I wrote a couple weeks ago about “my energy history,” and how closely tied my family - and consequently my life - has been to the US auto industry.  From the launch of the Saturn Corporation, to solar powered race cars, to the first electric vehicles in the mid 90’s, to the GM-ification of Saturn, through the SUV boom, to the death of electric cars, and now of course at the near collapse of the US industry altogether, I’ve been directly and indirectly connected since birth.

I preface with all of that because it’s with that lens that I read over the letter below that my father received and forwarded to me.  In a word it was striking… GM - the most iconic corporate, old-school entity I know - is in such straits that they are turning to their grassroots.  While the United Auto Workers (UAW) are likely to initiate such a request to their members, GM reaching out to it’s employees in this way is more or less unprecedented.  I hope it’s empowering for them.

What I hope even more, however, is that this is an opportunity for GM, Ford and Chrysler to revamp, retool and be part of the RePowering of America that we desperately need.  When GM employees call their congresspersons, they should be demanding that there also be incentives for creating a revolution of renewably-powered vehicles tied to any bail out.

Here’s the letter.  Of particular note is the link for the site: www.gmfactsandfiction.com

Dear Employee,

Next week, Congress and the current Administration will determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation’s history.  Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis.

As you know, we have taken the tough, necessary actions over the last few years to strengthen our competitive position.  With our UAW partners we have reshaped our business and will have reduced our structural costs by more than $13 billion by 2010 and have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors.  We also are building products that have received great customer acceptance and acclaim, as we have seen with the Chevy Malibu, Cadillac CTS and our family of crossovers.  And, there’s more to come with the Chevy Volt which will position GM as a global technology leader as well as more hybrids and fuel efficient passenger cars like the Chevy Cruze.

The consequences, however, of a portion of the domestic auto industry collapsing extend far beyond GM’s ability to continue its transformation.  One in 10 American jobs depend on our industry, as well as the health of communities, dealers and suppliers in all 50 states.  As you know, nearly 3 million employees, retirees, and their families also depend on us for their pensions and health care.  Because of our economic contribution, the cost of allowing this industry to fail would be catastrophic:  3 million jobs lost within the first year; U.S. personal income reduced by $150.7 billion; a government tax loss over three years of more than $156 billion.  This level of economic devastation far exceeds the $25 billion of government support that our industry needs to bridge this current period.

Today, I want you to take the time to contact your members of Congress to ask them to support America’s domestic auto industry.  Please call the following number to be connected with your legislators 1-866-927-2233.  Directions and key messages are in the attached document to assist you with the calls.  Also attached is a fact sheet that includes the economic figures cited above.  Additionally, you can visit www.gmfactsandfiction.com to obtain further information on the auto industry and GM.

Support for the domestic auto industry will contribute to a stronger economy, save millions of jobs, and establish U.S. manufacturing and technology leadership in the global marketplace.  As an employee, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices.  I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard.

Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.

Troy Clarke
President
GM North America

The email address that Mr. Clarke gives to respond to is “grassroots@gm.com”

Much more to come…

Can’t wait to resume blogging after the madness of the election ends.  For those that I haven’t talked to, or can’t tell from my Twitter feed to the right, I’m in North Carolina for the final days of the campaign trying to turn out a victory for Kay Hagan in the US Senate and Barack Obama for President.  Keeping our fingers crossed.

From Wall St. to the Clinton Global Initiative to the UN Summit, I’ve watched with all of you this week as unprecedented economic and political events unfold in the United States and around the world.

Thankfully, in the midst of these very uncertain times, something beautiful is happening tomorrow. Action. And I don’t mean another bailout proposal.

Beacause we know the economic, energy, and climate crises we face are all connected, tens of thousands of people will be organizing events in all 50 states to tell our leaders that we’re ready to take on these crises by building a green economy strong enough to put people back to work, lift people out of poverty, and begin to secure our climate.

www.greenjobsnow.com

“Green Jobs Now: A Day to Build the New Economy” has been put together by Green for All, 1Sky, the We Campaign, the Energy Action Coalition and over 100 other diverse and extraordinary partners. The creation of a new, green economy represents our best path forward, and just as people of all ages, creeds, and locations have already committed, I really hope that you and others you know will join us.

If you’re not already involved, it’s really simple to find an event near you, plan your own event, sign the petition or just spread the word.  Again… just head to the site: www.greenjobsnow.com

Some people I’ve spoken with recently asked for specific examples of what exactly people would or should be doing on a Day of Action.  Here are some great examples my colleague and friend Billy Parrish sent earlier today.

