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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Environmentalist funds cause by racing stock cars

Leilani Munter maybe the epitome of an enigma. "In a sport of barbecue-loving good 'ol boys, she's a self-described 'vegetarian hippie-chick race car driver'," writes Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer. Her sister is even married to a member of The Greatful Dead. But Munter believes she is in a unique position to further the environmental cause with race fans, a group that is not considered the biggest fans of green energy.

"If I were another biology graduate from California, a composting, recycling, tree-hugging, very hippie chick trying to change their light bulb, they wouldn’t give me the time of day," Munter says. "The only way I have their attention is because I have a racing suit on and race car underneath me."

"For every race, she buys an acre of rain forest through the National Wildlife Federation to offset her carbon emissions," Morrill reports. There are signs that NASCAR maybe following suit. It has hired its first director for its new "Green Initiative." Other attempts to make racing more environmentally friendly include the decision by IndyCar to switch all racers to ethanol-based fuel, and some sponsors are offsetting drivers carbon emissions with investments in solar energy and wind farms. (Read more)

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