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Are You an EcoGeek?
While at the L.A. Auto show for the Volt briefing, I met some very interesting bloggers.
One of those was Hank Green, founder of EcoGeek.org, a cool blog devoted to planet-saving innovations. Hank is a genuine and earnest man of great talent. He put up a post so his readers could check out our GM-Volt.com Chevy Volt Q&A. If you haven’t already, I recommend you check out his blog too.
Also, if you haven’t seen it as well, I was interviewed for WIRED magazine’s automotive blog about my experience with GM and the development of this site, should you be interested in that.
One terrific quality of GM-Volt.com is the very wide range of opinions, political leanings, and concerns of the people that come and comment here. We have one common denominator; we all want GM to make the Volt! So whether you’re an EcoGeek or not, all are welcome.
53 Responses to “Are You an EcoGeek?”
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November 30th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
” We have one common denominator; we all want GM to make the Volt! ”
Absolutely ! ! !
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November 30th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
The interview with wired was pretty eye-opening, because it pretty much takes the notion that GM-Volt is viral marketing from GM, and blows it out of the water.
That was one of my motivations for starting the site, to keep the Volt on the front burner for them…I was hoping the site would be a way of constantly demonstrating to GM that the public is interested in this car. I really think it has had that effect on them
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November 30th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I’m a ‘capitalist geek’.
And there’s lots of money to be made from ‘ecogeeks’.
Especially if you import poisonous plastic crap from China then put a label on it that says “made in the Amazon by native Indian tribes, without any chemicals, with 10% of our modest profit donated to AIDS research”.
Then turn around and invest the money in Exxon, the world’s most profitable corporation.
death to oil
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November 30th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Lyle:
Thanks again for all your work in setting up this site, and all the management that goes along with it.
Also, thanks for setting up the “GM request” section of the forum!
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November 30th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
LyleL, #1:
Amen.
Oil Jihadi, #3:
You would have loved the article in yesterday’s LA Times business section about several million dollars worth of Chinese Christmas lights with fake U.L. labels confiscated by Customs at the Port of LA.
Since they look inside about 2% of the containers, I wonder how many get through.
Do you think it’s just Christmas lights?
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November 30th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Lyle,
What a great interview with WIRED magazine’s automotive blog, keep up the good work.
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November 30th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
I am curious why everyone posting to this site is interested in the Volt and reducing our oil usage. Following are some of the reasons off of the top of my head.
= Political – don’t want to support countries that are not our friends
= Economic – want to reduce our large trade deficits
= Energy independence – want to be self reliant – don’t want to have to rely on others
= Environmental – global warming
= Health related – breathing CO2 is bad for us
I want to reduce the amount of oil we use for all of the above reasons but the main reason is for economic purposes.
How about everyone else?
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November 30th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Noel:
It’s certainly more than christmas lights! My clients have had computers with worthless power supplies, one actually caught fire. I have no doubt the UL labels were false. When I see no name hardware that’s acting weird, I tell them it will cost more for my labor to deal with it than it will cost to buy quality machines, so throw this garbage away and next time spend more money.
Jimmy:
My #1 reason for wanting a Volt is to reduce my oil consumption, and thus help bankrupt Saudi Arabia and Iran. Oil revenue funds those countries, which fund terrorism and nuclear programs. I also want to see Venezuela and Russia put in their place.
The trade deficit is somewhat of a concern for me.
CO2 is not a big concern of mine, and I’m amazed at the tree huggers that cry about CO2 and are anti-nuclear (thus pro-coal), but also ignore methane and NOx emissions, plus their ignorance of water vapor (clouds) as the most potent but least studied greenhouse gas. Ultimately I’m a centrist when it comes to the issue, and I see lots of liberal groupthink going on. But the folks on the right who think global warming can only be caused by nature are just as foolish.
Economic and environmental purposes are 1% of my motivation for buying a Volt. Fighting terrorism is the other 99% of it.
death to oil
http://www.oiljihad.org
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November 30th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Here’s a great link for the tree huggers to study. It’s about capitalism and the environment.
http://www.arthurshall.com/x_2007_hippies.shtml
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November 30th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Jimmy, #6:
Well, I would say all of the above, but my primary motivation is a bit more microeconomic and closer to home.
I don’t want to spend all this !@#$%^&* money on gas! Plus, you can just take it to the bank that the price is going on up. There may be a bit of a downtick in oil prices this week, but the trend line is there to see.
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November 30th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Jimmy #6 here’s my list: http://www.thecaseforpluginhybrids.com
It’s far from complete, but has some of the larger reasons for the world to support the Volt.
