Green Options » Cold War

The Trabant Lives Again! Cold War Auto Icon Reborn as an Electric Car.

Nick Chambers — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:48:01 +0000

Ah, the Trabant. That most humble and often-maligned communist-era East German auto icon. To people who remember the car — lovingly and mockingly nicknamed the Trabi in its heyday — it conjures up all sorts of feelings. Personally the Trabi and I have a special connection: My wife grew up in East Germany and has fond, bittersweet memories of taking vacations to the Baltic Sea crowded into the back (and sometimes even the trunk) of the loud, blue-smoke-belching, death trap.

Where We’re Going We Won’t Even Need Lithium: A Neurotic Look at Our Energy Future

Anthony Cefali — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:17:33 +0000

Editor’s Note: Gas 2.0 writer Karen Pease has written a response to this post entitled “Lithium Counterpoint: No Shortage For Electric Cars.”

So I stumbled across a time machine the other day and made my way into the future. I noticed something rather bizarre while I was riding my hover-board and wearing a pair of Air McFlys. First I couldn’t pump any more gas into my Delorean, so I asked the good people of the undisclosed future what they used for fuel. They used lithium-powered batteries, and their supply was running out…

For the record, I support all forms of alternative energy. Anything but oil I say, it’s a relic of the Cold War as far as I’m concerned. But what will be the future of energy? Well, my time machine wasn’t completely accurate. While I sincerely hope that we can establish an electric infrastructure, it appears that the market will decide our energy future (for more on the economics, read my last post).

Springtime at the Cold War’s Last Border

Gavin Hudson — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:01:24 +0000

It’s springtime in South Korea. Just a month ago the ground was covered in snow; today the hills are pink with cherry blossoms. Eager solar panels soak up the warm sunshine. On the mountain, wind turbines spin in the sweetly scented spring breeze. In the seaboard city of Gangneung, children’s delighted shrieks fill neighborhood parks.

Over the city, military jets scream through the sky.

The jets that thunder all day long over Gangneung are a reminder that for the past 60 years Korea has been a country divided and at war with itself. Gangneung, with its windfarm, solar panels, and cherry blossoms, lies less than 100 miles (160 km) from the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, the world’s last remaining Cold War border.

This week, as springtime blooms, a series of events unfolded which threaten to destabilize the delicate balance between the North and the South.