Spotted in SoCal: Vauxhall VX220, a Lotus Elise in disguise
Feb 20, 2010 Object
Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Vauxhall, UK
Vauxhall VX220 in a La Jolla garage - Click above for high-res image gallery
If you spend any time hanging out in the same areas frequented by the affluent, you’ll inevitably stumble across plenty of exotic motorized conveyances. Beverly Hills, Newport Beach and La Jolla, California are riddled with Bentleys, Porsches, Ferraris and Aston Martins. Since those vehicles are readily available for sale here, anyone with enough liquidity can wander in to a dealer and pick one up.
Every once in a while, though, you’ll stumble across something genuinely unusual, that clearly took some effort to acquire. Such was the case the other day when we came across this diminutive silver speed demon in a La Jolla parking garage. Those familiar with the Lotus Elise and Tesla Roadster will recognize the lineage. However, this machine is far more sharply chiseled than its cousins.
This is the Vauxhall VX220, complete with the steering wheel on the right-hand side of the cockpit. During the first half of the 1990s, Vauxhall and its continental counterpart, Opel, collaborated with Lotus to produce a rebodied and stretched version of the Elise powered by General Motors Ecotec four-cylinder engines. We have no idea how this car came to make its way to the Golden State, but if the owner (we’re probably safe in assuming there is only one person in California with a VX220) reads this and cares to enlighten us, we’re all ears.
Spotted in SoCal: Vauxhall VX220, a Lotus Elise in disguise originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-are-riddled, a-dealer-and, a-friend-via, a-rebodied-and, about-the-same, entry, florida, golden-state, newport-beach, opel, opel speedster, sports, tesla roadster, vauxhall vx220
California gives green light to space-based solar power project
Filed under: Energy, Company News, Green
Beaming solar power down from outer space is A-OK according to the California Public Utility Commission. The regulatory body voted unanimously Thursday to approve a “Power Purchase Agreement” signed between the state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric (PCG), and Solaren Space. The Southern California start-up is developing technology for what it hopes will be an orbiting solar power collection system that could add a whopping 200 megawatts to the Golden State’s increasingly green grid. The project will cost $2 billion, Solaren executives estimate.
The concept is not new. Satellites orbiting far enough outside our atmosphere can capture solar energy around the clock, and without power-reducing cloud cover or atmospheric interference. The satellites use photovoltaic panels, much like those that are installed on ordinary buildings, to capture solar energy and convert it into electricity.
Continue reading California gives green light to space-based solar power project
California gives green light to space-based solar power project originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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California gives green light to space-based solar power project
Tags: a-gives-green, antenna, carry trade, entry, fresno, golden-state, green, infocus, orbit, power-purchase, regulatory-body, satellite, solaren, solarpower
New York State hiding tax increase behind throwback license plates?
Filed under: Etc.
The great state of New York has just unveiled a new license plate design. They’re calling it “Empire Gold,” unlike the current drab white and blue plates that New Yorkers have been affixin’ to their rides since 2001. However, 57,000 people have already filed a petition at a website called nonewplates.com. Already? While the new NY plates aren’t the best looking we’ve ever seen (black on yellow California plates from the 1950s FTW), they aren’t that bad. What gives?
You, the taxpayer, that’s what. New Yorkers are required to get the new plates. And they cost $25. Want to keep your same license plate number so you don’t have to call and fuss with your insurance company? Or let’s say you want to hang onto an existing vanity plate? That’s going to cost you an extra $20. So if you have three vehicles and are happy with your numbers, these new plates will set you back $135. Out here in the Golden State, we’ve tossed people from office (hello Gray Davis!) for similar antics. Just sayin’. All in all, the new plate is expected to rake in $129 million for the state of NY and they drop in April, just in time for tax season.
Gallery: New York State License Plates
[Source: News Day]
New York State hiding tax increase behind throwback license plates? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-big-problem, california, existing-vanity, from-the-1950s, golden-state, insurance, monkey bike, new york state, news, other-motorists
Obama’s smart grid funding leaves California out in the cold
Oct 27, 2009 Object
Filed under: Energy, Technology
President Barack Obama announced today that he is pushing out $3.4 billion in stimulus spending to fund the development and construction of the much vaunted “smart grid.” Significant portions of the funding will go toward subsidizing so-called smart electrical meters for large utilities. Utilities in Florida and Maryland are set to get multi-hundred million dollar grants to underwrite smart meters and other infrastructure upgrades.
But a quick read of the stimulus list implies that the government will inadvertently penalize some utilities that have already moved quickly to build smart meter programs. The biggest loser of all? California. Big utilities in the Golden State got more or less shut of funding awards from Washington D.C. on this round, according to blog Earth2Tech.
