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GETTING A GRIP

PEACE PREVAILSIN D.C.> PAGE 6 PAGE 19 PAGE 29 PAGE 32 BY PETER KOCH . PAGE 8


2/6september 29, 2005 |

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eater editoranthony chasem editor m. fausts editor cynnie gaasch

usic editor donny kutzbachsociate music editor mark norrisendar editor mark norrisff writer peter koch

otographer rose mattreysistant to the publisher deborah ellis

P R O D U C T I O Ndirector betsy frazer

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v4n39 > sep 29-oct 5, 2005

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OUT OF ENERGY?....................8by Peter Koch

streetvoice.................................................................4

reader essay

where are the jobs? ..............................................5

getting a grip: peace trumps war in d.c. ...6

by michael i. niman

in the margins......................................................... 12

chew on this ............................................................13

artviews ....................................................................14

artist of the week: ann emo........................... 15

interview by anthony chase

on the boards .........................................................16

stagefright............................................................ .... 17

theaterweek............................................................18

you auto know........................................................19

by jim corbran

film feature

the new montreal filmfestival .....................20

by m. faust

film reviews:

flightplan; history of violence...................... 22

by girish shambu and george sax

now playing .............................................................24

movie times ............................................................26

on dvd/bandwidth ..............................................29

see you there........................................................ 30

music: can you hear the hook in it?

low-end legacy of peter hook ......................32

by donny kutzbach

av venue directory .............................................34

av weekly calendar.............................................36

gaywatch ..................................................................46

free will astrology .............................. .......... 47

by rob brezsny

news of the weird ...............................................48

by chuck shepherd

classifieds ................................................................49

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| | september 29, 2005

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_

Where the hells the improvement?!ony Fini, a retired Blasdell schoolteach-, is standing in his Mundy Street drive-ay, eyes wide and shoulders shrugged.is frustration is palpable as he comparese fuel efficiency of two cars for mea00 Mercury Grand Marquis (the samea 2005, he says, they didnt change

m) and a 1973 Pontiac GTO. The dif-rence21.5 mpg to 18.5 mpg, respec-elyis only three miles per gallon. Youean to tell me in thirty years, he says,sbelieving, that they really couldnt

ave done better than three miles per gal-n?

nis question is the same one that mil-ons of Americans are asking themselvesthe wake of Hurricane Katrina, whose

estructive winds wiped out strategic oilfineries and raised the average pricegasoline to an all-time high across theuntry. Finis is more than just a pass-g interest in automotive fuel-efficiency,ough. In fact, hes spent the past 30ars hunched over the bulky machines ins garagea vertical milling machine, alt sander, a band saw, an arc welder, aAG welder and a drill pressconstruct-g cars that can achieve up to 100 miles

er gallon of gasoline. Fini is convincedat one or more of his designs (hesade eight vehicles, including a hybrid

o-kart) could be the future of cheap,ficient automotive travel in the Unitedates, but only if he gets a boost from theght people in the auto industry or gov-nment. But it seems like the only eventat will prompt genuine interest in hisel-sipping efforts is a serious change ine federal energy policy. Or, perhaps, a

urricane.

HE MAD SCIENTIST

ni has always tinkered with engines, anbsession that began when he was a child

and built over 100 gasoline-powered mod-el airplanes. In high school, his favoritesubjects were math and industrial arts. Hetook industrial arts classes at Buff State,earning his BS in 1970 and a masters by1973. That year, the Organization of Pe-troleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cutoff oil to the United States, sparking anenergy crisis. Forty percent of the coun-

trys consumer oil vanished in an instant,sending gas prices skyrocketing. Whileeveryday motorists grew frustrated withlong lines at filling stations and exorbitantprices at the pumps, Fini saw somethingelsethe opportunity to make money.The government said there was an en-ergy crisis, so I answered the call. Usinginventive transmission designs (he has10 patents) and lightweight chassis, Finihatched several fuel-efficient vehicles thatnot only look good, but work well, too.

