'Winning Our Energy Independence' — one bus ride at a time
Don't let the coal industry get you down. Look on the upside: We have a "special opportunity to get angry!" That's what author and green energy activist S. David Freeman said at the launch party for his new book, "Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How," at the Architecture + Design Museum on Wednesday. [below: My friend Summer, Freeman, me]
If you saw "Who Killed the Electric Car," you've seen Freeman on screen. Freeman's served as an energy advisor to President Jimmy Carter and as the head of Tennessee Valley Authority and the Sacramento Metropolitan Utility District -- and doesn't seem to have lost an ounce of his passion for green energy.
"It's 2008 and the air is still not clean in L.A. and most other cities -- and we've become complacent," Freeman said at the party. He argued for nixing the three poisons -- coal, oil, and nuclear power -- and turning to renewable energy sources instead. Freeman pointed out that, despite the big oil companies' claims at going green, "90% of their money is going into oil and gas .... They're taking us to the cleaners."
The book launch brought out an energetic crowd for the LED-lit party -- including Chris Paine, writer/director of "Who Killed the Electric Car," who introduced Freeman, and Bob Foster, mayor of Long Beach, who toasted Freeman with a shot of Jack Daniels (all attendees got "Winning Our Energy Independence" shot glasses as party favors).
I also got to meet Santa Monica City Council member Kevin McKeown -- who apparently took the 720 bus down Wilshire to attend the event! [below: Paine, Summer, me, McKeown]
Carpooling back, my friend Summer and I felt very un-eco in her Jetta.
Me: My council member's greener than I am.
Summer: Yeah -- we're green losers.
I'm hoping I'll feel better after reading "Wining Our Energy Independence." According to the publisher, Freeman's book "provides action plans for showing us how to influence change." That may start with opting for the 720 over a carpool --
Top and bottom photos by Summer Bowen; middle photo by Siel
