I will be representing Greenthinkers this weekend at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

Why would Greenthinkers attend an auto show? Well, we were invited to the Press Preview by GM to get a first glimpse at some new technology. This interested me very much having seen Who Killed the Electric Car? and having recently obtained a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid as my company (Sancor, not Greenthinkers!) vehicle. (More on my hybrid car in a future post…)

I really want to see what GM has to offer, especially after the not-so-good PR they received from recent WKtEC? film and the decision to eliminate the EV1. Why are they going back into the electric car business (other than to compete with Toyota)? Will they even mention the EV1 and its infamous past? I have lots of questions.

Oh, and they’re paying for my trip. That’s right Greenthinkers is traveling to Detroit (not very far from Toronto mind you) on GM’s dime to view their new car. Apparently, they are trying to get loads of green bloggers to view and write about some new advanced technology.

Now, I fully understand the selling-out issues involved in this. Other green blogs (well at least one I know of) have declined to attend on GM’s tab, such as my friends at Treehugger. But, they are the big guys of green blogs with legions of followers. Heck, they get mentioned on Oprah and Martha Stewart. We don’t. So we can afford to make bad some ethical decisions like this, right?

Anyway, let me explain.

Greenthinkers has zero budget, literally. So any trip on my own would have come out of my own pocket our my composting toilet company. But, since this has nothing to do with toilets or sanitation it might have been an unreasonable request.

Second, I have no issue with eco-capitalism. That is, companies making money selling green (or at least greener) products. I would rather a large company like GM see where they can profit from being (more) green and get greener products into the mainstream. It’s what I do when wearing my Envirolet® hat. I sell composting toilet systems that use no water and create compost. We need to be profitable to stay in business.

Side note, I had a virtual run-in with someone who took issue with eco-capitalism after an interview I did with World Changing wearing my Envirolet® hat.

Third, I figure this might be a good way to meet some fellow green bloggers in person. If you are attending, please email me at scott at greenthinkers dot org.

Expect a full post about my trip by about the middle of next week.