In the late morning sunshine, Fini showsme around his cars. The designs range

widely, from a utilitarian jeep to a futuris-tic solar car to a curvy sports car. The jeepis styled roughly after a CJ-3B Army jeep,

with an airy, open cab that closes with adetachable roof. Its 23-horsepower enginegets 60 mpg and can reach a top speed of57 mph (a figure that can be increased at

the price of some fuel efficiency). Despiteits relatively weak engine, Fini insists thatit can handle any weather, because he en-gineered it so that each tire receives anequal amount of the vehicles weight. Infact, he used it to commute to FrontierHigh School year-round for 15 years.

Everybody likes this one, Fini says next,his hand resting gingerly on his sleek redsports car, its sort of a junior Corvette.

And thats exactly what the Auto Di Fini

calls to mind. Its 83-mpg fuel effioutstrips the meatier Corvette

With a tiny 16-hp Kohler engineof Fini tops out around 57 mph

Jeep, though, an upgraded engmake it more appealing to evesumers. With a 23-horsepowethis car could probably get 70 m70 mph, Fini says. Its this 70-7that Fini thinks could sell if it wproduction, but for now his cashed collecting dust.

Its not that he hasnt tried to cial help with his cars. In fact, hnumerous times for grants th

Department of Energy, the ArmPostal Service. But thirty yearsonly recognition Fini has recei

work are two $300 grants froand the admiration of Saturdaics. I dont see a penny from ithe says.

Fini is fed up with the lack ofrom the government and auto

All they know how to do, he sstumbling blocks in the way of individuals. These people neethe head, he says. One exampis how he lost one of his patenPatent Office requires exorbitanance fees$450 per patent aand a half years, $1,150 after eand $1,900 after 11 and a half

inventors can hold onto their iproperty. A few years ago, Finpayment on one of his patenthe was in the hospital recoverithyroid surgery. When he realiror, he sent in the payment, bfused it. So now Ive lost a perfdesign for no reason other thanment.

If he manages to find somesupport down the road, Fini w

OUTOFENERGY?Fuel alternatives abound, but the federal government isnt about to fund them.

> BY PETER KOCH


5/60 | | september 29, 2005

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tives to buyers (0% APR or $6,000 cashback, employee discounts to the public),rendering the once huge margins theymade on these vehicles paper-thin.

Lynn Hardie, director of Clean Commu-nities of WNY, agrees that car companiesarent entirely at fault for the gas-guz-zling status of the American automobilefleet. She says that the Bush administra-tion pulled the plug on companies that

were previously working to develop al-ternative fuels. In the 1990s, the autoindustry started developing alternativefuel options using federal funds, becausenone of them knew which would capturethe imagination of the marketplace,she says. Some of these options includedcompressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles,electric vehicles and SSVs for ethanol us-ers. When George W.s administrationstepped in, it wanted to look at fuel cellsthat would be implemented 30 years out,Hardie says. As a result, they cut fundingfor technologies that they thought wouldbe rendered obsolete as soon as fuel cellsbecame available. So American manufac-turers simply stopped working on alterna-tive fuels. According to Hardie, its hardto blame them. Every time they want tomake 100 of this or 500 of that, theyvegot to stop an entire line and re-tool it.They cant build an entire plant untiltheyve got a market for it. And withoutgovernment incentives, it doesnt pay to

stop a line.However, the Big Three have shown thatthey are willing to be innovative if the mar-ket demands it. General Motors, a com-pany known here for making some of the

worlds biggest autosHummers, ChevySuburbans and GMC Yukonsis mak-ing a splash in China by building a tinyminivan called the Wuling Sunshine (a

joint venture with Chinese car companiesS.A.I.C. and Liuzhou Wuling). The Sun-shine, which averages 43 mpg city driving,sells for the equivalent of $5,000 USD.

While its short on creature comforts, withseats only a third as thick as those in West-ern models, a quarter the horsepower of

American mini-vans and a top speed of81 mph, the Sunshine is a wildly popularmodel in China. That makes perfect sensein a country that has only recently becomeindustrialized. Small business owners andrelatively affluent peasants are forming amiddle class thereone that has enoughmoney to afford automobiles, but onlyinexpensive models. The other determin-ing factors are strict government policyregarding fuel-economy regulations andtaxes on gasoline. All these things haveadded up to the Wuling Sunshine vault-ing GM to number one in the worlds fast-est growing market. What could they dohere with the right incentives?

