Monday, April 23, 2018

Electric Car Buying Made Easy


Above: Thad Curtz, center, organized a display of eight electric vehicle models, including his own Ford CMAX Energi plug-in hybrid, at the South Sound Climate Action Convention in Lacey on April 14. His new nonprofit is called Electrify Thurston. 

Washington State Sales Tax Exemption for Electric Vehicles Ends May 31

By Janine Gates
Little Hollywood
https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

If you’re looking for a new vehicle and sick of paying high gas prices, maybe you’re thinking of purchasing an electric car. 

If you're nervous because you don’t know much about them, and don't know the difference between a Chevy Volt and a Chevy Bolt, you’re not alone.

The electric car industry, still recovering from the days of “Who Killed the Electric Car,” now has several options on the market and local help is now available without the pressure and stress of walking into a showroom. 

Electrify Thurston, a new local non-profit created by Thad Curtz and Paul Elwood of Olympia, is educating community members about electric vehicles and hopes to increase the relatively small number of them currently sold.

The group also promotes residential, workplace and multi-family charging infrastructure. Future work could include the promotion of charging infrastructure at transit centers and parking facilities.

Curtz, a retired professor at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, recently organized a display of eight locally owned battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids at the South Sound Climate Action Convention, held at the Lacey branch of South Puget Sound Community College on April 14.

The display showcased the new Nissan LEAF, a new Chevy Bolt, a Tesla Model S, a Chevy Volt, a Ford CMAX Energi, and a Fiat500e.

Convention goers had the opportunity to sit in the cars and speak with the actual owners, all of whom were thrilled about their experiences driving them. Owners liked the significantly lower costs of driving on electricity and their low greenhouse gas emissions. They also praised the cars quick acceleration and their low maintenance costs. The cars ranged in size from tiny to a full sized sedan.

Perhaps the most common worry potential consumers have about electric cars is the possibility of running out of juice.

Curtz says this is not a problem. 

“Roughly 80 percent of electric vehicle owners charge their cars at home overnight or at work, on a regular outlet or a 220 volt charger,” he says. The plug-in hybrid models mean you can have the best of both worlds, using battery power for local trips supplemented by a gasoline-powered generator for longer trips.

Lowering Thurston County Greenhouse Gas Emissions

For climate activist-minded consumers, electric vehicles are a no-brainer, and part of the answer to reducing Thurston County’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

Unfortunately, they don't reduce emissions here as much as they would in Mason County or Seattle, where almost all the electricity comes from hydro,” warned Curtz. 

In late 2017, a greenhouse gas emissions analysis was conducted by the Clean Energy Transition and Stockholm Environmental Institute for the Thurston Regional Planning Council. The study suggested that Thurston County should work with other jurisdictions to advocate for the successful decarbonization of Washington’s electricity grid. 

Although Puget Sound Energy’s plan to begin pulling away from coal over the next eight years is a promising sign, for many, it is not soon enough.

“About 34 percent of PSE’s electricity currently comes from coal. People in Thurston County drive, on average, 9,000 miles each year. The most efficient current gasoline car, a Toyota Prius, has an Environmental Protection Agency rating of 52 mpg, and produces 4,189 pounds of CO2 a year on local power....

“A Jeep Wrangler, one of the least efficient passenger cars, has a rating of 18 mpg, and produces 11,280 pounds of CO2,” said Curtz, citing estimates from the vehicle cost calculator at the U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuel Data Center website.

Curtz says that driving a Nissan LEAF on PSE power rather than a Honda Accord saves two metric tons of CO2 a year, and even driving a LEAF rather than a Prius saves nine metric tons over the life of the car. 

Prices for new battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles start at about $21,000, so if a new car is beyond your reach, the market for used electric vehicles which are returned to dealers after two and three year leases is booming.

There are many advantages and reasons to lease a car.

Above: Olympia city councilmember Clark Gilman shows off his Fiat 500e at the South Sound Climate Action Convention in Lacey on Saturday.

Thurston County Electric Car Drivers 

As of January, 1,015 were registered in Thurston County, about 3.6 percent of those in the state. 

Curtz is aiming to improve this number by working with local auto dealers to get discount prices on specific makes and models. Successful group vehicle purchases have been negotiated with impressive discounts in Colorado and Utah in collaboration with local universities, hospitals and local jurisdictions.