In New York, the Green Jobs NY campaign is pushing for a program to retrofit a million homes in 5 years - an initiative that will create quality jobs and put energy bill savings back in consumers’ pockets. Down the street from the Energy Action Office here in DC, African-American farmers will be meeting to discuss their role in a green economy. In the Southwest, the Navajo Green Economy Coalition will propose a Green Economy Fund to finance green job training programs and sustainable economic development initiatives to transition the tribal economy. Your possibilities are virtually limitless.

Van Jones, the founder/President of Green for All which is behind the day of action wrote best about it, but in short, here’s the big idea.  With Green Jobs Now, partner organizations aim to raise these hundreds of local efforts up (over 600 as of this post!) as models, and call on our national leaders to bring these solutions to scale. We can put America back to work rebuilding and repowering America with millions of green-collar jobs.  We can solve the climate crisis.  We can overcome the problems of our failed economy.

Let’s get on this.

(I first posted this on It’s Getting Hot in Here and Power Vote while at Clinton Global Initiative in New York.

At today’s Clinton Global Initiative, Al Gore said for the first time in public that we are at a point in our world’s history, and in need of such immediate action, that if you are a young person it’s time for civil disobedience.

In particular to bring coal plants to a halt.

On a panel with Queen Rania of Jordan, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Neville Isdell (the CEO of Coca Cola), and Bono - moderated by President Clinton himself - Gore was fiery in his calls for action and investment in new clean energy technologies. He was even more fiery in his strong denouncements of nonexistent clean coal (”There is no such thing!”), and a congress that is today voting on an energy bill that lifts the moratorium on mining coal shale, calling it - with dramatic pause - “IN-SANITY.”

In fact, Gore used the word “insane” or “insanity” at least 3 times (we’ll check the records to see if there more) in his descriptions of various political and business decisions made (or not made) with regard to climate.

Here are my minute by minute notes from the Opening Plenary. The times reflected are from my laptop clock - initially synced with event organizers - but are not official record:

11:24 Clinton asks Gore to tell everyone what investors/politicians should do in regard to energy/climate, and how to overcome political and financial difficulties.

11:25 Gore acknowledges all in the room and offers what appears to be very sincere thanks to Clinton for hosting the Clinton Global Iniitiatve.

11:26 Gore: “Current economic crisis was triggered by the sudden collapse of an assumption. The assumption was that if you lumped housing loans together (even bad ones), you could eliminate the risk. That assumption went splat this week.”

NOW is the time to prevent a much worse catastrophe based on an even bigger assumption.

“Since we met here last year (at CGI) we are losing badly in the fight against global warming”

11:28 References all the natural disasters - from hurricanes to fires in the US and Carribbean this year.

For every 1 degree in temperature increase there will be a 10x increase in lightning strikes.

Warming means less or no more frost in certain areas, which means more bugs/pests running rampant that we can’t control; throwing off our ecosystem. (haven’t heard him use this point before.

“This is all the result of an insane approach to climate”

“We as a species have to make A decision.”

“The economic crisis can truly provide an opportunity to make the right decisions.”

“We should stop burning coal!”

Compares clean coal to what happened on Wall Street. Clean coal is an illusion. Do not invest in it.

“Coal industries spending millions to sell an illusion (like Wall St.) of clean coal.”

11:30 “CLEAN COAL DOES NOT EXIST.”

“The only demo was discontinued. How many plants are there? Zero. How many blueprints: ZERO.”

“We should make a one-off investment into a new global energy infrastructure that is based on energy which is free forever. The sun. Wind…”

“Wind is competitive today. Geothermal is competitive today.”

We need a new super grid to take energy from where wind blows and the sun shines to where people live.

Darfur has more reliable sunshine than just about anywhere else. We can invest in these places and bring that energy to where population centers are.

Create jobs in building this grid, wind turbines,solar panels. Ref: Green Jobs Day of Action this Saturday 27Sep

As MLK Jr said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

“Well, increased CO2 anywhere is a threat to civilization everywhere.”

“TODAY the US Congress is voting on a bill without ANY debate an energy policy that lifts moratorium on coal shale. This is utter insanity.”

Re: Clinton Global “Every year we have a discussion here, and there is progress made. But it’s not enough. It’s not enough.”

11:37 Clinton: One very specific question. “Just completed an interesting tour of our country’.” Lots of places that the wind is blowing (ref small TX town where wind at 56 mph), but there’s no grid to take the energy anywhere.

Question: What’s the quickest way to maximize solar and wind energy (and geothermal) production for the US.

Gore: Currently there is $120bn lost annually because of failures of current grid. Needs to be replaced anyway.

