Tesla Motors revealed its all-electric Model S sedan last week in Los Angeles. At half the price of its Roadster model, which was $109,000, the Model S will be priced at $49,900 after tax credits ($57,400 before such credits). "After factoring in savings on gas," Tesla points out, that's "comparable to a $35,000 Ford sedan," the New York Times reports. A blog item from the Times describes the Model S as "sleek, sporty and sexy."

Tesla hopes the price tag will come down to "less than $30,000," as the price "will presumably go down as the technology improves." They plan the manufactured version to get 300 miles to a single charge, with a 45-minute recharge time.

While the company has raised millions from private investors, they need still more to be able to set up a production plant, which they plan to do in Southern California. But, for the moment, they are waiting on federal loan programs, as the credit market has otherwise locked up, according to the Times.

In the meantime, Detroit's big three automakers are also asking for federal funds and, in advance of President Obama's announcement of plans for the auto-industry, he has reportedly demanded that GM's CEO step down. So let's add one plus one here...

IN TODAY'S REPORT: Democrats undermine Obama's climate legislation; the EPA steps up and gets stepped on? PLUS: Worldwide Blackout & more volcanic "fallout" for Bobby Jindal...All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, hate mail, love letters? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode, plus MORE green news, all follows below...

IN TODAY'S REPORT: Today we're gonna party like it's 1989...in Alaska...because it's the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in Alaska; and the 20th anniversary of the eruption of Alaska's Mount Redoubt, now blowing up again (and in Bobby Jindal's) face; and the 20th anniversary of the global agreement to save the ozone layer, thus saving Alaska, and everywhere else in the world...PLUS: Poo and Pee Power gives "bio-gas" a whole new meaning...All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters? Let's hear from ya, Alaska! Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived for disaster exhausted Alaskan's listening pleasure at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode, plus MORE green news, all follows below...

IN TODAY'S REPORT: Whatever happened to "DRILL, BABY, DRILL!"???; Cities help homeowners go solar & make cash; PLUS: Sarah Palin's new war on wildlife! All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, baby, comments? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived for your drilling pleasure at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode, plus MORE green news, all follows below...

IN TODAY'S REPORT: We're not just "wearin' the green", we're bein' it!; The "Filthy Fifteen" list is out, is your state on it?; Australia declares a natural disaster after an oil spill!; PLUS: RNC Chair Michael Steele joins the Flat Earth Society! All that and more in today's Green News Report!

What are your thoughts on today's conversation about the RNC? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here in comments. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode, plus MORE green news, all follows below...

IN TODAY'S REPORT: Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen...on ice; Obama's EPA reverses the Bush EPA again... and AGAIN; American wilderness loses by two votes in the House; PLUS: Mr. Jones goes to Washington! All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Love notes and complaints, all welcome in comments here. Or drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com! All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode, plus MORE green news, all follows below...

IN TODAY'S REPORT: Obama's carbon cap-and-trade plan may get capped...by Democrats; The Environmental Protection Agency decides to protect the environment; ATTN: Disinfo wingnut on the move!; PLUS: The British slimed minister...All that and more, in today's rather lively Green News Report!

We love feedback! Leave it in comments, or drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com! All GNRs are always available at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode, plus MORE green news, all follows below...

IN TODAY'S REPORT: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls on America to lead the way to a global green economy ... Happy birthday to the hybrid-electric car ... Obama vows to return science to the Endangered Species Act ... and a Republican governor proposes taxes on free water!

Got your own green thoughts? Leave 'em in comments, or drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com! All reports are archived for your listening and reading pleasure at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode, plus MORE green news, all follows below...

IN TODAY'S REPORT: March begins with a march on the Capitol Hill power plant; California and China want for water; John Kerry challenges George Will to a green fight in the schoolyard!

The creator of Buzz Flash, Mark Karlin, says the Green News Report is "exciting and informative," and adds: "Brad and Desi dare not to bore! BuzzFlash listens to every Green News Report." Thanks Mark!

Have your own opinion of GRN? Leave 'em here in comments, or drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com! All reports are archived for your listening and reading pleasure at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode, plus MORE green news, all follows below...

IN TODAY'S REPORT: Obama tells 'em in Congress: "It all begins with energy" ... Cool green innovations you may want to buy soon ... and flushing old-growth trees down the toilet --- literally!

