The San Francisco Citizen

Flag down one of these white taxis on the streets of San Francisco and you just might be able to sing your way to a free fare. You still have the rest of November, so start hunting today. Use this geographically-challenged map or just look at the sked below.

Will you sound as good on the iPod-friendly “SingStand” as these people?

Click to expand:

    What         Sing one of your favorites tunesin the Memorex Karaoke
                    Cab, and you’ll get the ride for free! Memorex is taking
                    the show on the road in six colorfully wrapped Karaoke
                    Cabs equipped with the Memorex SingStand Microphone
                    Speaker System, an interactive Karaoke system that lets
                    you sing along to music in your iPod(R) or any other
                    digital audio player.

                    Throughout the month of November, be on the lookout for
                    the Memorex Karaoke Cab at designated San Francisco hot
                    spots. The Karaoke Cab will drive you to your destination
                    while you act out your rock star fantasies using the
                    Memorex SingStand. Star in your own show or get as many as
                    three friends or family to join in on the act. Agree to
                    let Memorex videotape the experience, and your ride is
                    free. Then show off by sending a highlight video of your
                    performance, posted on mykaraokecab.com (starting
                    Nov. 12), to all your fans.

    Where &         The Memorex Karaoke Cab pick-up points will occur at
    When            designated times at the following locations:

                        o  Union Square/Macy’s: Nov. 5 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
                           (official cab stand at this location); Nov 28 from
                           Noon to 2 p.m. (roaming the area)
                        o  Fisherman’s Wharf/Hard Rock Cafe: Nov. 15 from Noon

                           to 2 p.m.; Nov. 19 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Nov. 22
                           from Noon to 2 p.m. (official cab stand at this
                           location)
                        o  Marina District (Fillmore/Union): Nov. 7 and
                           Nov. 21 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. (roaming the area)
                        o  Castro District (18th/Castro): Nov. 29 from 7 p.m.
                           to 9 p.m. (roaming the area)
                        o  North Beach (Broadway/Green): Nov. 15 from 8 p.m.
                           to 10 p.m. (roaming the area)
                        o  Ferry Building (Embarcadero): Nov. 8 from Noon to
                           2 p.m. (roaming the area)
                        o  Russian Hill (Polk/Broadway): Nov. 14 from 8 p.m.
                           to 10 p.m. (roaming the area)
                        o  Westin St. Francis (Powell St.): Nov. 6, Nov. 12
                           and Nov. 13 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Nov. 28 from
                           3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (official cab stand at this
                           location)

Per the New York Times, Businesses in Bay Area May Pay Fee for Emissions. That’s because the government agency that regulates sources of air pollution within nine San Francisco Bay Area Counties, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), is trying classify carbon dioxide, among other gasses, as a pollutant.

Can the BAAQMD pull this off and have a new law operational by July 1, 2008? Signs point to NO. But they’ll give it a shot anyway.

Of course you yourself are a greenhouse gas emitter because you expell carbon dioxide with every move you make, every breath you take. What if you were charged at the same rate as proposed - how much would you get charged (or taxed, it’s all the same) per year?

At the rate of 4.4 cents per ton of carbon dioxide emitted you’d be on hook for 1.5 cents a year, assuming you exhale 704 pounds of Co2 per year. You could afford that, right?

How much would this factory have to pay? Lots and lots.