Jesse James

Despite signs that hydrogen fuel is falling out of favor with automakers (and the U.S. government) — James is confident there will be a place for it down the road. He even believes a vehicle that creates hydrogen from water alone (using electrolysis) can be built within the next year. Here are some highlights:

On becoming a bad-ass poster boy for the environmental movement:

“Like I want to be the pied piper of all tree-huggers,” James laughs. “I don’t want a bunch of people with … Birkenstocks to show up to the shop now from Oregon. We’re not going to make West Coast Choppers God’s eyes and sand candles and shopping bags for Whole Foods. I wanted to prove I can make a car go 200 on water.”

What he thinks about electric vehicles:

Electric, James says, is “for dorks.” “All the people involved with that technology are Dungeons and Dragons freaks. I’m just not that into it.” “It’s too easy.”

The Tesla, he says, is “lame. Who wants to ride around in a not-as-nice Lotus Elise?”

As for the Chevy Volt, James defers to General Motors’ own product chief, Bob Lutz. “He said the only chicks you’re gonna get with this car don’t shave their legs. To be that non-passionate about your product, it’s blatantly obvious why GM’s in the [toilet]. If you’re passionate about what you do, it’s gonna be contagious.”

On building a car that runs on water:

“Someone’s gonna invent a car that you can dump water right in. It will have a battery storage system like a hybrid and that will be used with electrolysis to convert water to hydrogen right on-site and you’ll be able to run it with water and it’ll be fully self-contained, self-sufficient,” said James, who gives such technology a one-year timeline.

What do you think about James’ comments? Personally, I think he’s approaching everything from the view of a gear-head and less “big-picture”. There’s obviously a massive role for electric technology to play in the future of transportation — and I wouldn’t count hydrogen out just yet either. A car that runs on water in only a year? Probably won’t happen — but if so, let’s hope the oil companies don’t send someone to take him/her “out”.

To read the full interview — and find out the other ways James is going green outside the shop, jump here.

These days, if you’re an actor/actress, chances are you also have hubraic dreams to a.) create a line of perfume, b.) start your own fasion label, or c.) open up your own restaurant. It’s the later that we’ll be focusing on today — having gathered what we believe are the top 5 most delicious eco-friendly celebrity restaurants.

Hungry? Let’s hit the first course!

Kate Hudson has her own organic shampoo and now Sandra Bullock has released a line of eco-friendly soy candles. Called Bessence, they’re made from plant and flower essential oils and contain no lead wicks. Even the packaging is made from organic and recycled materials. From her website,

“Every Bessence candle is poured, cleaned and packaged individually, by hand, using a specially formulated soy based wax, designed for our high fragrance levels. This meticulously crafted mixture is combined with eco-friendly 100% lead free paper wicks to produce an exquisite smelling candle that burns cleanly and evenly for up to 50 hours”

Bullock was on Oprah yesterday promoting the candles. She explained, “I started researching and you find out about lead wicks and chemicals in your candles. (Soy wax) is a renewable resource.” And Bullock is so happy with her new business, she joked that it could provide her with a second career: “(It’s) something to fall back on.”

Interested in picking some up? Prices for individual candles start at $40; votives are cheaper at $10. Jump here for more. The video from Oprah is below.

Other Earth Day Oprah guests include green guru and author of Gorgeously Green Sophie Uliano, greener than you might even realize actress Sandra Bullock and the man with the plan Al Gore.

So for an afternoon of pure greenage, put on your green pj’s, get some green snackage and tune into Oprah! Happy Earth Day Ecorazzi readers!

Jesse was at AutoWeek’s annual design forum awards dinner promoting recycling and talked about his plans to shoot for the record. No stranger to Ecorazzi, we’ve profiled several times his support of the green movement; particularly eco-friendly building materials and the arts. From the article,

“Jesse says ‘we all want to go faster and have cooler, neater stuff, so we all have to pay our dues. … That’s just me trying to find some balance. … I want my kid to be able to drive my ‘cuda. So that’s my preachy speech.’ Jesse also says Al Gore is still ‘a dork’ and ‘I don’t want to go to an electric Formula One race.’”

Al Gore a dork? Them’s fighting words, James! Where’s celebrity deathmatch when we need it? Needless to say, I’ve got $20 on the motorcycle guy with tattoos. Gore doesn’t stand a chance without Tipper ready to tag in.

via autobloggreen