WEBVTT - A Solar-Powered Con Artist: Jeff Carpoff 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:02.720 Ridiculous Crime. It's a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:07.800 Hello, Elizabeth dutch Zaren, How you doing great? I like 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:09.639 this sweater. It's nice stripes. 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:10.560 Yeah, thank you. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.800 You look like a French sailor nineteenth century. 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:19.000 Oh yeah, it is sort of right. Yeah. She blows 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:22.040 a little little lawn and I like your pink sweatshirt. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:25.400 Thank you, thank you. It's Muhammad Ali Special. I got 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:27.000 a question for you. You know what's ridiculous? 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.320 Oh do I what I do? I do know it's ridiculous. 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:35.519 Do you remember walking into your favorite pizzeria quarters for 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:40.160 the arcade, infamous red plastic cups, bells, ringing for your order, 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:41.919 trading tickets for prizes. 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:42.760 Oh I didn't. 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.720 Hell yeah, these moments weren't just about pizza. They were 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:48.360 about family, friendship, and happiness. 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:50.199 You're reading your press, I. 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:53.120 Am so there's this company you're. 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.200 Like, oh, we walk you down right into the blender. 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:59.520 There's this company called Bundy called Commerce Perfey, Perfey, perfey. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:01.760 Get this perfect perfect. 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:03.760 The perfect soda is what they make. 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:05.039 You know, it's right there? Perfect? 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:09.280 I mean, come on, so they are offering pepperoni pizza soda. 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:13.920 Oh god, yeah, this is courtesy of Ron Dugod on Instagram. 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.520 It's a great source for these things. Yeah, it's a here, 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:22.040 let me read you their copy. Listen kid, listen kid, 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:24.839 sure put my place. Each can of Pepperoni pizza comes 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.760 loaded with just three grams of sugar, thirty calories, and 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.160 a little something extra enough flavor to make Nona shed 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.880 a tear, like a secret recipe from the Old Country. 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:35.839 Oh you needed to read this with like, hey, listen. 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:38.880 Can ships the week of two seventeen twenty five. But 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:39.800 it's already sold out. 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:40.600 It's already shipped. 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.119 Caffeine, forget about it. 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.399 The energy Gabba Ghoul approved. Oh my goodness, I. 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:48.080 Know made by Uncle PAULI. 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.520 Really do they really put an Uncle Pauli in the Yeah, it. 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:56.680 Says shumpulp, I don't know a no sugar added and 0:01:56.720 --> 0:02:00.440 then vegan Vinnie approved. And they don't talk about what 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:01.240 they don't. 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:02.920 Have, like a no, we don't sell baked ZD. 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:08.160 They don't. The don doesn't wear shorts. They don't have. 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:11.040 They don't explain the flavor profile. 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:12.400 I don't think they need to. 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:14.480 So you know what I did. I went digging and 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:18.280 I found some reviews and basically it apparently tastes like 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.880 carbonated tomato juice. 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.880 Yeah, the head of like spice for the pepperoni. 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:28.160 It's vegan, so there's no real pepperoni. 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:30.520 Yeah, but pepperon pepperoni's got a little heat, not like 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:31.880 a lotty heat. 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:33.720 A little bit of the oil isn't an oily, So 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.480 totally there you go. I don't know, but the consensus 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:38.480 was disgusting. 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:40.480 I bet you know. I was like an oil slick 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:41.960 on top of my soda. 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:42.919 It's so good. 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:45.320 It's not a fish sauce. Can I get a pepperoni? 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:50.480 And to sum that all up in conclusion, that's ridiculous. 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:52.280 Elizabeth Zaren, I'm so. 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:53.839 You know it's ridiculous. 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:58.160 Yes they do, you know. Okay, listen, but you know 0:02:58.160 --> 0:02:59.919 how sometimes a person will start out with good into 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.480 or at least like innocent intentions me but surprise, surprise, 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.919 it all works out and suddenly you're successful. Then naturally 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:09.000 you enjoy the success. It feels good, right, you know 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:10.400 what I mean? So naturally you start I want to 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.839 enjoy greater success because I don't feel even better. Right, 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:17.080 But since you got lucky in the first place, you 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:19.840 don't exactly know how to reach greater success. So instead 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.440 you cheat a little, just a little corruption as a treat. 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.200 But then you need to cheat some more to keep 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:28.520 up right, to keep that ball going. And then soon enough, 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.080 you're cheating all the time. And that, Elizabeth, is when 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.800 you've become your own monster. It's a surprisingly common story. 