They Are The Change They Want in the World

Thomas Friedman highlights an open source race by college engineering students pursuing the holy grail of sustainability: a hyper-fuel efficient, recyclable, affordable electric car. Their tag line is "we are the people we have been waiting for", a nice twist on the popular adage to "be the change you want in the world". Pretty cool to read about how 2 dozen+ student groups are collaborating around the globe on this project, on an incredibly tight time line. Seems line one of the saner responses to climate chaos I've heard about. Friedman has long been talking about a Manhattan project of sustainable energy, but I like this MIT-led group's analogy even better, comparing their efforts to the pull-out-all-the-stops goal of going to the moon. And that was a whole generation ago, when their parents were younger than they are now! You can make a contribution to underwrite their efforts through the website, through the MIT alumni. It's cumbersome. Note to VDS: you should use Paypal. It's tons faster. I realize that when there's a paypal link I am much more likely to donate a small sum spontaneously.
I hope the results will be as fun looking as the SmartCar!