On the Air: WTVP-TV to focus on environment on Earth Day
STEVE TARTER
With the arrival of Earth Day on Sunday, it seems a good time to acknowledge a couple of TV shows that focus on the environment.
As it has in the past, PBS takes the lead in this department. Sunday programs on WTVP-TV Channel 47 include “Powering the Planet” at 9:30 p.m., where we visit Spain and Morocco to view large-scale solar farms and individual photovoltaic panels atop tents in the Sahara.
The show also reviews the extensive use of biofuels in Brazil, a nation whose cars could run normally if gasoline were to vanish. America, are you taking notice?
If gas was to vanish, you might want to take note of the 90-minute “Revenge of the Electric Car” at 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
Director Chris Paine does what TV does so well: He lets people tell the story. One of those that tells it best is Bob Lutz, the legendary General Motors executive, written up recently in Fortune magazine. “After holding top executive positions at BMW, Ford and Chrysler, Lutz knew what a car company should look like, and he didn’t find it when he arrived at GM in 2001,” wrote Alex Taylor III in Fortune.
“The dysfunctional company had been spiraling downward for more than two decades, in part because it was unable to develop appealing new models,” Taylor wrote.
Aside from being an old hand in the auto business, Lutz is a good TV character – outspoken, engaging and smooth. He may be a force for the electric vehicle, but he also understands the practical needs demanded by consumers.
“Revenge” leads with Lutz, whose interest is the revolutionary Volt, but there are others to watch such as Elon Musk, the Silicon Valley superstar who helped found Tesla Motors, and Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan/Renault, who’s staking billions on Nissan’s electric Leaf. Musk comes off as an earnest genius in search of a business plan while Ghosn is simply all-business, the proverbial chairman of the board.
Finally, there’s Greg “Gadget” Abbott, who does electric cars the old-fashioned way, one car at a time. Abbott runs into nothing but bad luck in his efforts to join the electric-car production line, but appears undaunted by show’s end.
Director Paine is the same guy who wrote and directed “Who Killed the Electric Car?” in 2006, a look at GM’s ill-fated EV1.
This time around, there are several rays of hope when it comes to electric transportation, but Paine makes it clear that, as with any momentous journey, it won’t be an easy ride.
Steve Tarter is Journal Star business editor. Tarter’s phone number is 686-3260, and his email address is starter. Follow his blog, Minding Business, on pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @SteveTarter
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