Green Speed Merchants: Leilani Münter & Ward Burton

Auto racing, also known as burning tons of fossil fuel to drive really fast in circles, has got to be one of the most environmentally unfriendly uses of a motor vehicle. But both of this week’s guests on Sea Change Radio are professional race car drivers who, despite being at opposite ends of the political spectrum, are trying to spread their eco-friendly messages to 75 million racing fans, perhaps not the most receptive audience.   First, host Alex Wise speaks to Leilani Münter, an up and coming driver on the ARCA stock car racing circuit. Münter is a politically liberal, vegetarian and self-proclaimed “hippie chick” who’s tapping into a whole new set of green sponsors for her racing team. Then, we hear from Ward Burton, who spent 17 years as a NASCAR driver. Burton is a political conservative who now heads the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation and is trying to turn kids onto hunting and fishing to help cure what he calls a “nature deficit disorder” plaguing the next generation of American adults.   Here’s a link to a special screening of The Cove in San Rafael, CA on June 21st with Ric O’Barry, Louie Psihoyos and Leilani Münter’s brother-in-law, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead.