I'm writing about Better Place, one of the first venture-backed companies to tackle this energy crisis head-on. Former SAP exec and Better Place founder Shai Agassi aims to reduce oil dependency through the creation of a transportation infrastructure that supports electric vehicles. The idea behind it is to charge for the eletric grid usage and make the cars so cheap that no one will ever think of buying a gasoline car.

You can read more about Better Place and Agassi in a recent NY Times op-ed by Thomas Friedman here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/opinion/27friedman.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=shai%20agassi&st=cse&oref=slogin. Also, Better Place has just launched its first campaign targeted to the public, bascially it's social networking for the oil dependancy issue, www.betterplace.com/10words. Check it out, play around and post your own mini-festo.

Francisco, I'll be happy to connect you with a spokesperson if needed. Even if you don't vote, go check out the 10 words site. Thanks all

Wind Energy Corp develops and manufactures wind power systems and solutions that can be used to power retail, industrial, government and community wind applications. Their system is unique because it can power a facility at the point of use and does not require tie-in to a grid system.

The innovative engineering of the turbines and their unique sail-like design provide many advantages over other wind energy systems:

• The robust, scalable system can both be easily integrated into customers' existing operations and built into new buildings
• Their vertical-axis, helix-like design means there is no anticipated danger for bats and birds
• Their micro-wind design, for both high- and low-wind environments, will enable applications and sites never before considered - including urban environments
• The fact that they are "distributive" - that they don't require tie-in to a national or regional power grid through traditional transmission lines and rather send their power directly to the point