Electric Motorcycle Gang: A Request For Proposals

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Attitudes about saving the world differ from men to women, with women tending to have more concern over climate change. Rachel Goldsmith suggests this may be a “System Justification,” wherein those in power tend to want to stay in power and will turn their narratives in a way to support the status quo, even if that means endorsing climate denialism,  which was found to be rampant among conservative white males.

I have another theory, from my white male perspective. Sometimes, men just need to know that fighting climate change can also kick serious a**.

And what better way than by forming an electric motorcycle gang.

Request for Proposal: Electric Motorcycle Gang – Honolulu

In partnership with CleanTechnica, the Blue Planet Foundation, and a coalition of sustainability business leaders in Honolulu, Hawaii, I present this Request for Proposal (PDF) to electric motorcycle manufacturers and dealers. The idea is to jumpstart the electrification of our transportation by tapping into the amygdala of every manly man across the world, and showing them that caring about the future of our society is not only cool, it’s rock star level cool with zero to sixty in under 4 seconds, a gang of eco-warrior brothers, and technology that will turn heads and bring envy from all the yet-still-climate-denying men who fear giving up their manliness if they admit they don’t want the world to burn to the ground.

As founder and former CEO of the media company that includes CleanTechnica, I live and work in Honolulu, where clean tech rules, and we’re well on our way to ridding our islands of oil. My band of brothers that have committed to being part of what we believe may be the world’s first fully electric motorcycle gang include sustainable business leaders from across the clean tech spectrum. See below for our bios.

Hawaii was the first state in the US to commit to 100% renewable energy, and quickly followed that commitment with a pledge to fully rid their transportation ecosystem of fossil fuels. Electric vehicles (EVs) are popular in Hawaii, but electric motorcycles have yet to gain a foothold. This RFP, on behalf of more than a dozen sustainability / clean tech business leaders in Hawaii, and in partnership with CleanTechnica and the Blue Planet Foundation, seeks to bring greater consumer interest to the electrification of Hawaii’s, and the world’s, transportation sector, specifically, at least in the initial phase, showcasing that tough men who love to have a great time riding motorcycles can also care about the environment and the future of humanity.

Electric motorcycle manufacturers and dealers that want to become THE motorcycle brand for the next generation are welcomed to submit proposals to sell or lend a bulk number of electric motorcycles to this group of business leaders for any type of special offer or at a discounted price, and for any period of time. In exchange for whatever offer we accept, our electric motorcycle gang will showcase the bikes to the public and bring media attention to the manufacturer through group rides, educational outreach, and local sustainability events. In addition, the electric motorcycle gang will be routinely covered on Cleantechnica, with more than 4 million monthly readers and 1.5 million social media followers, the grand majority of whom are men with incomes above $100,000, mainly in the US and Europe. Press releases will also be sent to other major media news outlets. Cleantechnica is routinely referenced in mainstream media outlets like NPR, Bloomberg, and more, and we anticipate the sheer awesomeness of a fully electric motorcycle gang should draw a lot of media attention (and yes, we’re going to brand this, become lifelong brothers with electric motorcycle gang tattoos, and blow up social media with it).

Figure that there are a lot of manly men out there that feel exactly as we do — they want to give a damn, but they also want to look manly, strong, and ridiculously awesome doing it. Figure that this might have a good chance of spreading to other areas — imagine chapters of our gang forming in California, Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico…. that will likely follow our lead, and your brand has the chance to be at the leading edge.

Request for Proposal (PDF)

Interested parties, please submit questions, requests for clarification, or proposals to Scott Cooney, scott@importantmedia.org. If you are like us, and want to form a gang in your area as a chapter of a broader effort, to become climate champion brothers in arms that will stop at nothing to kick fossil fuels to the curb of history, feel free to email me as well and I’ll add you to a list that we will at some point work with to help start the revolution in your area too.  

Bios:

Scott Cooney
Scott is the founder and CEO of Pono Home, a home efficiency company that greens homes and small businesses. Also founder and former CEO of Sustainable Enterprises Media, one of the top five sustainability media companies in the world, with over 4 million monthly readers, including the world’s largest renewable energy news site (CleanTechnica). Under his leadership, Pono Home has gone through the world’s largest clean tech incubator, and has served customers in over 6,000 homes across 5 Hawaiian Islands since 2014, helping immediately reduce energy and water bills by 10-20%, and producing a 100% customer satisfaction record. He is a McGraw-Hill published author and former professor in the MBA program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he taught the first sustainable business course in the University of Hawaii system.

Jeff Mikulina
Jeff is the Executive Director of the Blue Planet Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to clear the path for 100% clean energy in Hawai‘i and beyond. Through collaboration and advocacy, Blue Planet champions scalable policies and programs to transform Hawaii’s energy systems to clean, renewable energy solutions. Jeff’s accomplishments in energy policy advocacy include working to pass legislation that makes Hawaii the first state in the nation with a 100% renewable energy mandate, requires that all new homes use solar water heaters, sets a binding cap on Hawaii’s greenhouse gas emissions, establishes a tax on fossil fuel imports, requires returnable deposits on all beverage containers, establishes curbside recycling on O‘ahu, and increases the funding of natural resources through tourism taxes. Jeff’s interests include disruptive technology, public policy, and impact of social norms on behavior. Jeff received a Master’s of Science degree in engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying decision theory.

