Here's a tip for Terry Tamminen: retire the joke already. You know, the one about Arnold Schwarzenegger and whoever just introduced you as a speaker, how they were pumping iron together back in the day? We heard it about Ed Begley at the 2006 Alt Car Expo and then again at AFVI in 2007. When Tamminen told it again at this year's Alt Car Expo (listen to the audio clip below), I started to worry that he might not have anything new to say at all. But, while Tamminen is still a strong supporter of hydrogen, he didn't promote it quite as much as he has in the past. Indeed, he said that, "I think we should be talking to the about the alternatives that this expo exemplifies."

Tamminen's speech at AltCar 2008 was called "Advice for the Next President," and the 30-minute talk was a mixture of a rallying call for the green vehicle fans in the audience and specific advice for a President Obama or McCain.

Details after the jump.

The audio of Tamminen's speech from last year's Alt Car Expo was quite popular with our readers, and I expect his words from this year's Santa Monica Alt Car Expo will have the same impact. Why? Because Tamminen is a good public speaker with a solid message. Sure, sometimes he repeats his jokes, but what do you expect from a guy who has an audience in front of him so often?

Tamminen, the author of Lives Per Gallon, is gifted with a skill to make his point in clever phrases (e.g., "There is no silver bullet, only silver buckshot"), and this talk, on "Driving the Future," is peppered with them. Look out, too, for a Shakespeare quote.

Tamminen started his talk by describing the likely upcoming economic and social consequences of global warming (short version: it ain't pretty). The even worse news: even the strictest anti-global warming legislation that is in effect in the world today might not be enough to fend off the coming trouble.

Still, Tamminen isn't all pessimistic. He talks about the various states in the U.S. that are working on "world class" legislation on the climate change issue, and he expects about half of the states will be under these types of laws by the time a new president comes into the Oval Office in 2009. And, because these climate change laws are finally getting serious, the "cars of the future" that get paraded out at all the fun car shows will, sooner rather than later, become the cars of today.

Give it a listen.

Oh, and guess which car Tamminen drove to the expo? You know it. And he let slip that the next person who will spend time with the BMW Hydrogen 7 is Angelina Jolie.

It's not only the A-listers (Brad Pitt, Jay Leno and Will Ferrell) that BMW is milking for some Hydrogen 7 publicity. The automaker has given the author of Lives Per Gallon (and strong hydrogen advocate) Terry Tamminen a BMW Hydrogen 7 to drive on public roads for a while. From the announcement (pasted after the jump), it seems that Tamminen will get the car for a longer time than the big celebs did. And, hey, look, his Hydrogen 7 is a black one, not silver like all the others we've seen.

If you're unfamiliar with Tamminen, I recommend taking the time to listed in a speech he gave at last year's Alt Car Expo, which we have archived here (scroll down). Tamminen has advised Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on energy and environmental issues and supports California's H2 highway proposal.

Related:

• Alt Car Expo: Ed Begley and Terry Tamminen on Ending our Addiction to Oil Now
• AFVI Show: Luncheon speech by Lives per Gallon author Terry Tamminen

[Source: BMW]