BETTAH

Prof. Daniel Kammen has recently agreed to become an Advisor to
CalCars, and Americans for Energy Independence co-sponsored our
"BETTAH" animation.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060406/phth013.html?.v=54
Press Release Source: Americans for Energy Independence, Inc.

New Study Shows How the U.S. Can Reduce Foreign Oil Dependency
Thursday April 6, 8:15 am ET

LOS ANGELES, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- America could end the need to
import fossil fuels from the Persian Gulf region by 2020, according
to a study developed by Professor Daniel M. Kammen and his colleagues
at U.C. Berkeley's Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL).

Titled "Towards Energy Independence in 2025," the study details
immediate and long-term measures that, applied to the nation's
transportation sector and fleet of power plants, could reduce oil
imports by more than 30 percent within twenty years. These measures
could deliver daily oil use savings of more than 22 percent -
equivalent to the 6.3 million barrels a day America currently imports
from the Persian Gulf.

The transportation sector accounts for over 70 percent of U.S. oil
use. The study's recommendations include: increased fuel economy
standards; the use of biofuels; a major push to make plug-in hybrid
vehicles which run on gasoline, or preferably cellulosic ethanol, as
back-up; and a general expansion of the use of hybrid vehicles.
Professor Kammen notes that, if pursued aggressively and
consistently, these currently available and near-term technologies
and policies could make possible even larger oil use savings than the
study projects.

The RAEL study was funded by a grant from Americans for Energy
Independence, a non-profit group dedicated to raising awareness of
the consequences of, and solutions to, America's reliance on imported
oil. "We spend over $240 billion a year on foreign oil," cites the
group's president, Chris Wolfe. "Oil price and availability dictate
the value of our nation's stock markets and our retirement
portfolios. Every time we fill up our cars, we transfer a greater
part of our personal and national wealth to questionable governments.
It's time for a change and this study shows how to start."

Wolfe says RAEL's findings "highlight how we can slow and ultimately
reverse the use of petroleum used in our cars, trucks and SUVs. In
doing so, we can stop the tremendous outflow of dollars to unfriendly
regimes, improve our own economy, reduce pollution and, as a very
important side benefit, make progress at slowing Global Warming."

Americans for Energy Independence will use the study to spearhead its
efforts, making it available to the public and presenting it to all
members of Congress. "We must put energy independence at the top of
our national agenda," Wolfe states. "To achieve it, we must have a
plan of action, we must be willing to change our behaviors and, most
importantly, we must have dedicated leadership to make it happen."

Professor Kammen notes that his study highlights some of the many
opportunities for the U.S. to change what he calls "our fossil-fuel
addiction." Observing that energy issues have not had significant
national discussion for more than 30 years, Kammen suggests, "We have
been negligent in investing in energy research and development, as
well as in ways to reward clean, domestic sources of power
production. This study, and the vision of Americans for Energy
Independence, explores how we can make the nation more
environmentally sound and geopolitically secure."

In addition to oil use savings and the resulting reduction of oil
imports, the study's recommendations could entail a 50 percent
reduction in carbon emissions from light duty transportation (small
trucks, SUVs and similar fleet vehicles), and a related cost savings
of $1.1 trillion.

"Towards Energy Independence in 2025" is available by request from
Americans for Energy Independence, as well as at the group's website,
http://www.ei2025.org.

The Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory was founded in 1998
by Professor Daniel Kammen, the Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor
of Energy. Today, it involves some 20 students, faculty, and
post-doctoral fellows from a range of physical science, engineering,
and social science disciplines. Recent projects have included work on
clean energy scenarios for California and the nation, the factors
needed for expansion of the global solar, biomass, and wind
industries, and issues of energy and development in Africa, Latin
American, and Asia. For more information on past and current RAEL
projects or to download technical and non-technical material, see the
lab website, http://rael.berkeley.edu/, where reports, news, video
clips, and descriptions of the team's projects are all available.

Americans for Energy Independence, Inc. is a non-profit California
corporation located in Studio City, California. Its mission is to
utilize the mass media to alert Americans to current and potential
dangers of the country's dependence on foreign oil to meet its
national energy needs, to raise awareness of the benefits of becoming
energy independent, and to propose and encourage solutions,
strategies and citizen action that can lead to a future of American
energy independence. For more information, access their website at
http://www.ei2025.org.

Contact:
Chris Wolfe
Phone: 818-508-8119
Fax: 818-508-8119
E-mail: cwolfe@ei2025.org