[Original image from Nissan Leaf website]

With 20,000 reservations in hand, (and with the Autumnal equinox only hours old) Nissan issued a notice Thursday that reservations for their much-anticipated fully electric car, the “Leaf,” had dropped out of reach. Nissan won’t be accepting any more sign-ups for awhile.

The news arrived via E-mail from Nissan USA:

We have completed the first phase of reservations. In order to provide the best level of customer service and premium ownership experience to the first Nissan LEAF drivers, we will not be accepting new reservations until the next phase begins. A subsequent phase of reservations will begin next year, after current reservations and orders have been processed.

This doesn’t mean that 20K Americans have ponied-up anything close to the announced MSRP for the basic model (SV) of $37,720 — just that they had paid a $99 refundable fee. (That MSRP doesn’t include rebates and tax incentives that should bring the net price down to a more modest $25,280, according to Nissan.)

DOE grant recipient

I’ve devoted a lot of column inches (pixels?) covering the Leaf, starting with an August 2009 DOE $2.4 billion grant for Electric Vehicles (EVs) design and production. Part of that money is being used to install 12,000 public EV charging stations as a pilot program in EV infrastructure.

Leaf dashboard

In January 2010, when the Leaf visited Phoenix on a multi-city tour, I went to see the new EV and wrote about the “first look” at the 100-mile/charge vehicle. Later, I test drove the Leaf and described the ride at OnEarth magazine.

Ultimately, the Leaf’s success as an environmentally friendly alternative to gas-powered engines depends on the source of the electricity it uses. If you can generate all its fuel from your own rooftop PV array, or windmill, that’s a clear winner. Otherwise, the equation quickly gets more complex. Whatever the grid is serving in your area is what feeds the Leaf’s battery.

If you live in a state with a Renewable Energy Standard (RES), a portion your local utility’s electricity comes from renewable sources (RESs vary by state. Check the North Carolina Solar Center website, DSIRE, to see if your state has a RES and what it mandates).

If most of your electricity comes from a coal-fired generating plant, trading in a fuel-efficient newer model small car for a Leaf will likely be a net-loss, environmentally speaking. In Phoenix, most of our electricity comes from a nuclear power plant which is not just a low-carbon emitter, but is (I believe) the only nuclear power plant in the country that uses only treated waste water for cooling, which means it has a low water footprint as well. Strictly from a climate perspective, a Leaf seems to be a good idea here.

Of course, nuclear power comes with myriad environmental (and financial and security) debating points, all of which are beyond the scope of this article. The point, however, stands: focusing solely on what powers the vehicle, regardless of how that power is generated, may make us feel good — but it avoids the fundamental realities of how our choices increase or decrease climate change.

Still, EVs like the Nissan Leaf are an important milestone on the path to a sustainable energy future. We just have to keep on going if we are to arrive at our intended destination.

Solar panels on ASU parking garage, Tempe, AZ

UPDATE

Steve May

Steve May, the GOP candidate whose involvement in recruiting “sham” candidates to run on the Green Party ticket is described below, today withdrew from a race for state office after reports surfaced that he pleaded guilty last year to a “super extreme DUI” charge. That DUI designation means May’s blood alcohol level was at least two-and-a-half times the legal limit.

Meanwhile, a judge ruled last week that the names of the candidates recruited by May could appear on ballots, despite the objections of the Green Party, which argued that the candidates do not represent Green Party values. As part of their evidence, the Green Party released records showing that Ben Pearcy, who is running for a seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission, switched his party affiliation from Republican to the Green Party the day before he filed to run for the ACC seat.

***

Regular readers of The Phoenix Sun know how important the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has been to the growth of clean and renewable energy in this sun-drenched state. For example, under the leadership of outgoing chairwoman Kris Mayes (who is term-limited out this year), the ACC created one of the toughest Renewable Energy Standards (RES) in the country, calling on utilities to generate 15% of electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

Despite negative stories about Arizona in the national news lately, the one area in which we continue to shine (pun intended) is in solar power. The nation looks to Arizona to see where the solar energy industry is heading and so far what these see is good — in large part thanks to the ACC.

Which makes today’s story in the New York Times about dirty politics in the race for seats on the ACC doubly worrisome.

