Carbon Free Girl - A Race Car Driver's Journey to Be Carbon Neutral

hydrogen fuel cells, capitol hill (again), our new green home and more...

July 19, 2008

Sorry I haven’t checked in for a while, I do this website in my free time and with all the traveling I have been doing I have fallen behind on my updates. I have had a busy few weeks and have had some wonderful experiences.

In May I spoke in Keystone, Colorado at the National Wildlife Federation's annual meeting. There were over 300 people attending and they were really wonderful people at that. I met Larry Schweiger, the President and CEO of National Wildlife Federation, and his amazing team of people that fight to protect our environment everyday. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is dedicating all their resources to the fight against climate change and the importance of changing our laws to protect our environment. They are a fantastic organization and I am so proud to be a part of their team. View photos from NWF's Annual Meeting

After Colorado I headed out to Los Angeles where I met with the head of alternative fuel vehicles for Honda. I had the chance to test drive the Honda FCX hydrogen fuel cell vehicle which was amazing! Instead of carbon dioxide, the exhaust pipe emits water! Look ma, no emissions! View photos from my Honda FCX test drive

Then in early June I made my second trip to Capitol Hill with NWF because of a very important step in the legislative fight against global warming. I was honored to be invited to speak at a press conference with Senators Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, and Joe Lieberman. Climate Security Act was voted on by the Senate. It did not pass (Bush had promised to veto it if it had) but next year we will have a new administration in the White House (woohoo!) and I am confident they will start making these necessary steps towards a clean renewable energy infrastructure for the United States. View photos of the Capitol Hill Press Conference

My fiance’ and I also purchased our first home in the Lake Norman area, north of Charlotte. It is an energy star home and we are planning to “green” the house with a solar water heater, solar tube lighting, rainwater collection, and eventually solar panels. The solar panels are quite expensive so they will be one of the last things we do, after we save up some money! I just bought Ed Begley Jr’s book Living Like Ed and I know it will have some great tips. Ed is good people.

I was also a keynote speaker in Charlotte for a fundraiser for the Carolina Clean Air Coalition. It was a great experience and I would like to thank them for their hospitality and all the good work they do to keep our air clean in North Carolina. I am starting to do a lot more public speaking and I am really enjoying it. I have met some amazing people.

I will check back in again soon...

Peace,

Leilani