Crazy enough, “can also use that SAME GRID to develop a next generation broadband network.” Everyone wins.

New super grid “should be #1 infrastructure project of this decade - whoever is elected president.”

Clinton: 2 year wait to build new wind in New York for one investor (can’t hear name).

We need to change policy and incentives now to get these things going.

Gore: Stock traders that inform investors that global warming doesn’t prevent a threat are guilty of a form of stock fraud.

This is a crisis that is happening NOW. Scientists around the world are practically screaming from the rooftops to stop it.

“If you’re a young person, I believe we’ve reached a point of civil disobedience” …to do things like take down coal plants.

Clinton to Queen Rania: Can we get Middle Eastern oil countries to become models of clean energy usage?

There are 53 Developing countries, and they import on average 70% of their energy. ALL of them could theoretically be 100% self-reliant.

James Hansen has testified that Energy Action is one of the only environmentally or energy-focused organizations truly doing what needs to be done (raising awareness and organizing people to put pressure on elected officials) to move clean energy into reality.

Though it’s yet another more personal post, I wanted to share the letter I wrote the central staff (about 10), coalition partners (48) and and field staff (about 80) of Energy Action as I came on board.  It speaks in large measure about where I’m coming from as it relates to creating a clean energy future, and also some of the things that I hope will change as we move forward in this country.  One thing is certain, we MUST do something…

***

Dear Teammates,

In 1988 my family and I (as well as all my LEGOs and my 8086 with accompanying text-only Zork game disks ☺) moved to the small town of Columbia, Tennessee from the suburbs of Detroit.   Two years earlier my father had been assigned by General Motors to a “crazy” initiative to build an American car company from the ground up that would do everything differently – from how and what the company built, to how its employees worked (and thought about their work), to how it integrated with the local and global community. The new company’s team was given two billion dollars, three thousand acres of cornfields, a few office trailers, and was met by a town welcome sign that read “population 800.” That was the environment in which this new company, Saturn, was to produce 350,000 cars per year in a facility over one mile long with more than ten thousand eventual employees - all without disturbing the local population, destroying the culture, or ruining the ecosystem.

Crazy enough, the team pulled it off – at least for a while – and right up until the GM-ification of Saturn took place in the late 90’s, I soaked up every bit of that innovative and collaborative culture I could.  Saturn lost its way in the General Motors mêlée of this most recent decade but before that happened, the company made me believe game-changing initiatives of that scale were possible because I watched it actually happen.

In the fall of 1995, just as I was fully becoming like all the rest of the men in my family with car on the brain (read: car and science magazines scattered everywhere across my teenage bedroom), my dad parked the strangest looking non-concept car I’d ever seen in our garage.  Then he connected a bizarre looking plug into the front of the car and into the wall. The car made almost no noise; it looked kind of like a teardrop, and it took off like a bullet when you mashed the accelerator.  This was my introduction to one of the first prototypes of the GM EV1.  I had known about (and been inspired by) electric cars previously because my uncle had helped design and drive the solar powered GM Sunraycer across Australia several years earlier, but the idea that we could own an electric car and plug it into the garage wall-socket got me excited.  At the time, my awareness ha  not been tuned to the environment and the potential benefits a well-developed national infrastructure for electric cars (or advanced energy technology) could bring, but rather my imagination and excitement was ignited by the EV1’s innovation, practicality, and of course as a 15 year old: its cool-factor.

(the GM EV1)

(the GM Sunraycer)

By the time my cousin (yet another GM employee) was on the lot in Mesa, Arizona in 2003 helping to push the last of the EV1s onto the trucks to have them crushed – a scene infamously captured in the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” – my consciousness was very much focused on the environment and solving global challenges.  Having spent a significant amount of the previous two years in the United Arab Emirates working with oil companies, and spending most of my campus life involved in social justice and environmental initiatives, the symbolic nature of the cars’ “death,” and the simultaneous failure of the California Air Resources Board’s Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) mandate were excruciatingly frustrating.
Those pains have been even more poignant as tens of thousands of jobs in the automotive ecosystem have been lost, and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands – including my family’s – have been negatively affected. That said, I’ve always found frustration to be a tremendous catalyst for action.