Green960 (KKGN) in San Francisco and ActionPoint Online in Phoenix are running the 'GNR.' Is your favorite station? If not, tell them to pick it up for free! Contact us at GreenNews@BradBlog.com for easy details!

All reports are now archived and available for your listening pleasure anytime at GreenNews.BradBlog.com. Leave your thoughts in comments below, or send us feedback right here!

Download MP3 (6 mins), or listen online here...

Info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode, and MORE green news, follow below...

It's another edition of the Green News Report on the web!

TODAY: The "Obama Effect" on the world, CA water woes, BP's pollution problem, and credit that melts in your landfill, not in your hands...

Thanks to Green960 in San Francisco and ActionPoint Online in Phoenix for running the GNR on the air! More affiliates coming on board soon (we hope), ask your local station to pick it up!

All reports are now archived and available for your listening pleasure anytime at GreenNews.BradBlog.com. Got thoughts for us? Questions? Complaints? Let us know at GreenNews@BradBlog.com, or leave comments below.

More info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode follow below...

It's our second edition of the Green News Report on the web! Both of us are still celebrating by still getting over colds.

In today's report we discuss hamburger Hummers, killing killer whales and pushing back at wingnut anti-environmental disinfo experts (yes, we're talking to you, Rush, Fox and friends!)

Got thoughts for us? Wanna help sponsor the GNR? Wanna run it on your favorite local radio station? Let us know at GreenNews@BradBlog.com, or leave comments below.

More info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode follow below...

It's our premiere edition of the Green News Report on the web!
So we celebrate by both of us having a cold!

In today's report we discuss the green in the massive stimulus bill, the undoing of last minute Bush administration EPA regulations, birds flying north for the winter, and dirty nuts!

Got thoughts for us? Wanna help sponsor the GNR? Let us know at GreenNews@BradBlog.com, or leave comments below.

More info/links on stuff we talked about on today's episode follow below...

With an apparent hat-tip to Saddam Hussein's post-Gulf War strategy, George W. Bush continues his scorched earth policy on the way out the door. Earlier this month his EPA announced a new last-minute rule allowing mining companies to dump their waste into mountain streams. Last Friday, he continued to take his dump on America, by issuing a permit to allow cruise ships to dump "untreated graywater" --- including oil, grease, metals, pesticides, viruses, fecal coliform bacteria from human sewage, medical and dental waste, detergents, and cleaners --- just one mile off shore of coastal U.S.A.

"A large cruise ship on a one-week voyage can generate one million gallons-which would fill 33 large swimming pools-of graywater," say Friends of the Earth in a press release issued last week (posted in full below) following the EPA announcement.

Hope you folks in Florida will remember to thank the Republicans in 2010...

I suspect GM's stock price would shoot back up upon such an announcement, and there would be unprecedented anticipation for how Apple's co-founder, the visionary Steve Jobs, might bring the same type of innovation to the American automobile industry that he brought to the computer and communications and music industry.

Would it be enough and in time to save them? That I couldn't tell ya, but it'd be just about the best chance they'd have, I'd venture.

While I'm focused on this point, allow me to link back to my recent article asking why Congress hasn't asked GM about their popular, fully-electric car, the EV1, before trying to give them billions of dollars.

The company introduced the EV1 in California in 1996, before killing it inexplicably three years later and, literally, shredding every last one of the much-sought-after vehicles. Several excellent comments left by readers on that article, also look into the related mystery of Texaco having purchased the patent for the second generation battery for the car. The purchase occurred at nearly the same time as the EV1 was taken off the market. The new battery technology is said to have had a superbly long life on a single charge. The purchase effectively took the battery off the market --- has it been heard from since?

Texaco itself was purchased by Chevron just days after they'd bought the rights to the battery in 2000. At the time of the purchase, as coincidence would have it, Condoleeza Rice was on Chevron's board, and Andy Card was GM's VP of Government Relations, according to Wikipedia, where he served until he was selected as George W. Bush's Chief of Staff. Prior to that, from '93 to '98, Card had been President and CEO of the American Automobile Manufacturers Assoc. (AAMA), representing GM, Ford and Chrysler. All just coincidences, of course.

But back to the main point of this item...If Steve Jobs is disinclined to leave Apple, the company he co-founded, in order to take the reins as CEO of the floundering GM, then I suppose I could revise the headline of this piece to read instead:

How to Save the American Automobile Industry in Three Words:
'The Apple iCar'

Just sayin'.

UPDATE 12/11/08: Looks like a few others were having the same idea just about the time that I was, and in a bit more detail...