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:36.920 It's a human fable we see over and over again. 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:41.720 Today I have exactly such a fable for you about 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:45.800 a solar powered wanna be genius who became a solar 0:03:45.840 --> 0:04:11.280 powered monster. This is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast about absurd 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:16.640 and outrageous capers, heists and cons. It's oh ways nine 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:20.800 nine percent murder free and one hundred percent ridiculous. Yes 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:25.000 it is, Elizabeth. What do you know about portable diesel generators? 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.440 They're loud, yes, this is true. 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:29.440 And you can't run them inside. 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:31.200 No, that is bad for your health. 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.720 It's bad business, the portable ones. I've known some people 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:37.200 who live in areas where they lose power lots and 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:40.880 they get like a permanent one outside totally. But you 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:44.000 can use it for like powering things and a power outage. 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:48.520 Construction folks using Yeah, all, you're good at this, pretty good. Yeah? 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:50.000 Do you know how much they cost for like a 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:51.360 get you one for personally. 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:53.080 I'd say like one point six million dollars. 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:55.440 You're not so good there. Four thousand dollars is get 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:57.240 your small one personal. 0:04:57.640 --> 0:04:59.680 Exactly costco probably cheap. 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.080 Probably cheap, are you with your membership? 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:01.400 Yeah? 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:03.719 Now, one of those big daddy's in the industrial strength 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:05.920 kind like you'd mentioned about a construction site or say 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:07.880 like to power a Hollywood set that's out in the 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.000 middle of nowhere, right, that'll set you back about twenty 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.680 grand yikes for entry level and it goes on up 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:14.279 from there. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:15.600 And it's just diesel power. 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:17.720 Diesel powered. Right now, if you're on a construction site 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:19.720 or a Hollywood set and you get super used to 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:23.600 that site of the industrial portable diesel generator, right, typically 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:25.960 it's a company like Bob Cat or Caterpillar. They'll sell 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.440 you one, the rench you one whatever. In the US, 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.839 I look this up. Portable diesel generators is approaching four 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:34.400 billion dollars a year as a business billion. 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:37.000 With a b B. And we know how much a billion. 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:39.560 Is exactly, it'd be a lot. So it was three 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:41.880 point six and twenty twenty two, three point seven and 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:44.760 twenty twenty three three point eight and twenty twenty four 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:48.440 market is what is growing. It's projected yes, for a 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.480 passing four million in a couple of years. Now, Elizabeth, 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.360 what do you know about portable solar power generators? 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.040 Huh? I actually have. 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:57.919 Do you have one? It feels like something you would. 0:05:57.760 --> 0:05:58.120 Have to have. 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:02.440 I have this power bank for emergencies when the power 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:04.800 you keep it charged up. But it's not like the 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:06.960 little ones the size of your phone. Do you put 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.480 like this is a big mama, And it's like, I mean, 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:11.760 it's like the size of like two shoe boxes. 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:12.400 Oh damn. 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.640 You keep all charged up and then you know I've 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.080 lived through hurricanes or earthquakes. You go without power. 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:22.039 I don't like that, and you don't. You don't have 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:23.640 to get ready if you stay ready, and I know 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:24.160 that your mom. 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:26.800 I would rather never have to use any of this stuff. 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.200 So you can run a bunch of stuff on it 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:32.120 so you don't have to go like charge phones in 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.640 the car. But then if it was like, oh this 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.320 is bad, this is gonna go on a while. It 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:41.800 has a little solar sheet like a panel, sure that 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.080 you set up over it to recharge it. 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:48.640 That's really nice, very you. It is Yeah, so like 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:51.440 as you basically pointed out of, a portable solar powdered 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:56.239 generator is a panel of solar photo voltaic cells attached 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.520 to like a battery and a transformer. They then converts 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:02.760 the power into usablevoltage. Now there are the industrial portable 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.719 solar powered generators. You get a trailer you can drag 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:09.240 around a panel of solar fotable Ta excels and that 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:13.360 will run you about say twenty six grand entry level. Now, Elizabeth, 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:16.480 you mentioned how loud diesel generators are. Can you imagine 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:22.200 how silent a solar powered generator. No smell, no smoke, choking, Yeah, 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:22.800 no pollution. 