Climate Technology

Lend Me Your Gears

Car sharing slowly but surely taking off in cities worldwide Car sharing is gradually gaining ground around the globe, and the future looks bright for a concept once derided as a green fever dream. About 300,000 people worldwide now participate in car sharing; it’s taken off especially well in European nations like Germany, the Netherlands, […]

GE ecomagination commercial features model miners

To promote the recently launched -- and somewhat idyllically named -- Ecomagination campaign, GE has been running a series of commercials highlighting its green initiatives. One in particular, focused on clean(er?) coal, has sparked a good deal of debate over its use of sexy models to excite more than the imagination, if you will.

Josh Ozersky of The New York Times describes the 60-second commercial:

As the spot begins, we hear Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons" and see shadowy figures, identifiable only by their helmet lights, walking into a coal mine. (The helmet light, like the physician's reflector, remains indispensable to commercials that don't have a lot of time for explanations.) At first, this ad looks like a paean to labor - the song after all, is a workingman's lament - and we see several strong and stylized male figures that bring to mind W.P.A. murals. But soon the hot female miners appear, carefully soiled and seductively oiled up. The commercial, we see, is visually indistinguishable from a Victoria's Secret ad, right down to the blue filters and hubba-hubba slow motion.

And that's the point: "Thanks to emissions-reducing technology from G.E. energy," an amiable narrator tells us, "harnessing the power of coal is looking more beautiful every day." For G.E., it's a simple setup and punch line. Jonathan Klein, a company spokesman, said, "In 'Model Miners,' the goal is to communicate that G.E.'s emission-reducing technology can make coal a more appealing energy source."

Ozersky, as well as other columnists and a handful of letter-writers, note that it's a bit more complicated than that.

As for me, I just like looking at beautiful people. Is that so wrong?

View the "Model Miners" spot as well as GE's other commercials here and decide for yourself.

One Tree Shill

Sierra Club touts new Ford hybrid SUV The Sierra Club has long criticized Ford Motor Co. for its environmental offenses, primarily the industry-worst average fuel economy of its fleet. So members may be surprised when Ford’s hybrid Mercury Mariner SUV is prominently featured in an upcoming club newsletter and on SierraClub.org. When the green group […]

Exx Marks the Boycott

Activists kick off big boycott of ExxonMobil Spelling-impaired activists at Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, MoveOn.org, and nine other enviro and progressive groups have launched a nationwide “Exxpose Exxon” consumer boycott campaign. While the coalition doesn’t expect to have a big impact on ExxonMobil’s bottom line, it hopes to change the public’s perception of the world’s […]

A-Raisin’ Money in the Sun

Investors pouring millions into new nanotech solar-energy firms A merger of cutting-edge nanotechnology with the earth’s oldest power source may revolutionize clean energy. At least three U.S. start-ups are aiming to develop thin, flexible sheets of tiny solar cells for the mass market. If perfected, the companies say, these nano-cells would catapult solar to the […]

CNOOC-ered

Bush security adviser helped firm land lobbying gig for Chinese oil co. The bid by state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation to purchase U.S. oil and gas producer Unocal has raised hackles among some national-security types. So it may seem odd that James C. Langdon Jr., the chair of President Bush’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board […]

Harder than it looks?

We're constantly hearing about how insanely popular the Toyota Prius is -- the celebrities, the cachet, the waiting lists.

Is it possible that said popularity is just a blue state phenomenon?

I ask because we recently got an email from a reader, Linda, who's having trouble selling hers. No, really!

My husband received an international assignment so we are moving to Belgium. We have decided to sell my beloved 2004 Prius. I live in Pocatello, Idaho, and in this land of conservatives, where they are sure that global warming is a figment of Al Gore's imagination, there appears to be no market. I've had an ad in various papers for over a month and no calls. It is salsa red and comes fully loaded (package #7) with everything except GPS. The blue book value on this gem is $23,360, I bought it for $24,800. I'd be willing to negotiate around $23,000. It has 13,600 miles and is in excellent condition with seat covers and even a 1.25 inch hitch for a bike rack in back. (I could throw in the bike rack too, if someone wants it!)

So, Gristmill readers, I'm curious: Do you have any tips or advice for Linda? Or ... do you want her Prius? Tell us all about it in comments!

FYI: Linda's phone number is (208) 232-8207.

A Shot Across the Mao

State-controlled Chinese oil company makes big bid for America’s Unocal China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), a state-controlled Chinese oil company, is making an $18.5 billion bid to take over California-based oil and gas firm Unocal, which has extensive Asian operations. Rival bidder Chevron warns that China will have the power to raise energy prices […]

A View to a Killing

Silicon Valley investors putting big bucks into clean-tech start-ups Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists are seeing green in clean energy — and we’re talking gobs of profit, not the whole planet-saving thing. Investor interest in clean-energy tech firms has jumped in the past year, fueled in part by escalating global demand for electricity and the rising […]

Bush admin hawks liquefied natural gas as energy answer

The Bush administration is championing natural gas as the answer to America’s domestic energy needs, despite reservations from the usual batch of freedom-haters about its cost, reliability, and safety. Proponents point out that natural gas is cheaper, less polluting, and more abundant than oil — and, oh yeah, a huge business opportunity. Major energy companies […]