Continue reading Obama’s smart grid funding leaves California out in the cold
Obama’s smart grid funding leaves California out in the cold originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Obama’s smart grid funding leaves California out in the cold
Tags: a-bright-future, cold, energy, entry, florida, golden-state, holiday-parties, more-or-less, norway, power, smart, stimulus, technology, utilities, world
Marijuana critics, and our brilliant plan to save the San Francisco ‘Chronic’-le
The decline in newspaper advertising and an upswing in medical marijuana sales are happening simultaneously. And if viewed together, they present an illuminating opportunity for a few daily papers, should their publishers take advantage of the opportunity.
The two industries are moving in opposite directions. We all know what’s happening to newspaper ad sales: The Audit Bureau of Circulations released precipitous circulation figures on Monday, with a shocking average decline of close to 11 percent over the past six months for daily papers. Weed’s having better luck. The Justice Department announced last week that it will no longer prosecute medical marijuana users, and instead leave enforcement up to individual states (only 13 of which permit marijuana as legal pain relief).
Continue reading Marijuana critics, and our brilliant plan to save the San Francisco ‘Chronic’-le
Marijuana critics, and our brilliant plan to save the San Francisco ‘Chronic’-le originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Marijuana critics, and our brilliant plan to save the San Francisco ‘Chronic’-le
Tags: a-few-daily, alt weekly, altweekly, chronicle, circulation, entry, francisco, golden-state, holiday-parties, norway, power, technology
CEO pay is still a man’s world
Filed under: People
The results of a new study by boardroom watchdog The Corporate Library might lead you to conclude that last year was a bad time to be the CEO of a U.S. company. After all, top corporate executives saw their pay fall sharply from a year earlier as the recession decimated profits and sent the stock market into a nosedive.
Of course, it’s never really a bad time to be a CEO. Even last year, it took some $70 million in total compensation to crack the list of ten highest-paid chief executives, according to The Corporate Library. That’s nothing to scoff at (especially when you consider that it’s about 20,000 times more than a typical citizen of, say, Liberia makes a year). Still, not all CEOs are created equal: Women executives saw their pay plummet even further than their male peers, the study found.
Continue reading CEO pay is still a man’s world
CEO pay is still a man’s world originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CEO pay is still a man’s world
Tags: ceo pay, crack-the-list, entry, exeuctive compensation, golden-state, infocus, norway, power, technology, the corporate library, the-recession, women
CA "cool car" regs to kill Jeep Wrangler, interfere with phones, garage openers, ankle bracelets?
Filed under: Government/Legal, Technology, Chrysler, Jeep
2009 Jeep Wrangler - Click above for high-res image gallery
New “Cool Cars” regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) could put an end to the Jeep Wrangler soft-top sales in the Golden State thanks to standards so stringent that the popular 4×4 won’t be able to meet them. According to The Detroit News, CARB’s latest controversial initiative requires automakers to build cars and trucks with windows which prevent 45% of the sun’s energy from entering a vehicle by 2014, and 60% by 2016. To meet these provisions, vehicle manufacturers will have to utilize advanced window glazing containing microscopic specs of reflective metal oxide.
Coating vehicle glass with a metallic layer wreaks havoc on any vehicle electronic device relying on a clear “view” of the world outside. Garmin, a leading manufacturer of GPS devices, says satellite reception through coated glass will be degraded. In addition, cell phones, wireless laptop devices, garage door openers, and even ankle bracelets for parolees “may be adversely affected by the metallic reflective standard” as they all rely on signals passing cleanly through automotive glass.
For what it’s worth, Honda tried utilizing the same technology in Japan two decades ago, yet dropped it due to problems with radio wave devices. We are assured that the Jeep soft-top won’t have those problems simply because the technology cannot be applied to flexible plastic windows. Without an exemption for that model, Chrysler will only be allowed to sell hardtop Wrangler vehicles in California.
[Source: The Detroit News]
CA “cool car” regs to kill Jeep Wrangler, interfere with phones, garage openers, ankle bracelets? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: a-friend-via, california air resou..., carb, cool cars, garmin, golden-state, jeep, metaloxide, technology
Oil discovery in California: Will Golden State go back to black gold economy?
Filed under: Energy, Company News
Could an oil discovery in Kern County, California presage a return of the Golden State to national oil prominence?
In June 2009 Occidental Petroleum (OXY) announced it had tapped into an oil field that comprised upwards of 150 to 250 million barrels of black gold and natural gas. That discovery could be the first of many, believes Occidental CEO Ray R. Irani. “We believe this to be the largest new oil and gas discovery made in California in more than 35 years,” said Irani.
Should a slew of similarly sized discoveries emerge, California could become a new oil patch for the U.S. That would be a boon to the economy of the cash-strapped state, but also provide powerful counter-incentives to the nascent green industry. California is among the national leaders in development of green technologies.
Continue reading Oil discovery in California: Will Golden State go back to black gold economy?
Oil discovery in California: Will Golden State go back to black gold economy? originally appeared on DailyFinance on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Oil discovery in California: Will Golden State go back to black gold economy?
Tags: accounts, california, economy, energy, energy stocks, entry, golden-state, google-apps, green industry, news, petroleum, sanofi pasteur