Henk Rogers
Principal and visionary philanthropist behind the Blue Planet Foundation, Rogers is committed to the mission of stewarding the environment through developing non-carbon, clean energy sources. He is personally devoted to helping our planet reduce and eventually eliminate its dependence on fossil fuels. Known in Japan as “the father of role playing games”, Rogers licensed Tetris early in the product’s development and brought the game to audiences worldwide, making it the world’s most popular video game.

Mike Elhoff
Founder of Styrophobia, one of Hawaii’s leading zero waste distributors of compostable products for local food businesses, Mike is also one of Hawaii’s leading carbon emission reduction champions as Founder and CEO of Hawaii Engineering, where his company has helped reduce more than 10 megawatts of electricity use across the Hawaiian islands with advanced wastewater treatment technologies. His company’s ultra-efficient services are also helping Guam, American Samoa, and other pacific islands reduce their dependence on diesel generated power to process their organic wastes.

Jonathan Howery
Jonathan is a Business Development Associate and Project Manager for Stem, Inc, which works to deploy a network of grid interactive energy storage systems across Hawaii. He is also the co-founder and Vice Chairman of The Sustainable Leader Network, an organization of professionals and changemakers seeking to make a positive impact on the world. Jonathan has his MA in Global Leadership and Sustainable Development and in his free time you can find him diving the waters of Oahu, hiking up mountains finding waterfalls, playing the guitar in his newly formed band, or cruising the streets of Honolulu on two wheels.

Shawn Moorhead
Shawn is on the partnerships team at Elemental Excelerator, the world’s largest clean tech incubator, funded by the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research, the Emerson Collective, and more, and with partners across the globe including Tepco, GE Ventures, Vector, Hawaiian Electric, and more. Shawn manages the Global Advisory Board and EEx Fund One. Prior to EEx, Shawn was the Executive Director at the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington DC.

Tad Glauthier
Tad is Co-founder and Vice President of Stem, one of the world’s leading energy storage companies. Stem has raised more than $100 million and is currently one of the global leaders in the energy storage sector. Tad does business development, marketing, regulatory affairs and utility relations in Honolulu, and is helping drive legislation at the state capitol to provide tax benefits for energy storage solutions.

Mauricio Castillo
Mauricio is an Energy Advisor for Tesla, working on solar PV and battery storage solutions. Prior to Tesla, Mauricio worked on scaling climate-efficient investment products for Etho Capital and helped address investment barriers for clean energy at the California Clean Energy Fund. He’s also led and implemented various climate projects in Nicaragua spanning from off-grid solar, efficient cookstoves and clean water access projects for rural communities.

Ernest Shih
Ernest is a serial eco/tech entrepreneur, Certified Energy Manager, and LEED AP. He’s done environmental and business consulting in Hawaii and Asia; Real estate development and management in Hawaii; Fine Art, Travel, and Editorial Photography. Founded and successfully exited from two environmental consulting firms, one in Hawaii and one in Japan. Over 24 years of International Asia-Pacific consulting experience in the areas of Environmental Studies, Investigations, Remediation, Geology, Remote Sensing, and Construction Management.

Isar Mostafanezhad
Isar is a co-founder and senior adviser at Smart Yields, Inc. – a tech startup focusing on integrating Internet of Things and software solutions to help small to medium sized farms grow more efficiently while saving water and energy. He has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and he enjoys surfing and riding motorcycles in his scarce free time.

Nathan Albritton
Nathan is Chairman and Co-Founder of The Sustainable Leader Network—a network of professionals creating meaningful change. He is also military veteran, an expert on conflicts around the world, and a community mediator. Nathan spends his free time teaching as a master scuba diver trainer—leading new and experienced divers in the beautiful blue waters around Hawaii.

Matt Johnson
Matt is an Ag Business entrepreneur working to help Hawaiʻi farmers and food businesses gain access to capital, markets, and facilities. In [year] Matt founded Oʻahu Fresh, an online CSA and farm-to-table delivery service that recently won the 2018 Green Business Award from Hawaii Business Magazine. Matt is also co-owner of Oʻahu Food Hub, a facility that provides cold/dry storage and commercial kitchen space for local food startups. Since [year] Matt has worked as a lecturer at the University of Hawaiʻi, teaching Ag Business entrepreneurship courses in [department]. Matt also co-hosts Hawaii Food & Farmer Series, a biweekly ThinkTech Hawaii show on YouTube featuring in-depth interviews with the individuals who make local food happen in Hawaiʻi.

Steve Mazur
Steve develops large scale solar photovoltaic projects throughout the Hawaiian Islands and since 2010 has been involved in over 100 projects. Steve continues to work with solar companies as consultants helping train, develop, understand policy, and continue to expand in order to support the Hawaii State mandate to achieve 100% renewable energy and 100% clean transportation. He has also led the Oahu chapter of the environmental nonprofit organization Surfrider Foundation in 2012 and lead over 20 beach cleanups in his time volunteering with them removing over 20,000 pounds of debris from the coastlines in Hawaii. Steve is avid surfer and diver and completed his MBA at the University of Hawaii.


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Scott Cooney

Scott Cooney (twitter: scottcooney) is a serial eco-entrepreneur focused on making the world a better place for all its residents. Scott is the founder of CleanTechnica and was just smart enough to hire someone smarter than him to run it. He then started Pono Home, a service that greens homes, which has performed efficiency retrofits on more than 16,000 homes and small businesses, reducing carbon pollution by more than 27 million pounds a year and saving customers more than $6.3 million a year on their utilities. In a previous life, Scott was an adjunct professor of Sustainability in the MBA program at the University of Hawai'i, and author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill) , and Green Living Ideas.

Scott Cooney has 147 posts and counting. See all posts by Scott Cooney