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.080 Well, and I think it made it's more expensive. But 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:27.600 you spend a lot of money on diesel totally. 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:31.880 Yes, hidden costs, yeah, operating costs. Now, about fifteen years ago, 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:35.160 this dream to create a cheap solar powered diesel generator 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.680 was a dream for commercial interests, Like it became this thing. 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:39.120 They're like, what if we could kind of do this? 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:42.160 Everybody was going kind of green. Right, enter our man 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:44.360 of the hour, Jeff Carpoff's come on. 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.200 Down, Jeff Jeff Carpoffs. 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:52.960 Carpoff with a singular car like car Poffpoffkarpoff. I could 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:57.160 be putting emphasis in the wrong place. Maybe Carpoff. Now, 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:59.400 he is not who you might imagine as a leader 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:01.840 in the green revolution of the early aughts and the 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.480 twenty teens. Right. He was that rare rebel working in 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:09.240 the green space who watched Nascar every Saturday. He was 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.000 He enjoyed a chew of tobacco and none of that. 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:15.520 He didn't spit it. He swallowed it, which is horrendous. Yeah, 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:19.200 that's like real commitment, doesn't It makes you sick and 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:20.880 the unless you get used to it with little bits 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:22.840 and then you can just kind of like stomach a lot. 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.240 I knew guys who did that, but it was not 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:28.960 healthy anyway. He's from around these parts, like people guys 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.320 I knew Elizabeth. Jeff Karpoff was from Martinez, California. 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:32.880 Yeah. 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:34.160 Yeah, you know, when I was a boy and we 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:36.439 drive into the Bay area, we drive past Martinez and 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:39.040 you can always tell you're in Martinez from the smell. 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:39.600 Yeah. 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.040 Now, nothing against Martinez. This is not the town's fault. 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:44.040 There wasn't like a stinky town. There's a big oil 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:46.840 and gas refineries that line the hills. Chevron and others. 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:50.200 He's a green energy guy exactly. That's interesting. 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:56.559 Sugar sugar totally California, Hawaiian. That's what the CNCH stamps for. 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:01.640 Look at you your real bay a Martinez being real 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:03.520 Bay area that you are. What do you mean just 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:05.280 describe it as a town just so I can imagine. 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:06.920 You know, I've been there, but I think it's it's 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:10.080 like a working class town. It's right on the Carquinez 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:12.480 straight yep. Or it's San Pablo Bay. 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:14.439 Yeah, you carcinas straight, your crust. 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.920 And it's like you know, it's it's a cool older town. 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:20.679 You have right across the street is Benetia. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:23.680 Yes, we'll also met. 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:25.480 That used to be a capital of California early day. 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:26.440 Yes for a little bit. 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:28.679 I mean, I can just go on, you really can. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:31.040 Well, you'll be having to know. Our story starts in 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:33.760 Martinez in two thousand and seven. At that point, Jeff 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:36.280 Karpoff is a mechanic. He's a pretty good car mechanic, right, 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:40.360 but he's not a good businessman. His repair shops multiple 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:42.560 keep going out of business. He tries a few times, 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:45.280 and it leads to a personal bankruptcy that results in 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:47.719 a foreclosure on his home. So there he is in 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:50.160 two thousand. He's a thirty six year old father of 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.400 two small kids, married, unemployed, A man who's tried his 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.760 hand at owning the American dream a few times and 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.760 walked away bankrupted business failure. A man who's also, by 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.480 the way, kicked a meth habit five years earlier, but 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.880 now has lost the roof that sheltered his family, just 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:06.679 like he never gave up the habit. So the ups 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:08.680 and downs for this man are dizzying. So by age 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:11.679 thirty six, Jeff is a human yo yo. Growing up 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.000 in Martinez, Jeff was used to tough times. Like you said, 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.280 it's a working class town. It's gone through its ups 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:18.640 and downs as a boy, like his family home was 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:20.640 right next door to a Hell's Angels. 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:21.800 Bar that totally track. 