If you happen to be driving through Marin County, California, on Saturday, here’s the 411 on why people in polar bear suits are waving signs outside a San Rafael Chevrolet/Hummer dealership. As part of what is being billed as a National Day of Climate Action across the U.S., a "Clean Car Caravan" of hybrids and other green vehicles will cross the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco and deliver petitions to the auto dealership urging General Motors (GM) "to plug in the hybrid and pull the plug on the Hummer." (Though around here you’re just as likely to see a ’72 Mercedes running on vegetable oil as an H2.) The national event is being organized by Step It Up, the brainchild of noted environmental writer Bill McKibben, to drive a grass-root movement to pressure Congress take immediate action on climate change. Earlier in the day, Bay Area organizers will hold a clean 
car rally in San Francisco’s Presidio to show off plug-in hybrids, all-electric cars, bio-diesel vehicles and solar-powered buses. Kids can throw pies at a Hummer and make masks of polar bears – whose habitat, as we all know, is fast melting away as climate change intensifies. The San Francisco event is being run by a coalition that includes Working Assets, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Plug In America, NRDC and other environmental groups. Of course in the Bay Area, we’ll protest just about anything at the drop of a hat. But what intrigues Green Wombat is whether we’re seeing the emergence of a mass protest movement around global warming – a summer of green – one that demands, in part, green tech solutions to climate change.
The Green Grass Roots: National Climate Change Rally on Saturday
April 13, 2007 by Todd Woody
Green Wombat 
Hybrids are a JOKE. They still rely on gas don’t they, therefore they are band aid to the problem and not a real solution.
I would love for everyone in Cali to plug in their electric cars at night, you want to see rolling blackouts
What about the 150 new coal power plants that are being built or planned over the next three years in the U.S alone. 1 coal powered plant alone creates just as much polution as 1 million cars. Your not protesting those.
What about China who is building one every 3 days. I bet you still go to wal-mart and support them and the U.S. has the worst trade deficit with a country that is polluting the earth faster than we can help?
You people need to get your priorities straight.
How about we throw pies at people that have long commutes too? High fuel economy cars with long commutes make less sense that low fuel economy cars with short commutes. Urban sprawl, extra roads, etc.
Actually Hybrids are the cause of much waste. Read the following artical. Thanks toyota for destroying the earth. Can anyone also tell me what they plan on doing when the batteries are dead? No one seems to ever address that toxic waste.
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?NewsID=188
and
http://cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/
I have to agree with the previous comment about other countries pollution. If I remember correctly the top 3 countries for carbon pollutants are U.S., India, and China. When you compare the gross domestic product of the three the U.S. is #1 by a long way. That tells me that China and India are bigger polluters as a % of their GDP. With that, why are the tree huggers not in those countries protesting? I would have to say it is because they are chicken and don’t whole heartedly believe in what they are doing. You would see a dead person in a polar bear suit if this was done in China.
The U.S. is not the problem. We do more things cleaner than most of the countries around the world. Go complain to them.
One Last thing. I wonder what the Sabertooh Tiger and the Woolly Mamouth thought about global warming as their ice age was ending. Maybe they should have driven hybrid snowmobiles then.
The hybrid buses that GM builds prevent more polution than all the priuses sold ever.
Toyota just spent some huge amount of money building a truck plant in Texas so they could compete with the big 3 in the truck market. And guess what? Their new big truck gets worse mileage than the equivalently powered truck from GM.
The Toyota LandCruiser and Lexus LX, in addition to being less efficient, are dirtier vehicles in terms of pollutants than the Hummer or Escalade.
Some of the Hummers and most of the SUVs GM makes can run on an alternative fuel called E85 that uses only 15% gasoline. NONE of the Toyota SUVS do that.
Wow, sounds like envy to me. At least Toyota is doing SOMETHING to try and reduce emmissions. About the coal plants…they have a 50-year life span and are dirty…however they are also point-sources and it’s fairly easy to retro-fit them with new pollution controls… even Carbon Reuse or Sequestration when that finally comes online in the US (probably a couple years after Zimbabwe!). Much more difficult to do the same for cars. Best short-term solution to reduce emmisions is to reduce fuel consumption. Give Toyota credit for having the balls to do something worthwhile and show the land of lazy that it CAN make a profit doing it.
Hybrids aren’t ideal but a step in the right direction. I’ll be buying a Prius if they include an electric plug in the 08 model.
I want a 100% EV now, and if someone would sell one I’d power it through solar on the house. So rolling blackouts won’t be an issue. And yes, an EV and solar isn’t a solution for everyone but it would work for a lot of people.
Many people are against new coal plants so the post above is wrong. And the US leads by example and has the ability to influence change so I don’t see pointing the finger and telling others to change as a great strategy.
Batteries are recycled, the nickel is too valuable to toss – so the myth that they create more waste is simply wrong.
Not a fan of Toyota building trucks but I understand the business reasons.
I agree with readers who say that hybrid cars are better than nothing. I also agree with critics who say that they aren’t the ultimate solution. They are in fact a band-aid of sorts.
As frustrated as I am that we’ve wasted the past 30 years since our last energy crises by not developing clean alternative fuel and automobiles, I’m happy that we’re (the socially responsible market) taking steps to change things. I’m hoping the momentum leads to bigger and better changes.
California is the catalyst for change. In fact,California is prohibing electrict companies from buying dirty coal energy within 5 years.
The first electric car has been developed by a company in the Silicon Valley call Teslar.
The first production has been sold. Yes, they are expensive, $100,000 each. The next production coming to line in 2009 will cut the price to $50,000.
Today, I wil switching by coventional light bulbs to CFL.
Let’s focus on the solutions instead of shooting them down because we don’t want to change.
Environmental polution from the batteries will have longer effects than emmisions from vehicles. Even though many manufactureres recommend recycling and have recycling set up, I am not aware of what happens to a vehicle that doesn’t go to a dealer to be scrapped. Also, ever drive a hybrid in the winter in the north? The EV cars were stopped for a reason. Yes, for warmer climates we can develop EV cars, but what do we do for the north? The environment choice right now is simple: live close to work and walk! If you can’t do that buy one of the slow accelerating diesels coming out in the next few years…city 30+ mpg and highway 50+ mpg, without the hybrid battery disposal. To say the Prius was a step in the right direction is an oxymoron. Our lawmakers who approved tax incentives for hybrids need to be educated, so the government can stop giving away money! I grow tired of folks firing off, skewing data, and supporting companies that are doing something (even if it is worse), when companies that are doing the right thing take it on the chin. In the end commuting 3 miles in an H2 a day makes more environmental sense than commuting 30 in a Prius.
I drive a 2004 Prius. I bought it with 114,000 miles. this car runs and drives like brand new. The Bottom line is, the Toyota Prius is the Most Technologically advanced vehicle on the roads today. nothing even comes close to comparing to this vehicle, as of this year 2007, and thats for any price bracket. and the Prius starts at under 23,000 well equipped. the batteries last the life of the vehicle, several prius now showing no sign of battery loss after more than 300,000 miles. The batteries are 100% recyclable and worth allot of money and thus would be well worth someone to recycle them when that time comes. but again, 300,000(three hundred thousand miles and counting), thats a very long time. These batteries just don’t wear out the way a traditional battery does. It’s all in the Programing of the Prius. This car is amazing. And I get 50+ miles per gallon, everyday. And with a little effort, I can get over 60 miles per gallon. toyota, You’re number one! And thank you for making this Hybrid Synergy Drive(Full Hybrid) available to us today!