we do end up burning gas, we’d like to try that gas vapor system. The one you get 100mpg with. I’m sure we can go down to Pep Boys and get the parts by now, the patents were filed in the 1970’s, right? They should have those parts, wouldn’t you think? I do, but sadly, you can’t find that at Pep Boys.

The winds of change are blowing. Charging stations are going in all around Pittsburgh and probably around you too. It’s time to use this God Given energy from the sun, wind, water and earth and try our best to take care of this beautiful planet we call home.

EV’s are very cool !!!
So, driving 400 mi. without a drop of gas. We feel good. We see all these drivers with the gift of music in their dash boards like ours, but not many of them are enjoying it. Nobody seems very happy these days. Back in the 70s, 80s, people were happy to be cruising around, showing off there rides. Now days people are so stuck in there worries and daily grind that the joy of driving seems to be missing. It was for us, but not any more. Our lil egg car is rocking and life is good, well, there seems to be hope now anyway that we can do what needs to be done. Stop the rise of CO2.

The high point for Electric Vehicles was the September 7-11, 1886 races held at Narragansett Park in Providence Rhode Island, where 2 EVs bested a field of 6 internal combustion automobiles.

The race was held on a horse track and under the general rules for trotting races. It was scheduled to be 25 miles total length broken down into five mile heats.

The first race was run on Monday, September 5. There was a rolling start with the Riker Electric Motor Company car, driven by A.L. Riker, on the pole. The Riker Electric completed the 5 mile race in 15 minutes and 1 second, with the Electric Carriage & Wagon Company entry, driven by Henry B. Morris, only 13 seconds behind. The first ICE car, entered by the Duryea Motor Wagon Company, was a further 3 minutes and 33 seconds behind.

The second race, held on Tuesday, Septmember 6, was faster and closer. The Riker Electric won again from poll, cutting almost two minutes from the previous day’s time; but only 7 seconds behind was the Duryea ICE entry. Despite being 41 seconds faster than yesterday, the Electric Carriage entry finished third.

Wednesday and Thursday, races were rained out.

By Friday afternoon, the track was dry enough to race on and 50,000 people gathered to watch.
The Riker Electric still had the pole position but lining up in second was the internal combustion entry of the Duryea Motor Wagon Company. The Electric Carriage entry opted for a new driver, Henry B. Morris stepping aside for Mr. Adams.

The cars were even faster and the racing even closer. The Electrics got a good start, but by the half mile mark, the Duryea Motor Wagon entry was gaining. At this point, the ICE suffered a tire puncture and could not maintain the pace. The Ricker Electric held a small lead over it’s Electric Carriage rival until the final straight. There, the Electric Carriage entry put on a final burst of speed and took first place with a record time of 11 minutes and 27 seconds. The Riker Electric at 11 minutes and 28 seconds and the Duryea Motor Wagon entry at 11 minutes and 29 seconds also set personal bests and contributed to a thrilling finish.

The contest paid 3/5 prize money since two heats were rained out.
The Riker Electric Motor Company vehicle was the overall winner taking home $900.

The Present Moroso : December (28 – 29) http://www.proev.com/IEvIce.htm
ProEV Inc. was formed in 2001. The Electric Imp moved under electric power on May 9, 2003. We ran our first road race July 11, 2004 and won our first autocross Dec 19 , 2004. And now, in only our 10th road race, ProEV’s Electric Imp has done what no other Electric Vehicle has done since 1896. We have won a sanctioned road race against gas powered cars.

What does ProEV have that the last 110 years of electric vehicles have not had?
We have better technology. Better controllers. Better motors. Better information systems. Most important of all, we have better batteries.
The Kokam High Power Lithium Polymer batteries are the core technology that makes this victory possible. Kokam batteries have the right combination of power density and energy density to take EV’s from a niche vehicle to the mainstream.

It was not an easy victory. Our decision to use less regenerative braking to make the motors work less hard meant that we used more power per mile. The motor temperatures were stable through the race, 25 degrees Celsius cooler than the limit. We used too much power, dropping to our minimum voltage most of the last lap.

We are getting comfortable using more of the power and capacity of our Kokam High Power pack. Running harder and longer is pushing the limits of other components. The Siemens motors are ’stock’ street motors. It is time to ‘hotrod’ them to deal with the heat of constant high power running.

We are learning how much the driver can influence the range and speed of the car.
We need to develop our information systems to give the driver access to more complete data about power remaining and temperatures. This will allow fine tune driving style and power settings on the fly to get the best results.

We did our fastest lap ever during qualifying at only 3/4 power.
The car can go a lot faster.
We need to look at every method to improve efficiency at high power levels.

If this is not bad enough, the EPA Administrator has approved use of an unknown agent to disperse the oil to mask just how bad this really is. 1 MILLION Litres of Corexit 9500 have been sprayed in the gulf so far. This agent has been banned in other countries in Europe. That’s too ironic. The article I’m quoting below says “unknown agent” but if you do a web search, It turns out this is no more than deodorized kerosene and other chemicals extremely hazardous to sea life and wildlife including humans.
Terrebonne Parish Louisiana will be the first of many to come Landfalls which will destroy the habitat of thousands of species of wildlife. Oil companies do not care about these animals. They mildly care about tourism though. The dispersement efforts to attempt to minimize the black gook from reaching the sunny beaches of Florida will fail. Even if the black gook is dispersed to avoid detection on the white sands. The deodorized kerosene (Corexit 9500 and Corexit EC9527A) will affect every species living in, eating from, and Walking on that sand for ages. I Personally, will never walk barefoot on a gulf beach again.