“Republican Runs Street People on Green Ticket” reads the headline. And the first of the alleged ringer-candidates is running for the ACC. His name is Ben Pearcy, a 20-year-old street musician who, according to the Times, described himself as the illegitimate son of a stripper and who has been homeless and had run-ins with the law on occasion.

My own view is that using the word “illegitimate” to describe someone whose parents weren’t married is itself illegitimate. Same goes for the low blow about his mother’s occupation. And having been homeless. In fact, most of what’s highlighted in Pearcy’s short bio plays into cruel and baseless stereotypes.

Which is exactly why some Democrats are crying foul.

“It’s unbelievable,” former Arizona Democratic state legislator Jackie Thrasher, says in the Times piece. “It’s not right. It’s deceitful.”

The idea is that by getting people who are, for whatever reason, unelectable, to run for office on the Green party ticket, environmentalists will split the Democratic vote — giving Republicans a better chance of winning the position for themselves.

The Republican “recruiter” is former state legislator Steve May. (May didn’t respond to an interview request left on his voicemail.)

Matt Roberts, communications director for the Arizona Republican Party, told the Sun that he hadn’t discussed the issue with May, but that there isn’t anything wrong with what May is doing.

“Who’s to say whether or not a person is qualified to run?” asked Roberts. “We encourage everybody to get involved in the political process.”

The likelihood of peeling off enough votes to throw an election one way or the other is much greater in low-profile races where voters generally don’t know the office people are seeking, let alone the candidates themselves.

Races, that is, like the one for the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Outgoing ACC chairwoman Mayes, a moderate Republican, had wanted to increase the state’s RES before leaving office. But time for such an effort appears to have run out. The new board may have trouble accomplishing that objective, especially if Republican candidate Brenda Burns is elected.

“There are people who want to increase (the RES),” Burns told the Sun in August. “I’m not one of them.”

Arizona Green Party v. Sham Candidates -

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has made it official: By 2020, utilities in that state must generate 30% of their electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar power. As reported here recently, the Colorado legislature passed HB 1001 to upgrade its Renewable Energy Standard (RES) on March 8th, with strong public support.

Only California has a more aggressive RES: 33% by 2020.

Colorado’s new rules also support distributed power, with a requirement that 3% of electricity comes from home and business solar arrays.

Colorado Raises International Energy Profile

Also on Monday, Leocadia Zak, director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, announced that Colorado would be hosting two renewable energy trade mission with representatives from Latin America.

The “Clean Energy Exchange Program for the Americas-Wind” takes place May 22-29, with meetings held in Golden, CO; Dallas, TX; and Washington, DC.

The “Clean Energy Exchange Program for the Americas-Solar” event will be held October 9-16, with stops in Golden, Los Angeles and DC.

According to Zak, the trade missions are part of the National Export Initiative created by President Obama on March 11. The NEI goal is to double US exports in the next five years.

“As part of the International Business Partnership Program,” explained Zak in Denver on Monday, “the purpose of these reverse trade missions is to bring buyers to the United States.”

Saguaro Solar Thermal Plant

While the Arizona state legislature attempted to end the state’s RES program recently, there is mounting pressure on the Arizona Corporation Commission to at least match Colorado’s standard or risk falling farther behind in the expanding green jobs/green energy movement.

Arizona has been sending mixed signals about its desire to play a leadership role in moving to a renewable energy economy.

Governor Jan Brewer, who assumed office when President Obama named then-Governor Janet Napolitano to head up the Department of Homeland Security, in 2009 signed into law a bill providing tax credits for manufacturers of renewable energy equipment relocating to the state.

Cut and Run

Last month, Brewer prohibited Arizona from participating in a seven-state regional climate program. Sandy Bahr, head of the Sierra Club’s state chapter, called the move “embarrassing for the state of Arizona….It demonstrates a real lack of understanding of how significant of a threat climate change is to the state. We ought to be standing at the front of the line to look at solutions.”

Benjamin Grumbles

Brewer’s top environmental official defended the action. “Arizona needs a green-and-grow approach rather than a cap-and-trade approach,” said Benjamin Grumbles, director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Grumbles was a top official at the federal Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush, an administration known for its opposition to environmental regulations.