"Get Dirty While Staying Clean" is the slogan of the Zero-X electric dirt bike.

No only is the Zero-X electric but the maker boasts of a non-toxic lithium ion battery.

From the LA Times via The Huffington Post:

Two-stroke? Four-stroke? That wasn't the question riders were asking after watching the electric dirt bike roll around the track a few times and do everything a traditional, gas-powered motocrosser could do, minus the noise and pollution. No. The biggest questions were: "What is it?" and "Where can I get one?"

 

The Zero X is a big deal for a lot of reasons, the biggest being that it's actually in production. Unlike so many other electric vehicles that are bandied about in the media, it isn't a prototype. It's been on the market since April.

 

The only thing missing is the noise, which in the case of a dirt bike may actually be a drawback. The price tag is steep at over $7000 which puts it on par, price wise, with Honda's highest end models.

That being said, it's great to see green alternatives reaching out to youth markets.

Just as the energy crisis is taking a big bite out of SUV sales in the U.S. as consumers switch to smaller, more energy efficient cars, SUV sales are booming in China as it's middle class expands.  Year over year, SUV sales are up by 43% in China.

From the Washington Post:

Zhang grasps the wheels of his Hummer, called "hanma" or "fierce horse" in Chinese, and hits the accelerator.

 

Car ownership in China is exploding, and it's not only cars but also sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks and other gas-guzzling rides. Elsewhere in the world, the popularity of these vehicles has tumbled as the cost of oil has soared. But in China, the number of SUVs sold rose 43 percent in May compared with the previous year, and full-size sedans were up 15 percent. Indeed, China's demand for gas is much of the reason for the dramatic run-up in global oil prices.

 

China alone accounts for about 40 percent of the world's recent increase in demand for oil, burning through twice as much now as it did a decade ago. Fifteen years ago, there were almost no private cars in the country. By the end of last year, the number had reached 15.2 million.

 

There are now more Buicks -- the venerable, boat-like American luxury car of years past -- sold in China than in the United States. Demand for Hummers has been so strong that starting this year, Chinese consumers can buy a similar military-style vehicle called the Predator at more than 25 new dealerships.

 

This is yet another reason why sustainability needs to be environmentally sound, financially sound and chic, as well.

Over the past week I've had a chance to check out the new programming on the new cable network Planet Green and the shows are great, for the most part, with one exception.

Living with Ed

is my favorite. The show follows Ed Begley Jr. and his wife Rochelle as they squabble about Ed's green projects at their modest Studio City, CA home. Ever eager and enthusiastic Begley clashes with his wife over his green projects. She usually ends up taking it all in stride though she objects to the aesthetics of many of his brain children. The biggest feud erupted over a giant orange rain collection device he installed that was, indeed, ugly as sin. The concept was redeemed in a later episode in which the couple visited neighbor Bill Nye the Science Guy who had installed a much more beautifully designed version - and it wasn't bright orange. The lesson learned is that there are pretty and ugly ways to retrofit a home but that it's the effort that counts.

Renovation Nation

is also fun and very informative. Renovation Nation follows green renovation projects around the U.S. and always features new ides in every show. Some of the recent topics covered are denim insulation, pre-fab eco homes, using salvaged materials to renovate a 100 year old Philadelphia town house, and high-style green living and design in Manhattan. Overall the content of the show is terrific though the voice over recaps are incessantly repeated. Overall, however, a great show.

G Word

is the only clunker I've seen so far. G Word is their "popular culture" show. Hosts SuChin and Daniel Sieberg are annoying beyond belief as are most of the other segment hosts. It's not so much that they are dorky, which they are, but the writing is sacherine and cloying and too cute by half. I'm not sure who their audience though their intent is to reach younger folks. Unfortunately, everyone on the show has a trying-too-hard glitz, like that candy striper at the old folks home grinning too broadly as they talk down to the elderly residents. It's really bad.

Other notable shows are Greenovate which focuses on simple and economical things everyone can do to reduce their footprint, and Wa$ted! which is a game show format that shows families just how far they have to go to live a greener life. I'm looking forward to Emeril Green starring Chef Emeril Lagasse who promises to show us how to cook green with a heavy tie-in with Whole Foods Market.

