As many of you now know I am the proud lessee (at 600$ a month) of one of the few Honda Clarity Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicles. My husband and I were chosen for our proximity to the refueling center (5 miles) and our green credentials. My husband converted a Dodge pick-up to natural gas, had the EV1 until it was taken back (see: Who Killed The Electric Car) and had been a Prius driver, while I had the Lexus hybrid. The other qualification of course was being a celebrity. And the car does get ATTENTION.
The first day a woman in a white Volvo pulled up along side me and said "That car is BADASSSSS!!!!!".
Today, as I was getting a cake for a birthday party, I parallel parked on a lovely, local shopping street. There was a woman standing next to the car parked ahead of me. She was looking at me with a perplexed expression on her face. I thought she liked the car.
Since I know the car garners attention, and I have become a very loquacious ambassador for the Clarity, I rolled down my window to say hello and she said that she thought I was her husband.
It turns out she was Annette Ballester who was waiting for her husband, Ron Yerxa to arrive after re-fueling THEIR Clarity. He pulled up and there we were. THE ONLY TWO HYDROGEN FUEL CELL CARS IN THE CITY PARKED DIRECTLY NEXT TO EACH OTHER!. What are the odds? After exchanging pleasantries and comparing all favorable notes abut this extraordinary vehicle, I drove away thinking...WHY IS THIS SO RARE? Why aren't there more?
I commend Honda for being a leader but isn't it about time that we all demand more? The tipping point was gas prices. We all knew that as soon as they went up, would it be $3.50, $4.00, $4.25 a gallon that we would change our ways. When people had to choose between better food or gas...is that when the change was going to come? It certainly isn't going to be in my tax bracket because the higher gas rates really don't affect us.
The bigger question is how do we all make this change? Who do we turn to? What do we do?
Today in the paper was a story about a woman in Orange County who put in fake grass and who was penalized by the city. WHAT!?!?
We looked into fake grass. There is a big cost but IT DOESN'T NEED WATERING! We live in a drought zone, a desert. We import our water like our oil (read Cadillac Desert ). It tells the tale. What are the odds that we will turn back the effects of Global Warming? What are the odds that people are ready for change? We have an election ahead where the candidates need to tell us what their plans are for our country's future and the worlds environmental future. Terry Tamminen and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have done a a great job bringing a green initiative to their policy making. Corporations, like Honda, are beginning to pay attention and lead, as they should, the general populous who they employ and serve and need. Green has become the new black.
What were the odds that Barack Obama would be the candidate for CHANGE?
Odds shmodds.
Let's make some change and build the Hydrogen Highway and invest in science and development and conserve.
One hydrogen car at a time,
One human being at a time.
One patch of fake grass at a time.
One vote at a time.