At the end of last year, the City of Seattle negotiated with Nissan to offer city employees a group discount of $10,000 on the 2017 Nissan LEAF, which has a range of just over 100 miles on a single charge.

Olympia city councilmember Clark Gilman purchased his two year old Fiat500e in November, a lease return, for $10,000.

A long-time avid bicyclist and bus commuter, Gilman at times needs a car to get between his jobs, meetings and activities. His electric vehicle, he laughed, is “one step up from a golf cart,” and goes 50 – 60 miles in winter between charges. As the weather improves, he anticipates that number to rise, and run between 80 – 90 miles. He charges it one or two nights a week and says he’s good to go.

“It’s been a blast,” said Gilman.

Above: The interior of Ingrid Gulden's 2012 Tesla Model S vehicle at the South Sound Climate Action Convention. 

Ingrid Gulden also invited the public to sit in her 2012 Tesla Model S vehicle. Sixty of the nearly 600 electric cars registered in Thurston County in 2016 were Teslas. 

“We love it and drive it to San Francisco four times a year,” she said. For long trips, Tesla provides support for finding chargers as part of its dashboard navigation software. Cold weather and winds affect the mileage, but a Tesla gets about 250 miles on a charge, she said.

So, if you’re in the market for an electric vehicle, now may be the time. 

New plug-in car purchases and leases are currently exempt from Washington's sales tax, but that will end next month. To avoid paying the sales tax, and save a couple of thousand dollars, you have to take delivery of the car by May 31.

The federal rebate, up to $7,500, depending upon battery size, will also phase out for each company after they sell 200,000 electric cars in the U.S. Curtz says General Motors and Tesla are the first companies expected to reach that point late this year.

Above: Thad Curtz leads a discussion about electric vehicle options before the group headed out to take a look at several on display at the South Sound Climate Action Convention in Lacey on April 14.



Editor's Note, April 21: Article was corrected shortly after it was originally posted to reflect that General Motors and Tesla will be the first companies expected to sell 200,000 electric cars in the U.S. later this year, not in 2019. 

Editor's Note, April 23: Article was reposted because it apparently did not get delivered via the RSS feed.

For more information, go to electrifythurston.org. Their website includes answers to frequently asked questions, provides up-to-date information about electric vehicles available from Western Washington auto dealers, online referrals to local dealers with electric vehicles, and can provide information on installing residential charging equipment.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Man Rescued in Capitol Lake


Above: A man who jumped into the choppy, cold waters of Capitol Lake was rescued by Olympia firefighters on Friday afternoon.

By Janine Gates
Little Hollywood

A man who jumped into the choppy, cold waters of Capitol Lake at Heritage Park was safely rescued by Olympia firefighters and police officers on Friday afternoon.

During the tense time before an official rescue was launched, police officers patrolled the border of Capitol Lake asking bystanders to not jump in the water to save him, saying the water was cold and the man may resist being rescued. Police officers suspected that he may be mentally ill or under the influence of drugs.

Bystanders expressed concern for the man. One man approached police officers to express his opinion that all the police cars, with lights flashing, may deter the man from swimming to shore on his own.

Above: Bystanders kept an eye on the man before a rescue was launched by Olympia firefighters, who reached him by boat.

The man jumped into the lake from the north shore of Heritage Park and swam to the middle of the lake when the fire department launched a motorboat from Marathon Park.The man consistently kept his head above water. 

When the three firefighters reached the man, they flung a rope out to him. The man grabbed onto the rope and hung onto the side of the boat as it moved at low speed toward the shore.

Above: Olympia police officers were ready to assist Olympia firefighters when they came ashore with the man.

Once reaching shore, police officers were prepared with yellow emergency blankets to cover the man, who only wore a torn black t-shirt. His right eye was injured. The man was rambling as firefighters brought him out of the water. 

He was put on a gurney and transported to the hospital.

Above: Firefighters and police officers assisted in the rescue of a man at Capitol Lake on Friday afternoon.

Editor’s Note: Little Hollywood arrived on the scene shortly after the man jumped into Capitol Lake and is choosing not to publish pictures of the man because he was in crisis. Instead, the focus of this photo essay is on the efforts of Olympia firefighters and police officers who assisted in the rescue effort. 

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Juliana v. U.S. Youth Addresses Climate Convention


Above: Aji Piper, 17, spoke at the South Sound Climate Action Convention held in Lacey on Saturday. Piper is one of 21 youth suing the United States government in a landmark federal climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States.