 "Here you go again..."

We've all known that the White House edits scientific testimony and documents so that it can bolster Big Oil against sustainability but this time, senior advisor on climate change to the Environmental Protection Agency, Jason K. Burnett, quit his job to press the issue.

From the AP (Josef Hebert) via WIRED:

In his (Burnett's) letter he describes deep concerns at the White House, including in Cheney's office, about linking climate change directly to public health or damage to the environment. Scientists believe manmade pollution is warming the earth and if the process is not reversed it will cause significant climate changes that pose broad public health problems from increases in disease to more injuries from severe weather.

...

Cheney's office and the White House Council on Environmental Quality worried that if key health officials provided detailed testimony about global warming's consequences on public health or the environment, it could make it more difficult to avoid regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, Burnett believes.

 

The EPA currently is examining whether carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas, poses a danger to public health and welfare. The Supreme Court has said if it does, it must be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

 

Thank goodness there are still some principled career civil servants left in D.C.

Though many of us are working to avoid the need for such things, Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has designed the Lilypad, a floating city for those fleeing rising sea levels.   The design is based on the great Amazonia Victoria Regia Lilypad:

From DailyMail.co.uk:

Centred around a lake which collects and then purifies rain water, the Lilypad will drift around the world following the ocean currents and streams.

 

It will be accessed by three marinas and will also feature three 'mountains' to offer the inhabitants a change of scenery.

 

Power will be provided through a series of renewable energy sources including solar, thermal, wind energy, hydraulic and a tidal power station.

 

The city will actually produce much more energy than it consumes and be entirely 'zero-emission' as all the carbon-dioxide and the waste will be recycled.

 

Mr Callebaut added: 'It's an amphibious city without any roads or any cars.

 

 Though there is nothing fun or glamorous about climate change I'm certainly glad that artists like Callebaut are thinking ahead.

I've never had a soft spot for snakes but have always loved, loved, loved lizards.  As a kid I would watch and play with the little lizards I found under our mossy brick steps.  As a teen I went by boat to a small, undeveloped island in the Turks and Caicos that is famous for it's iguanas.  We had a picnic surrounded by 15 or 20 iguanas of various sizes.  It was one of the most magical afternoons of my life.

For this reason, it makes this post especially difficult to write.  Miners used to carry canary in cages into the mines to indicate the presence of oxygen.  If the smaller-lunged canaries died the miners would retreat.  Now, the extinction of reptiles, lizards in particular, are the canaries of climate change.  You see, reproductive selection of reptiles is temperature sensitive.  When temperatures rise, only male lizards are produced.  This spells the end of lizards as the earth warms.  According to the Environmental News Network, New Zealand's tuatara population is now forecast to become extinct by 2085.

The entire tuatara population is now effectively trapped on about 30 small islands in New Zealand’s north, having been wiped out elsewhere by predators. They therefore have no chance of adapting by fleeing to cooler climes, the researchers say. The study is reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society B

As a way of saving energy and reducing costs, the State of Utah will move 20% of state employees to at 4 day, 10 hours a day work week beginning in August.

From Treehugger.com:

Around 17,000 or 20 percent of all Utah state workers will shift to a new four-day, ten-hour work schedule beginning in August as part of the state’s one-year "Working 4 Utah" pilot program to save energy and money. By shutting down 1,000 buildings statewide on Fridays, an estimated 3,000 metric tons in carbon emissions will also be cut. Admittedly, though the energy and fuel savings is not as great as telecommuting, the idea of a four-day work week is probably more appealing to reluctant employers who are willing to test more moderate, but still viable, alternatives.

 

One of the pillars of the argument for sustainability is that we need the all-hands-on-deck approach of public/private partnerships. This effort by the State of Utah is the perfect example of how governments can lead.

The combination of economic and environmental benefits can also prove good for workers. A shorter work week can provide for workers what our top-heavy economy has failed to do: reward them for their increased productivity by reducing childcare costs and giving them time to pursue other ways of boosting their incomes.  It's not actually compensation for increased productivity but to cite the well-worn phrase, "time is money," this new arrangement will provide state workers with the opportunity to exploit the breathing room for their own economic benefit.