Odyssey Days conference
On 10/13/06 I attended the Odyssey Days conference at Shoreline Community College. It was a part of “National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day”.
I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the speakers. They were individuals, non-profits, large and small corporations in and out of the field, and representatives from all levels of government. The good news is that there are already a lot of people working together to reduce our petroleum usage, which is important for many reasons:
- reduced carbon emissions (global warming)
- stabilized geopolitical situation with less competition for a scarce resource
- smaller US trade deficit
- more steady energy supply and prices as we diversify sources
- reduced pollution
I particularly appreciated the fact that there was very little blame or emotional appeal to hopeless causes being tossed around. Almost all of the speakers were focused on rational, sustainable solutions.
The bad news is that global warming has come sooner than I thought. I remember predictions about it in the 70’s, but there was no real evidence at the time that it was happening. There is a lot of real evidence that it’s starting now, and we’re at least part of the cause (and no, I don’t think the presenters were doing any fear mongering. Well, I guess one did a little bit. But most of them simply don’t have motivation to do so. Just like evolution, the scientists all pretty much believe in it; there’s just some social holdouts in a few countries that don’t want to believe it because they assume it means they have to abandon something they hold dear–which I think is untrue in both cases. The media fuels the “debate” because emotional debates make them money; this makes it easier for the holdouts). Of course figuring how or when we’ll get to a dire situation is extremely difficult to predict–like, impossible with current technology–but it is obvious that we want some solutions in place BEFORE we get there.
A minor disappointment for me was that the conference was less car-focused than I’d hoped. Not that cars are the most important piece; they’re just something I’m interested in. Still, I got some information about a lot of interesting groups that I’m checking out on the web now. Here’s some of them (with notes to myself as I’m trying to find vehicle information):
- www.pscleanair.org: local multi-government orginally for pollution; now also work on global warming despite lack of authority. Mostly housing and industrial. Leslie Stanton spoke at RHS a couple of weeks ago. They mention fuel and alternative transportation choices, but not in great detail. For vehicle info, they point to the usual federal sites.
- www.climatesolutions.org: great org, but handed off all transportation programs to Intercity Transit in Olympia. Still has SmartMoves.PDF, developed with Oil Smart, which mentions high-efficiency cars, but encourages alternative transportion for schoolkids.
- Smart Moves. Was Oil Smart in 1990. Worked with climatesolutions on SmartMoves.PDF. Focused on Petroleum reduction. King County educational contact is ann.martin@metrokc.gov. They offer classroom speakers. Now a state program held every April. Has expanded to include pollution and congestion. Can’t find a web site.
- www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/roads/traffic: Car Smart-Car Safe program. I only see safety stuff there, not petroleum reducation.
- www.earthforce.org: national org to make communities more bike-friendly. No local offices. Youth-focus; sustainable environmental solutions. Listed programs do not mention vehicles.
- www.bicyclealliance.org: local org for bike riders. Seattle. Obvious bike-only focus.
- www.transportationchoices.org: Washington org promoting alternatives to driving alone. Cool org, but only focused on alternatives: not better cars. Has an Eastside chapter.
- www.greencar.com: Green Car Journal. Also non-profit and think tank at greencars.com and greencars.org (although they don’t seem current). Not often updated; not local. More industry news.
- www.edf.org/programs/PPA/vlc/vu.html: supposedly vehicle pollution and life-cycle info. But it moved to environmentaldefensefund.org; I can’t find the doc. Lots of good environmental stuff (especially on Global Warming), but car page is limited, and largely points to other known pages.
- www.ucsusa.org/transportation: several publications on hidden vehicle costs, global warming, alt fuels, etc. Page has moved, but this is Union of Concerned Scientists. Has many interesting pages for global warming and vehicles (and includes links to hybridcenter.org project).
- www.wsdot.wa.gov/pubtran: WA Dept of Transportation info on transportation. Moved to http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/transit/default.cfm. Lots of transit info, but nothing on cars.
- www.greenercars.com has list of top-rated models, but full report must be ordered. Not much other info.
- www.nesea.org/education.html: “Future Wheels”, about vehicles that run on sustainable energy. Not local. Page moved to http://www.nesea.org/transportation/.
- www.wecprotects.org Washington Environmental Council. They put together the clean fuels initiative. Current projects don’t seem car-related. More lobbying? Some education (schools).
- http://www.pugetsoundcleancities.org/. Pushing petroleum reduction. But it’s a coalition of gov’t and business entities, and doesn’t seem to involve individuals. You can join for $50 though. No staff, just members?
- http://www.hybridcenter.org/ A UCS project. Lots of info.
- Northwest Energy Coalition http://www.nwenergy.org/ Seattle office, but covers multi-state area. Mostly for power utility companies; not much on vehicles.
- http://www.pluginpartners.org/ Encouraging PHEVs. Cool, but single technology. Largely a petition campaign.
- http://www.achievenetgreen.org/ Seattle. Has you calculate carbon footprint at www.carboncounter.org, then sends funds to www.climatetrust.org
- www.climatetrust.org Provides carbon offsets. Verifiable projects.
- http://www.seattle.gov/environment/ Cool, but not much on cars.
- www.seattle.gov/climate Pretty much a subset of the above (not completely. Still not much car info, though).
- http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/
- http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/savemoney.shtml
- http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/hybrid_sbs.shtml hybrid comparisions
- http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/
- http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/current.shtml alt fuels