But Bushs new energy bill does littlemore than maintain the status quo. Itcasts our lot wholly with hydrogen fuel

cells, a technology that wont be readilyavailable for at least 15 years, and it doesalmost nothing to promote alternativefuels in the meantime. Huge tax breaksare still available on Hummers, even asfederal tax breaks have been reducedfor those buying hybrids. The bill onlysuggests that CAFE standards (currently27.5 mpg for cars and 22.5 mpg for lighttrucks and SUVs) be raised, something

which hasnt happened for 20 years!Meanwhile, the European Union recentlycommitted to making its passenger carsget an average of 39 mpg by 2008. EvenChina, which hasnt generally developedan environmental sensibility, is workingon CAFE standards that are more strict

than ours. On top of it all, the nbill gives $8.1 billion of its $1in tax breaks to none other thcompanies, whose profits are uppercent already. I guess one hathe other, right?

David Garman, the U.S. Enerment Under Secretary, summpretty well in a recent interviewnessWeek: We have not begun tcorner. We are utterly depende

WHAT KATRINA SHOWED US

On August 28, while Hurricanwas whirling just off the Gulf Cfew Americans were thinking

about conserving gas. Sure, gasbeen steadily rising for about thbut we werent about to cancetions because we had to pay abucks at the pump. But then swept over the Gulfs oil and gies, halting their production anthe average price of gas to over lon.

Conservation was suddenly on every American. Commuters totransportation and rode bicycle

And those who had neither ofered economically. Prices rosething from produce to steel asof transporting goods climbed.day, I overheard three separa(one of whom owned a hot rod

were considering a hybrid for vehicle. Our only fuel sourcewas priced out of our reach, annerability of our energy policbare practically overnight.

While the idea of a nations eneis abstract, it is easy to underst

you have to fork over an exta fifteverytime you fill your SUV. Ka catalyst, of sorts, fast-forwarda time when gasoline will no locost-effective energy source, s

what happens when you dont natives built into your infrastru

All of the comparisons to the oilof the 70s revealed what envirists and inventors like Tony Fini

screaming for years: Our enehasnt changed in 30 years, anto do more.

In short, Katrina served as acall to a country that badly neIt caused consumers to chaof their consumption habits, afor more fuel efficient vehicltunately, though, as gas prices down to around $2.80, people asettling back into their routinecame close to forcing change,be impossible without help fromernment.

BIODIESEL AND THE WNY OF

TOMORROW

Fortunately, despite our gov

failure to earnestly promote fuels, there are many people, bpreneurs and environmentalist

working locally to bring alternto your vehicles.

The current nationwide alterncraze is biodiesel, a completelyfuel that can be made from asources, including soy, canola old restaurant grease (thats stuff they make your fries in)as efficiently as petroleum diesrodiesel, but much cleaner bits higher oxygen content. Anthing about it is that when its pfined, it can be used in almost


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C O L L E G E

ngine without any modifications.

hile such grassroots efforts usually failtake off, some local entrepreneurs are

oking to establish a long-term marketere in WNY.

eople like Mark Kubiniec, owner of theunoco station at the corner of Elmwoodd Amherst, and Tonawandas Noco En-gy Corp. have long been working to cre-e inroads for biodiesel. Kubiniec wantsadd a biodiesel pump at his station, a0-60,000 investment. Hes counting

n a government grant to help cover thests, though. Im looking to devise a wayafford it, Kubiniec says, its not going

be lucrative. It will probably be a break-en scenario, at least until it catches on.nd thats the key, really. As Kubiniecys, Its a chicken and egg situation.