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November 30th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
noel – “Through technology we can all have more” is an idea that has driven me to greener technologies (and one of the top three reasons I want a Volt). Green technology is usually also money-saving technology.
Take compact flourescent light bulbs for example- I replaced 45 100-watt incandescent lightbulbs in my home with CFLs and over the life of all 45 bulbs I will save over $2000 in electricity costs alone. This does not include..
1) My time involved with changing old fashioned incadescent bulbs at the rate of about 1 a week before the switch to CFLs.
2) Air conditioning costs associated with having to cool the massive amounts of heat that the older incandescent bulbs created.
$2000 that I would not have otherwise had. $2000 to buy whatever I want.
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November 30th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
My reason for wanting the volt to succeed is very simple. I believe it will help end our need for foreign oil. Go volt
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November 30th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Saying someone is pro-coal because they are anti-nuclear has got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve heard all week. It’s akin to saying someone is pro-APV if they are anti-SUV.
I won’t even mention the self proclamation of “centrist” (Ok, I mentioned it…but that’s all) or question why “groupthink” is a “liberal” quality.
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November 30th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
You’re right. In California being anti-nuclear has resulted in the state being pro natural gas. So, more generally, anti-nuclear means pro fossil fuels.
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November 30th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Domenick…
Here’s a better explanation: When people fight against nuclear power, coal is usually used instead (in America). Feel free to disprove this claim. Yes, I’m aware there’s other forms of energy including solar, etc etc.
I make no claim there is no group think on the right.
The global warming test:
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/GlobWarmTest/start.html
If concern about the environment will get the left to help kill oil, then I’m all for it. There’s enough reasons to get the left, center, and right behind this struggle.
death to oil
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November 30th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
I couldn’t say ‘ecogeek’…. because when I get my 1969 Porsche 911 in good driving shape, I won’t shed a tear at the fact that it has ABSOLUTELY NO EMISSIONS CONTROLS whatsoever.
I’m all about energy independence. I do not believe we (mankind) are having any affect on climate. The earth goes through it’s own natural cycles, and we’re just along for the ride!
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November 30th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Anti-Oil,
Actually I spent a fair amount of energy researching about water vapor and Global Climate Change a while ago, back when fuel cells looked like they might become viable. My concern was that extra water was being produced. As it turns out, there is, but less so than with ICEs. Any way, the answer to the effect of water vapor on GCC is that water vapor content in the atmosphere is a function of temperature. Higher temperature, more vapor, which potentially increases the temperature. Lower temperature and water condenses and comes out of the atmosphere. The models spend much energy on the effects of water vapor (despite your claim that it is ignored) as the temperature increase of increased vapor in the atmosphere must be factored in, but so must the potential for cloud cover to reflect solar energy off of the planet.
The evidence for humankind’s influence on current CO2 levels and climate changes in progress is overwhelming. But so what if it wasn’t? The real issue isn’t how much of what’s going on now is due to man’s influence, but what will be the effect of what we do from here. This much is clear: business is usual is going result in some devasting changes. Oh there is debate. Mainly over how big the risk is of catastrophic changes, of hitting a real “tipping point.” All I know is that if there is a fire approaching my property then I’m going not throw oily rags in my yard, and if I can, I’ll clear out some of the dry brush and hose things down. I won’t care too much about if the fire was started by lightening or a kid playing with matches. I just want to do the prudent things needed to reduce my coming risk of significant property damage and loss of life.
Most of all though is how right Lyle is. Whether you still like Bush, or your someone who loved Nader, whether you believe that scientists are idiots and global warming is a crock, or you are a hemp wearing what-have-you, whatever your stripe, we can all agree that the Volt is an idea whose time has come.
(Except if you are Doug K. or you work for Toyota.
)
And that’s an amazing thing.
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November 30th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
That’s fascinating info Don. Thanks for sharing it.
From what I’m aware of, there is overwhelming evidence the earth is warming, and humans contribute to it, but if that contribution is substantial when compared to a single big volcano is not well known because of the complexity of the issue.
I believe the risk isn’t worth it, and we should error on the side of caution. That means lots of nuclear power and a lot less coal. It didn’t bankrupt the socialist French.
Even if it was proven that humans have no impact, so what? If action is needed such as a solar umbrella, and only because of mother nature, so be it.
I’m fully aware of feedback loops. That worries me.
As far as I’m concerned, China and India care far less about the environment than America. When a person lives in poverty, they don’t have the luxury of caring about the health of the ecosystem, they’re more worried about finding food for their many many children.
