Second blog post for TESLA: wishing all Happy Earth Day every day..
Happy Earth Day to the Tesla team and their fanbase!
It’s a great day for all of us to be extra mindful about our impact on Earth and have fun with trying on some less polluting alternatives….as a Sustainable Planet is one where its citizens are responsible for the footprint they create.
I just returned from Grand Central station announcing my ECO HERO competition, where Earth Day NY was showcasing quite some eco friendly initiatives. I have launched this competition in several nations and I would love to invite the Tesla community to participate as well. The results would become part of a mural and will be disclosed during the sixth edition of the Sustainable Planet film festival in October ( New York ) and the preceding Sustainable Steward Gala. The guidelines are attached in the PDF file and there are the 0-18 and 18+ categories.
Besides unleashing you inner artist, I would also like to ignite your appetite for reading, that’s right, after my first blog entry for TESLA, where I announced the sequel to “who killed the electric car”, here’s a book to claim for yourself IMMEDIATELY.
In today’s Sustainable Lifestyle blog entry I give you literature, a book penned down with so much gusto AND know-how that it will satisfy your green thinking cap on renewable energy and its applications. The title is “Powering the Dream”. The subtitle is “the history and promise of Green Technology” by Alexis Madrigal. In this excellent conversation piece for your next TESLA gathering is the revelation that one of the first automobiles in the world was an electric car that rolled out of a garage in Philadelphia on August 31st 1894. In the beginning, the cars were electric….yes, you read that right and the book will also tell you more on why electric cars didn’t become the norm at that time and why we became so carbon fuel dependent. Knowledge is power and knowing your history is important as to fully understand the present. It will also teach you what not to repeat, as we have a second chance to create the greenest century ever, so let’s get it right this time.
The book releases so many interesting finds…the race for wave technology, the popularity of windmills, the solar home of the 1950’s and so on. Did you know that we even had a SUN Day that got created by Congress under Jimmy Carter’s reign on May 3rd 1978.
Proclamation 4558 - Sun Day, 1978
March 27, 1978
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Today the need to develop and expand renewable energy sources that can provide heating, cooling and power for homes, farms and factories is greater than at any other time in our Nation’s history. For this reason, Americans are seeking ways of using the sun as an inexhaustible source of clean energy.
The Federal government and private organizations are working on programs to improve solar technology and encourage greater use of this safe, environmentally acceptable energy source. Our success, however, will depend upon an informed and involved public. In order to inform the general public, industry and labor about solar technologies and to demonstrate the sun’s potential in meeting America’s energy needs, the Ninety-fifth Congress has adopted a joint resolution (H.J. Res. 715) designating Wednesday, May 3, 1978, as Sun Day and calling upon the President to issue a proclamation calling for its appropriate observance.
Now, Therefore, I, Jimmy Carter,President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Wednesday, May 3, 1978, as Sun Day and call upon the American people to observe that day with appropriate activities and ceremonies that will demonstrate the potential of solar energy. I direct all appropriate Federal agencies to support this national observance
I am not sure when the Sun day died out but we might as well revive it through TESLA and plan some solar and other alternative energy based theme day. Under the same Jimmy Carter, the SOLAR ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (SERI) received a boost from a meager $25 million in its first fiscal year with an additional $100 million. When we compare this with the $4 billion that the Synfuels program received - aimed at demonstrating the conversion of coal to liquid fuels - then it is clear to see who has the longer arm in Washington. The Synfuels program pulled in some $4 billion from 1970 - 1984.
Back to present time - Earth Day 2011 - and it is interesting to know that the second director of SERI - Denis Hayes - was also the founder of Earth Day which - after 41 years of celebration - is still alive and kicking. SERI was eventually renamed as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and has its energy efficient building since 2010. According to Alexis Madrigal, it is a sign that solar energy - in all its forms - has scratched and clawed its way back beyond the level of respectability it once enjoyed.
So share with me what you did on Earth Day and perhaps this weekend you can all get geared up for the Eco Hero competition!! Also, my Sustainable Styles magazine will be launched on World Environment Day, which is Sunday June the 5th! This online media experience will allow you to submerge yourself even more in Sustainable Lifestyle stories.
Sustainably yours
Pamela Peeters