By Janine Gates
Little Hollywood

“What are you going to do? You should know or at least figure it out. What are you going to do now to protect future generations?” Aji Piper, 17, Seattle, asked the audience.

As the keynote speaker at the day-long South Sound Climate Action Convention held in Lacey on Saturday, Piper posed the question to over 200 participants, including local officials and state legislators, but he wasn’t waiting around for an answer.

Piper is one of 21 youth suing the United States government in a landmark federal climate change related lawsuit, Juliana v. United States.

Following multiple rulings issued in favor of the youth plaintiffs and the organization supporting them, Our Children’s Trust, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon earlier this week set October 29 as the first day of the trial. 

The trial will be held in Eugene and is being billed as the “trial of the century.”

Piper learned about climate change, ocean acidification, wildfires, deadly public health outbreaks and coal trains when he moved from Port Orchard, Washington to Seattle.

He wanted to do something about it all so he started planting trees and getting active in local protests. He co-founded Future Voters for 350 ppm.

“I should be able to be a kid…I needed to feel a stronger impact from my actions. I needed a solid course of action...so, I took them to court,” he said, as he explained his journey as a young climate activist.

In 2011, Piper was also a plaintiff in another youth-driven lawsuit demanding that the Washington State Department of Ecology update its emission regulations based on the latest climate science, saying the agency was required to do so through the Public Trust Doctrine, which says the government has a duty to protect natural resources for future generations.

Technically, he is the future, and while a strong ruling favored his case, nothing has happened to enforce it and the case has been refiled.

The difference between the state and federal cases, he said, is that the federal government has known about the dangers of fossil fuel use and the destructive forces of climate change for about fifty years.

“By acting against that information, they have violated our rights and the Public Trust Doctrine.”

According to a press release from Our Children’s Trust, Juliana v. United States is not about the government’s failure to act on climate. Instead, the 21 young plaintiffs assert that the U.S. government, through its affirmative actions in creating a national energy system that causes climate change, has violated their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, and has failed to protect essential public trust resources.

The case is one of many related legal actions brought by youth seeking science-based action by governments to stabilize the climate system.

Above: Averi Azar, a student in the Masters of Environmental Science program at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, staffs a table about the program during the South Sound Climate Action Convention. She is pursuing her masters thesis about sea star wasting disease.

Engaging Youth in Climate Change Conversations

The South Sound Climate Action Convention was held at the Lacey branch of South Puget Sound Community College and was organized by the Thurston Climate Action Team.

It featured a wide variety of speakers and presenters who geared their talks and workshops around climate change issues such as youth engagement, food sustainability, waste reduction, renewable energy technologies and options, carbon pricing initiatives and other legislative issues.

Aji Piper co-facilitated a morning workshop on how to engage youth in climate change conversations and related what actions and strategies work for him.

“Don’t make it boring, youth don’t want to sit in meetings…we sit enough at school. I didn’t get involved in climate change to stand outside of official buildings and shout....While those are tried and true approaches, and not to discredit those, but we’ve been doing those for years.”

Piper related a 2009 campaign he liked which encouraged the Royal Bank of Canada to divest from the Alberta tar sands projects. The strategy of banners and bumper sticker messages with the one ultimately unfurled on the side of the bank that said, “Please help us Mrs. Nixon.com,” created buzz.

His comment encouraged workshop participants to generate a range of actions and ideas that included die-ins, music, the creative arts, light projections on buildings, and the creation of large puppetry.

Olympia musician Holly Gwinn Graham strongly encouraged early childhood arts education in the school system.

“They are ready to be involved, to hear the truth. They’re ready to be creative and be part of something beautiful. It teaches kids to be politically active and use different forms of expression, encourages conversation, communication and intergenerational and non-familial connections with people,” she said.

Piper acknowledged that there is room for all kinds of artistic expression. 

I grew up playing outside in the forest with my little brother and there's a difference...it's why I dont do social media....I sing a lot. I get a song stuck in my head and start humming it, or my brother does. Singing and performing is different than speaking, just like poetry is different than an essay,” he said.

Above: Aji Piper received a standing ovation for his keynote speech addressing his involvement with climate change issues at the South Sound Climate Action Convention in Lacey on Saturday.

For more information about the South Sound Climate Action Convention and a list of participating organizations, go to southsoundclimateconvention.org

To learn more about the Thurston Climate Action Team, go to https:/janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com/2018/02/carbon-free-thurston-efforts-underway.html