Largely as a result of such frustrations, I have since worked from the Middle East to DC to Silicon Valley with nonprofits, companies, governmental agencies and media to try to do things differently, create linkages, and find solutions – wherever and however they might come. Through this, I’ve come to believe social entrepreneurial initiatives and innovative grassroots efforts like the Energy Action Coalition – when supported with tools and leadership – are the best vehicles we have to raise awareness and create incentives that render political and corporate (e.g. Big Three auto and Big Six Oil) letdowns irrelevant.  ZEV or Congress’s essentially pointless 35 mpg by 2020 mandate won’t change much, but savvy enterprise, research, conscious policy, and the shifted awareness and action of millions of well-organized people will.  Where the impotent efforts of the past are frustrating, the capacity Energy Action is leveraging for true game-changers is both inspirational and ridiculously exciting.

Though engineering aptitude and technical analysis are not always overtly reflected in my current work, they are fundamental components of who I am, and they are at the heart of my approach to project and event management, strategic road mapping, the development of new initiatives, and even organizational relationships.  The things that are most overt in my work, such as large-scale special projects, the connecting and synthesizing of disparate networks and resources, continuous innovation, and a healthy irreverence for traditional systems, organizational cultures, and perpetuation of the status quo, are also the fundamental aspects of how I see and operate within the world.  I typically sum these traits up by describing them as those of a “pragmatic dreamer” or a Realist-Idealist.  Whatever you call it though, my sense is that this approach will mesh particularly well as the internet director of Energy Action – as well as with the “Great idea!    . . . now make it even bigger and do it faster” ingenuity I believe current and former staff of Energy Action bring to the organization.

Five million green jobs is what the Midwest and so many other regions of our country need to re-invigorate our local and national economy, spur innovation, and ignite the “anything and everything is possible” spirit our nation has lost this decade. Environmental justice calls us to re-think our national infrastructure and organize to prevent any new coal plants from being built – as well as reduce emissions from carbon by at least 80%.  I believe our planet and our livelihoods depend on our action on these fronts.

I know what it’s like to be inspired by green innovation and new potential and it’s time that millions more experience that.  I’ve seen what our nation’s corporations and political leaders can do when they put their will behind it. It’s about time we started using our economic power as young organizers, consumers, and citizens to bring about more of it.  I’ve seen the Rust Belt, and know the morale of those who sit idle there …waiting to be called into service. It’s time we mobilize and turn the Rust Belt green.

…Just as the Energy Action Coalition is doing!

(even as I write it, I wonder why it’s necessary to put it out there… we are strange creatures to need to say such things for validation! ;-))

Since my last post here on July 28, I’ve changed jobs, moved my house, traveled extensively (including 9 days in Denver for a Democratic National Convention that I will never forget), and both been part of some of the coolest and more challenging things of my professional career.

I’ve done a good bit of writing at www.powervote.org/blog and www.itsgettinghotinhere.org and my Twitter feed has been a constant stream of consciousness…  just have unfortunately not put my thoughts down here on my own site.  I was reminded of how much it matters to me, though, when my friend Nancy emailed to say how she stumbled upon The Realist Idealist when she Google’d the word “idealist.”

I miss it.  In part for my own sake of (often) being able to capture and process my experiences and thoughts as I write, but much more so because of the interaction that occurs with all of you.  As usual, the realization led to a reflection on the importance of this process in my life (and I suspect others’ lives?).

Back when I was highly involved with alternative breaks at Vanderbilt and at Break Away, it never occurred to me NOT to stop and reflect on any action or experience.  It was an integral aspect of everything that we - and subsequently “I” - did.  I credit the development of consciousness from that period as being fundamental to the way I see and operate within the world today… so why do we stop? Why did I stop, rather?  How does reflection ever become less important and not a priority to us when it is so clearly valuable?

I don’t like this “returning” thing.  Pausing, reflecting, and integrating the lessons gathered is something I want back, and I want it to stay there. I hope you’ll join me… it’s inherently not something I can do alone.

While I don’t want to get into a habit of talking about my personal life (I’d rather talk about thoughts, ideas, events), I’m feeling the need to do so tonight, so thanks for indulging.

Tomorrow I want to talk about personal energy history and how it’s led to my new work… and I want to hear about yours!

The article points out that in Japan certain cultural characteristics such as humility, loyalty, respect and consensus, which are seemingly positive, may be holding back Japanese businesses.

The results of such ideals include the following:

• Lack of women in leadership positions
• Long work hours
• Dependent, risk averse managers
• Promotion on the basis of age rather than merit

All of the above discourages dynamic leadership and innovation. The group decision-making and the communal sharing of risks and rewards is not keeping pace with the needs and desires of the ever-evolving workforce (represented by the overwhelming excitement surrounding Kosaku Shima of Hatsushiba Goyo Holdings – a fictional, new age Japanese businessman) and reverence surrounding a traditionally male dominated workplace is cutting the talent pool in half.