Excerpt of an article on the Oil Spill.
Five years ago, a 400-page National Academy of Sciences study concluded the decision to use a dispersant requires making a choice: saving the beach at the expense of the ocean.

“It’s all about trade-offs,” said Beth McGee, senior water quality scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and one of the authors of the 2005 study. “You look at the resources at risk and you make a choice.” While there may be some sickness and fatalities among the fish population, she said, “you hope you’re saving some beaches or marshes.”

However, she added, anywhere the oil ends up, “it’s going to take a while for the system to recover.”

“You’re making a decision to save your birds at the expense of your larval fish and shellfish population,” Henderson agreed. But marine life should be able to bounce back more rapidly, he said.

That’s when the dispersants are sprayed on the surface, as their manufacturer recommends. Over the past week, BP has been testing a radical approach, shooting the dispersants at the source of the leaks nearly two kilometres beneath the surface, even though EPA officials say the effects of underwater use “are still widely unknown.”

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Dispersants+very+scary/3034379/story.html#ixzz0o7kIu5Q6

GHG Emissions

The biggest reductions were in Latvia -488%, Estonia -60%, Lithuania -59%, Ukraine -54%, Romania -52%, Belarus, Bulgaria, Russian Federation -40%, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Norway, Czech Republic -21%, Germany, Slovenia, UK, France, Monaco, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Denmark. Croatia also cut emissions by 4.1%!

Unfortunately, the U.S.A. has increased it’s emissions by 15.8% and still has not signed the Kyoto Protocol.

Data included in UNFCCC’s graph is from the period 1990 to 2007. Click on the graph to navigate to the UNFCCC’s web page. There are more graphs available. Also, each country who signed the Kyoto Protocol reports progress and information in each country’s language is provided.

Click on the widget to learn more and/or take action.

Spring 2010 is approaching and there’s a lot of buzz around topics like the economy, taxation, global poverty, restoration in Haiti/Chile, and environmental awareness. With spring, Earth Day also draws nearer (April 22nd); as individuals, we must remember and realize the importance of global warming and all of its implications. Subsequent topics discussed as of late include space travel/burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and green building. As nations like Haiti and Chile prepare for rebuilding and new construction, there are many things to consider when advancing. Moving towards cleaner, greener infrastructure is vital in ensuring a successful restoration campaign.

The U.S. Green Building Council is a 501(3)(c) non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to everybody. It’s one of the many organizations playing a role in clean, sustainable progression. Heavy discussion lies on green topics, especially the more recent ones like space travel; others include deforestation, green crops, clothing, energy, and much more. It’s important that we as individuals stay up-to-date on important global topics like warming.

As organizations like the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative), AFH (Architecture for Humanity), and the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) conducts sustainability campaigns and enforce strict environmental constraints, our world will continue to become a better, cleaner place.

Machines behind the CGI, Doug Band and Former President Clinton have been pursuing an emission reduction plan in the San Francisco Bay area. Meanwhile, GEC (Globetrotters Engineering Corporation) is underway with green building projects in Chicago, IL. Despite these few national examples, green infrastructure, particularly in places like Haiti, has become an integral part of restoration and construction.

This aligns with the implications of “economic viability” and long term sustainability, posing the questions, “Can Haiti really make it through all the costs of repair and reconstruction?” Infrastructure can take a toll on any economy, especially if the funds aren’t there. This goes hand in hand with meeting modern day LEED standards and approaching this in a “greener” sense. Organizations like Architecture for Humanity will make this possible. Architecture for Humanity (1999) is a non-profit design services firm building “a more sustainable future through the power of professional design.” It was formulated through a group of building professionals whose overwhelming passion for construction drove them to provide a way for underdeveloped, suffering countries to rebuild. Through their dedication and hard work, these people will be able to not only create new buildings and infrastructure, but make them bigger, better, and greener.

To touch on just some of the things that Architecture for Humanity covers:

• Alleviating poverty and providing access to water, sanitation, power and essential services

• Bringing safe shelter to communities prone to disaster and displaced populations

• Rebuilding community and creating neutral spaces for dialogue in post-conflict areas

• Mitigating the effects of rapid urbanization in unplanned settlements

• Creating spaces to meet the needs of those with disabilities and other at-risk populations

• Reducing the footprint of the built environment and addressing climate change

As polluters continue to buy their way out of Carbon Cuts globally, and large organizations continue to dump their waste into lakes, ponds and rivers, communities and must play their role in ensuring sustainability. Organizations like the CGI, AFH, and USGBC provide repercussion and policy change for such ecological crimes. Many of the consequences of human induced changes in climate are becoming evident and other results may not be known. Certainly our youth and earlier generations will experience first-hand the effects of pollutants and unsustainable efforts. Feel free to visit http://www.earthday.org/ to learn more about what you can do to protect your world.

In 1997, the Federal Trade Commission issued an Enforcement Policy Statement on the appropriate use of the “Made in U.S.A.” marking.[4] According to the FTC, to mark a product “Made in U.S.A.,” the product must be “all or virtually all” made in the United States. This means that the significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin.

Sorry New Balance, I’m donating the last pair of New Balance shoes I ever owned to Goodwill.