What he means isat lower pricese necessary toeate a demand,

ut until theres aarket, prices arenerally high. So

which will comest, the demandlow prices?

ubiniec says heas commitmentsom a number of

mall fleets, but

heyre not goingdo it out of the

oodness of their hearts. In other words,has to be priced competitively with pet-diesel.

oco is encountering the same problem.he energy company has been importingodiesel to WNY for three years and sell-g it to local fleets (Town of Tonawandasunicipal truck fleet, regionally head-

uartered NYS vehicles). It costs about cents more per gallon than petrodie-l, making it a hard sell for high-volumestomers. In 2003, they ran a demonstra-

on program with the NFTA, where theFTA used 168,000 gallons of biodiesel toower 140 of its buses for six months. Ason as the grant money from NYSERDA

n out, though, the NFTA dropped theogram. Noco also sells biodiesel to in-viduals, but it has to be purchased inpensive 55-gallon drums. So how can

uffalo establish a biodiesel market? En-r Tara Mancini and Linda Hardie.

ara Mancini is the president of Blue Skyptimum Energy, a young company thatin the process of building a biodieseloduction facility here in Buffalo. Man-ni claims that her company can manu-cture biodiesel so efficiently as to makecompetitive with petrodiesel.

native of the Boston Hills area of Or-ard Park, Mancini discovered biodiesel

hile working at Rich Products. One dayree years ago, while listening to NPRs

cience Friday, Mancini heard a reportout biodiesel. They were saying allese wonderful things about biodiesel,e says. But they had one problem: theyuldnt get the cost down. As it turns

ut, thats what Mancini was doing for aing. Her job was to redesign processing

nes (in Richs vegetable oil processingant) to make them more cost effective.ancini saw her opportunity to run aeen business, and she jumped at it.

he spent the first couple of years on R&D,nding the best ways to process differentpes of vegetable oil, and then built alot plant at the University of Texas. Alle reseach had paid off, and Mancini

says that her company can produce thegreen fuel for ten cents cheaper thanpetrodiesel. The new production facility

will employ about 20 people over the nextcouple of years, and its doors should openby Jan. 1. The plant will have a capacity ofabout two million gallons per year, all of

which have already been sold to a buyer.That buyer will sell the fuel across thestate. But there will also be some sold lo-cally, Mancini says. Ive been speaking toa couple of local gas stations that wouldlike to put in biodiesel pumps.

The ultimate goal is to develop an alterna-tive energy cluster of companies and uni-

versities working together to create a new

economy and market for Buffalo, Man-cini says. Now we are onto somethingagreen economy for WNY. Another great

feature of biodie-sel is that soy,one of the mainbase productsfor biodiesel, canbe and already isgrown in WNY.The byproductof turning soyinto biodiesel islivestock feed.

As Lynn Hardiepoints out, Nowits a sustainablecycle.

Lynn HardiesClean Communities of WNY grew out ofthe Department of Energys Clean Citiesprogram. When funding was lost three

years ago, she started it up as a non-profitorganization. Now she obtains govern-ment grants to improve alternative fuelinfrastructure and to educate local fleetmanagers about alternative fuels.

Hardie thinks that the ultimate solutionto Americas energy dependence is acrazy quilt of alternative fuels. There isno magic bullet. We must learn to niche,

where appropriate, in whatever form ofalternative fuel or energy resources makesense. She thinks that New York will haveto better develop compressed natural gas(CNG) and biodiesel, since we sit on topof a lot of natural gas and already growsoy. She also points out that, contrary tothe national energy policy, our state hasbeen progressive regarding alternativefuels. The Senate is currently reworkingsome incentives for biodiesel and ethanolthat Pataki put into his latest budget. Shethinks that we will see those incentives ap-pear in legislation by early 2006. Also, thestate has set up biodiesel pumps along theThruway to fuel its own fleet and is cur-rently studying the possibility of alterna-tive fuel pumps at Thruway plazas.

A greener WNY does seem within reach.One can picture local famers growing soythat Tara Mancini will make into clean,affordable biodiesel. She will sell it toNoco and gas station owners like MarkKubiniec, who, in turn, can pass the sav-ings onto customers, both individuals andfleets. Lynn Hardie will educate the scoresof eager new biodiesel customers and

WNY will be a bonafide, sustainable mar-ket for alternative energy. As far-fetchedand distant as it all sounds, fuel alterna-tives like biodiesel might ultimately be theonly route to long-term sustainability for

WNY and the United States as a whole. Ifthe Bush administration is any indicator,Ill put my money on it.

And as for Tony Fini, if he cant get thecurrent incarnation of the Auto Di Finioff the ground, maybe he can start tinker-ing with diesel engines, instead.

There is no magic bullet.We must learn to niche,where appropriate, in what-ever form of alternative fuelor energy resources makesense.

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