Welcome to the first world tour of a vehicle powered only by solar energy!
Solartaxi powered by "Midnight Oil"15.12.2007
Comments: 0
Today I pick up Dr. Pachauri, Head of the IPCC, at his hotel and give him a ride to the Hyatt. I first met him in November in Delhi, and today for the first time he's my taxi guest. I asked him what it meant if Bali conference failed, and he answered: "many, many people would get very angry."
I then gave lots of interview and Erik and Thomas tried to find some more ministers. Finally, we managed to meet Peter Garrett, Australian Environment Minister and former lead singer of "Midnight Oil". He drove two loops around Nusa Duas main circle and he was quite impressed. He was certainly the biggest passenger ever who fits into the solartaxi.
Later, we were approached for a photo oppportunity by the Canadian delegation. There I heard that this was the opposition party, who is not oppsoing Kyoto unlike the current Harper-government does. Monsieur Stephan Dion took a ride and listened carefully to my explanations about solar mobility. He can imagine that this could be a technology of the future, but he admitted that it would be hard to sell such a "toy car" to Canadians.
I know the Canadian situation makes me quite sad. I know Canada as a very forward thinking country, I was there three times and I love it, but at the moment, without signing Kyoto and with unlimited pollution, Canada becomes a sad example for a country becoming rich with petrol and ignoring environmental warnings. I hope Canada one day will be back as a leader for pushing action against global warming.
Finally, we met Bianca Jagger again, and she drove from Hyatt to the conference center. There we wanted to find out about the outcome of the conference, but we learnt that they were still negociating.
The next day, I brought the soilartaxi to Benoa harbour and cleared customs. So we are cleared to board the Rainbow Warrior tomorrow!