In Japan, women make up 40.5 percent of the labor force, and women between the ages of 15 and 64 have a labor force participation rate of 48.5 percent despite active laws, which prohibit wage discrimination against women. In 2002, female workers on average earned only 66.5 percent of average male earnings, which is a result of a “two-track” personnel administration system found in most larger companies under which new hires are put into one of two categories: the managerial track that includes those engaged in planning and decision making jobs and have the potential to become top executives and the general track that includes employees engaged in general office work. This is all despite the fact that corporations with a high percentage of women in leadership have consistently seen higher returns on equity.

If Japanese businesses want to attract top talent and see higher returns, they must begin to ride on the coat tails of top Japanese companies (Toyota, Canon, Nintendo) that have placed diversity and innovation at the core of their business strategy.

But, it’s worse than that.

Cash invested in Pensions is tax deductible. So now corporate executives looking to make sure they are taken care of when they retire or the going gets rough (e.g. - now) and are forced to file for bankruptcy have begun placing their “deferred compensation” into the mix with employee pensions. It saves the company millions (making net income look more desirable) - and cuts the Federal Government out of millions of dollars in revenue.

Of course, this is illegal most of the time - but it seems that if you pay a “benefits” consultant enough, you have nothing to worry about (just finagle with the $ ratios by grouping some execs with some lower paid employees and you’re all set). No worries!

Oh, to finish up! Execs can freeze employee pensions and still take the golden parachute legally - which means once they set the ratio how they want - they can just freeze others out and be on their way.

Click here to read the full story in the Wall Street Journal

The gist of Blinder’s proposal can be boiled down to providing “cash” to low-income Americans for their “clunkers,” or in the slightly expanded version: getting CO2 spewing old cars off our roads, incentivizing the process for those driving the beaters, substantially reducing carbon emissions, stimulating our economy, and maybe even giving a boost to our badly ailing auto makers (who are about to announce a whole slew of additional lay offs).

Old cars on our roads pollute as much as 10-30 times more than newer cars with better emission controls. In fact, cars 13 years old and older account for only about 25 percent of the miles driven but as high as 75 percent of all auto-born pollution according to a study done in California. Beyond the CO2 released, old cars also tend to get (on average) ridiculously poor gas mileage in comparison with even slightly more modern counterparts (which on average are still WAY below what they should be, but that’s another post).

I don’t need to spell out the environmental benefits of pulling the clunkers off the road.

The best part - that you’ve almost certainly and very unfortunately never heard of - is that pilot programs are already underway. A national, federally supported plan would be able to take the best of what’s already going on and scale. Right now in California, for instance you can get as much as $1500 for your clunker; in Texas, as much as $3500. A national program could use pre-existing models for clunker cash and find a balanced (possibly geographically targeted?) rate to pay out above market value, and set top-end limits to the amount an individual can receive for their beater. (please note that up till now I’ve refrained from using “PoS”)

As a sizable number of old-car drivers also fall into low-income brackets (if not a majority), then a cash incentive for them and their families is likely to be spent immediately - and it’s quite likely that it would be spent on a down payment for a newer, more efficient car, thus boosting our flagging auto industry. If the individual trading a clunker for dough decides not to buy a new car with it - which is more environmentally ideal if they don’t, but less real - then that cash will flow back into our economy through other avenues, and do so at much lesser cost to the federal coffers than the recent $168Bn tax rebate.

Blinder lays out this argument in greater depth.

Whether seen as as an environmental boon or economic stimulus, this is a concept that makes and one that I hope will gain support in the coming weeks and months on the national level.

What are your thoughts? Do you drive an older car? If such a program existed, would you take advantage of it? Would others you know? Would you help spread the word to people who COULD take advantage of it if you can’t?

Minister Khelil’s statement was made in the recent announcement that Algeria is undertaking a massive initiative to generate enough solar power across its Saharan geography that it will not only be generating energy for itself as early as 2010, but be exporting power to Europe by 2020. (See the full story in Aidan Lewis’s MSNBC piece.) The critical part of that statement: “we have the will.”

While most of the attention I’ve seen on Al Gore’s historic speech on climate change last week has been focused on the economic, technological, and scale challenges of reaching 100% energy through renewable sources in the US, the most important of all the challenges I believe he focuses on (as he has said in other speeches like his keynote at TED) is political will.

That Algeria has the will but the United States (currently) does not is tragic. Let’s be real, and just enough ideal… and let’s get on that!

Groups like the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Energy Action Coalition are really leading the way.

And if you haven’t seen Gore’s speech yet, watch it here: