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It would seem that even the luxury automobile companies want to cash in on saving the environment these days.  Lamborghini recently released news of its Estoque hybrid concept car which it has been working on.  With just a few engine design decesions left to be made, all kicking out around 520 horses, I’d say the $200,000 price tag will be worth all you might save on petro.  For the full article peep Wired

For years Arab Sheiks (and old white guys at Exxon and in the White House) have been getting rich off oil, but in this century its all about making your fortune off alternative energy, especially solar power. From Dr. Shi Zhengrong to the homie Xiao Peng, the next generation of energy tycoons are getting rich off the Sun…

The Solar Billionaries: Who’s Made Mad Money off of Solar Power

A while ago we wrote about a couple blog posts about a simple and brilliant technology that uses compressed air to run an engine (see: O.G. Air Car, Air Car). Now there is word that this technology could be hitting the streets as soon as 2009. Zero Pollution Motors a New York-based start up has announced plans to bring to market their own version of an air powered car based on technology licensed from Luxemborg-based MDI.

Check out the full story on Gas2.org.

In the Tuff Gong chapter of Frank151, we investigated Jamaica’s ongoing environmental crises that is being caused by bauxite mining on the island. Bauxite is a key ingredient used in manufacturing aluminum, and Jamaica happens to have some of the largest reserves in the world. The process of mining and processing bauxite can also be extremely toxic. While mining this resource should be economically beneficial to the people of Jamaica, politics and the business interests of international mining corporations have prevented much of the profits generated from reaching the people. In fact, the mining seems to have done more harm than good for your average Jamaican.

Now, from the Jamaican Bauxite Environmental Organization comes Jamaica, Nuff Problems Man, a new documentary shedding more light on the harmful practices of the bauxite mining industry. We implore you to take notice. The problem of bauxite mining in Jamaica highlights the dangerous effects of what happens when greed overshadows the basic needs of human beings.

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

(Part 3)

Please don’t hesitate to forward this post or re-post the videos on your own blogs. The bauxite crisis in Jamaica has been destroying the land and peoples lives for far too long.

Leave it to the Canadians to do their part to be greener!

Over the past year, rumors on the Internet have been circulating about a new public bike system (PBS) that was in the works for North America (following the super-successful French system that’s 10,000 strong in Paris). Now our time has finally arrived, and the first American project looks like a winner.

New York City has a pilot bike-share program of its own, set to run from July 7 to July 11 this summer. Riders will be able to check a bike out and ride it to their destination for under .50 cents a trip throughout the week, and the test run’s results will be presented, along with speeches from design and transportation experts, July 9 - 11 at the Storefront for Art & Architecture (at 97 Kenmare St).

Read more about the Canadian bike sharing via Ecofriend; or about the New York City project and the worldwide movement from NYBikeShare directly.

Check out this photo of a rare uncontacted Amazon tribe. The picture was taken during a fly over of a remote area of the Amazon in Brazil’s Acre state, near the Brazil / Peru border. During the fly over, the natives began shooting arrows at the plane. Experts estimated that their are approximately 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, with over half residing in the Amazon. For the full story check out the article and additional pictures here.For more information on how you can help to protect the rights of these indigenous people, check out Survival International.

Following the Organic Consumers Association’s revelations that so-called “organic” or “natural” product brands were actually made with toxic chemicals such as 1,4-dioxane, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps has sued numerous companies in the industry that it accuses of using misleading labeling to deceive consumers. The lawsuit is meant to encourage the named companies (see list below) to either reformulate their products to eliminate the petrochemical materials, or to change their labeling and stop using the words “organic” or “natural” on their products.Companies sued by Dr. Bronner’s include Estee Lauder, Ecocert, OASIS, Stella McCartney’s CARE, Jasön, Avalon Organics, Nature’s Gate, Kiss My Face, Ikove and others. Each of the companies being sued, says Dr. Bronner’s, are using potentially dangerous chemicals that certainly don’t qualify as natural or organic. The product categories include shampoo, body wash, liquid soap, skin cleansers and other personal care products.

(via Natural News)

Frank Fam, and contributor to the Tuff Gong chapter, Liz Solms, just let us know about her new blog www.sweetpeabanana.tumblr.com.

A foundation grant first lead Liz Solms to Jamaica in 2005 to establish an organic growers association in the agricultural area of St. Elizabeth, a part of the Island known just as much for its beauty and bounty as its rampant use of agricultural chemicals. Years later, you can still find her championing the organic cause both on the Island and off. Back in the States you can find Liz hooking up families and dinner parties with the most banging meals made with local ingredients, or connecting weddings and other large events with local farms for their food service. And in JA, you may find Liz reasoning with a farmer on how to do it the organic way, or lacing out the dopest of villas with its very own kitchen garden. Check her out at www.sweetpeanourishment.com and www.bananatreeconsulting.com

In honor of Earth Day, we’d like to share a few recent Enviro-stories with y’all…

* Our friends at Vice recently published a killer expose on the plight of North Pacific Gyre — a Texas-sized meeting point for all the major currents in the Pacific Ocean.  Because everything converges there, anything caught in those currents also ends up getting caught and floating around perpetually.  Vice’s Thomas Morton went to the Gyre to see how it looked; what he found was basically every piece of plastic that’s ever wound up in the Pacific, floating there right now.  Truly disturbing. Read the article — the consequences get scarier and scarier (especially when we start eating fish).

* The National Toxicology Program acknowledged today that Bisphenol A (a chemical found in common plastics and used for everything from baby pacifiers to CDs to dildos) has been linked to breast cancer, hormonal changes and Down syndrome… which means all the aging ravers out there have some serious issues by now.

* And, amid all this, Al Gore says things are actually worse now than they were before An Inconvenient Truth.  Let’s all pretend to be surprised.

* On a (slightly) lighter note, when you finally leave this pollution-ridden world, you can do it “green” — London funeral home Green Endings is pioneering new eco-friendly funeral services.  Buy stock now — business will only pick up as the environment starts killing us faster and faster.