blog.shrub

A while back, Wachovia bought World Savings, a bank I use for CDs. I received a few letters in the mail describing the process and telling me what I had to do.

The first thing I had to do was register for an account with Wachovia’s online banking. I do.

Mistake #1: Only three of my six CDs appear in the account list.

I call Wachovia. They correct the error. Misplacing half my accounts is not a good way to make a first impression.

While I’m on the phone, I verify that I have opted out of all solicitations: phone calls, emails, postal mail and affiliate sharing.

Mistake #2: I had to opt out of solicitations.

Now I’m pretty sure I had already opted out with World Savings. I can’t guarantee this 100%, but I’m careful about these things. First, Wachovia failed to preserve my privacy preference. Second, they enabled junk mail by default. This should be opt-in, not opt-out.

A few days pass. Today, I received not one, but two letters in the mail. Yes, file this one under “I” for irony:

Mistake #3: They send me two letters to tell me they won’t send me any more letters.

Sigh.

Paris is about to get what could be the world’s largest Yellow Bike Program(ish):

On July 15, the day after Bastille Day, Parisians will wake up to discover thousands of low-cost rental bikes at hundreds of high-tech bicycle stations scattered throughout the city, an ambitious program to cut traffic, reduce pollution, improve parking and enhance the city’s image as a greener, quieter, more relaxed place.

By the end of the year, organizers and city officials say, there should be 20,600 bikes at 1,450 stations — or about one station every 250 yards across the entire city. Based on experience elsewhere — particularly in Lyon, France’s third-largest city, which launched a similar system two years ago — regular users of the bikes will ride them almost for free.

San Francisco, it’s your turn now.

I had the privilege of seeing Who Killed The Electric Car alongside the director back May at the Tribeca Film Festival and was very impressed. There are several good stories here, and I was particularly disappointed with the actions of the California Air Resources Board.

Who Killed The Electric Car is now the 60th highest-grossing documentary of all time. Go see it in a theatre if it’s still playing in your area or pick up the DVD otherwise.

Researchers in Antarctica have analyzed ice cores going back 800,000 years, 150,000 years further than before.

The news isn’t good:

“Ice cores reveal the Earth’s natural climate rhythm over the last 800,000 years. When carbon dioxide changed there was always an accompanying climate change. Over the last 200 years human activity has increased carbon dioxide to well outside the natural range,” explained Dr Wolff.

The “scary thing”, he added, was the rate of change now occurring in CO2 concentrations. In the core, the fastest increase seen was of the order of 30 parts per million (ppm) by volume over a period of roughly 1,000 years.

“The last 30 ppm of increase has occurred in just 17 years. We really are in the situation where we don’t have an analogue in our records,” he said.

I’ve called 1-800-EXHAUST a couple times, but it’s good to know bay area residents can report smoking vehicles online as well.

apparnetly not only do some SUV drivers have bad taste in cars, they are also committing insurance fraud.

James points out a great NY Times article, “A Livable Shade of Green“:

Newly released data show that Portland, America’s environmental laboratory, has achieved stunning reductions in carbon emissions. It has reduced emissions below the levels of 1990, the benchmark for the Kyoto accord, while booming economically.

(Aside: If you haven’t read Natural Capitalism, do so now.)

while i was out last night, two friends IMd me with news of the CalCars plug-in hybrid initiative and the New York Times coverage.

some folks have hacked a prius by adding more batteries, pushing it well over 100 mpg. (Caveat: burning coal to generate electricity isn’t a net win, coseversation wise. Of course, if you get your power via windmills…)

and lastly, smart start outsmarted some dumb thieves.