Also, I never claimed water vapor is ignored, just not studied as throughly as it probably should be, from what I’m aware of.
death
to
oil
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November 30th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
My reasons for wanting to buy a Volt:
Besides using my car as a daily driver, I still like to drive just for the fun of it, you know, recreational enthusiast driving on curvey back roads and such, and the Volt would make me feel a little less guilty doing that. (I just hope the Volt will be fun to drive like my MINI).
Reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Put GM back on track and help the American car industry back to health.
I have owned foreign cars (mostly Japanese) for my entire life and would really like to finally have an American car that makes me feel good. The Volt concept is the only American car in recent history that holds that promise. I will continue to keep my fingers crossed.
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November 30th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
The Volt’s technology decouples mobility from oil by allowing a majority of transportation to be powered by any energy source via electricity. This greatly weakens our dependence on oil, as well as the ability of countries to use it as a strategic economic weapon.
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November 30th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
I also have to agree with Mike756 (as most of you probably do) about other countries using oil as a strategic weapon. Did you ever stop and think what would be the ultimate weapon to bring the US to it’s knees without firing a shot? Yep, shut off our OIL. We’re like a junkie, helplessly hooked. History has already shown what can happen with the oil embargo from the 70’s and our consumption has increased exponentially since then. You can bet our enemies are trying everything in their power to accomplish this and if we don’t wise up soon it’ll happen. We need a LOT of cars like the Volt.
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December 1st, 2007 at 12:21 am
I concur with you. Just look at the below headlines tonight.
“Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Friday to halt the OPEC nation’s oil sales to the United States, seeking to fire up his leftist supporters for a weekend referendum on expanding his powers.”
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071201/wl_nm/venezuela_referendum_dc_1
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December 1st, 2007 at 12:31 am
Venezuela, Iran, Russia and all other belligerent countries refusing to sell us oil could be the best thing that ever happens to us. High fuel prices in Europe haven’t spurred them to innovation and change the game. It will here. If Bush were ever justified in goading them with a ‘bring it on’ it’s now. Bring it, Hugo.
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December 1st, 2007 at 12:41 am
WRT Hugo, you may need to get to work, but just don’t fill your car up with Citgo. After all, it’s practically his company, and he doesn’t refine any crude.
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December 1st, 2007 at 12:43 am
Correction…he/his Co. refines crude, they just don’t pump it from the ground.
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December 1st, 2007 at 1:19 am
Isn’t Velero also Hugo’s? I thought it was both Citgo and Velero. Don’t buy either!
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December 1st, 2007 at 3:52 am
h*ll, pretty soon we won’t have to buy from any of them, lol.
death to oil, god bless the e-rev electric chevy volt, god bless nano solar and God Bless America!
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December 1st, 2007 at 7:07 am
Thanks Lyle, this is a very interesting thread. We have a lot in common. Two things I did not see mentioned as reasons to be nuts about shifting to PHEV’s (or RXEV’s) are air polution and noise polution. My air polution concern is not CO2, but the stuff that produces Smog, and cancer causing stuff like carbon particulates. In southren California we have a fad now where people spend around $1000 for large speakers, and then they roll down the windows and play what they consider music as loud as possible. So rather than caring about the feelings of others, they intrude on purpose, like thugs. Before that, we had mufflers designed to be as noisy as the law allowed, not to actually improve engine performance, but just to sound powerful. The Volt will be very quiet, and foolish me, I am hoping for a “quiet car fad” with air quality in the LA basin no longer a health risk. Go Volt!
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December 1st, 2007 at 7:39 am
Jimmy #7
I’m with you on economic, energy independence and economic. If driving cars like the Volt helps the environment, great. I’m just now convinced it will do all that much. We’re trading the use of oil for alternative fuels, some of which are also fossil fuels.
I’m hopeful the E-REV cars will encourage many to use solar to recharge their car batteries. Time will tell!
I’m with banjoez #20. I’m 69 and still like to drive just for the fun of it!
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December 1st, 2007 at 2:57 pm
If people want to be free from oil, a purely electric car is the only way to go. As long as you have an ICE, you will be doing oil changes along with still filling it with gas.
Another thing to do is quit buying plastic bottles and using plastic bags. For some reason, it seems that more and more vending machines are going to plastic bottles. We need to go back to aluminum cans. I use denim bags that I take to the store with me and the store pays me to use them.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Large-SuperStrong-Black-Denim-Grocery-Shopping-Tote-Bag_W0QQitemZ160185930907QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160185930907
I personally ride a 4stroke scooter in the warmer months that gets 100mpg. It was the best decision I have ever made. I spend only $3 to fill it and it lasts me 2 weeks. I look at people filling up suvs and full-size vehicles and I can’t help but laugh. Foolish.
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