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:23.959 Yeah right, I thought you'd like that. According to Jeff, 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:28.319 as a boy, he watched quote fights, stabbings, shootings, prostitution, 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:31.840 all kinds of just really crazy stuff. But he also 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.720 watched his single mother, Rosalie, worked three jobs to take 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.240 care of Jeff and his older sister, and when she 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:40.840 was faced with hard times, unlike his you know, i'd say, 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.360 after his latest repair shop closed up and he lost 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:45.720 his family's home. Jeff didn't act like his mother because 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.720 he'd seen her suffer, so instead he went back to drugs, 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.280 but not to doing meth, don't worry. Instead he started 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.520 to sell pot. So specifically, medical marijuana was coming a 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:56.520 thing at the time. It was still the new market 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:58.640 in two thousand and seven, kind of wild West market 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:01.439 where an independent person make their mark and go to 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:04.280 big profit. So he goes down to another one of 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:07.760 your old stopping grounds, Santa Cruz. Oh yeah, he tries 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.320 to get into the medical marijuana game there by pot. Yeah, 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.480 exactly right. So but the pot he brought to Santa 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.559 Cruz was rejected by the dispenser. 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:18.520 Is it bringing coals to Newcastle? 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.720 No not not that's a really good analogy for this one. 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.040 But no, in this case, it was his pot may 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.840 have looked good, but that was the dead giveaway that 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.920 he'd been pumping his pot full of chemicals. And oh, 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:32.520 that doesn't fly, according to that's according to the founder 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.199 one dispensary. Right, yeah, that doesn't fly. Yeah, So Jeff 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:37.960 was showing the door. Now this is when fate stepped 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.720 in threw a little action into that. Yo, yo, that 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:43.480 is Jeff's life. An old customer from one of his 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:46.880 shuttered repair shops right asked Jeff if he thought he'd 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.160 be any good at a selling solar panels, and this 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.040 leads to a conversation with a neighbors. Jess mulling this 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:54.560 over at this idea, He's like, well, let's do a 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:56.439 solar Is that a good thing? Trying to lean into this. 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:59.520 His neighbor tells him, you know, he would personally love 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:01.560 to use roller up at his cabin, but you know, 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:03.760 he always fears it some jerk would steal it while 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:05.600 he's away, or some kids will break it, so he 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:08.080 doesn't want to like invest in it. The neighbor says 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:10.560 he wished what he had was like a portable solar 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:12.800 power generator he could just take up to the cabin 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:14.880 with him, use it while he's there, and then bring 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:18.160 it back. Jeff's like, huh. Gives him an idea, a 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:22.280 billion dollar idea, Elizabeth. So he draws up this idea, 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:24.839 he develops it, and then he patents it. The title 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.520 of his patent is simple, straight to the point quote 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:28.880 trailer with solar panels. 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:29.600 Oh, I love that? 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:30.199 Right? 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.240 Itays interesting around this time I had friends who were 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.800 getting into selling and like installing solar oh yeah, because 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:39.559 they were all like the rebate at tax credits oh yeah, 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:42.720 yeah yeah. And you look at something like Martinez, it's 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:46.840 like blue collar sat to the Earth. Yeah, like all 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:53.520 that area Panol Crockett, Crockett, El seborani El Saw Yeah, amazing, 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:55.720 amazing folks who just work really hard. 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:58.400 Totally. I'm a big fan. So I'm pulling for this 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:01.120 guy at this point in the story. So what does 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.360 this look like this trailer with solar panels? Great question, Elizabeth, 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:07.600 what does it look like this? I love this energy 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:11.240 you're bringing. I also, I know you love the text 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:14.880 specs and the tech talk tech tech techy. So I'll 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:17.319 put it to you this way. Imagine a flatbed trailer 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:19.160 that you'd pull behind a car or a truck. 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:19.600 Right now. 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:22.040 Imagine that same flatbed trailer. It's like the kind you'd 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:22.920 runt from like a U. 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:25.520 Haul, but you'd put like a riding mower up. 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.720 Sure, perfect right, chain it down that time right now. 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.560 Imagine that's covered in solar panels, and at one end 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:33.559 there's a battery and a transformer box that can turn 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.640 all that sustainable sunlight into steady, reliable electric power. That's 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.360 what he designed, right to have no tech talk. 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:42.120 Huh like that that made sense to me? 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:44.480 Now what it looked like a more specific visual terms, 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.480 imagine a ray of two rows of solar panels. Right, 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:50.600 they're five panels in each row. They're adjustable, which means 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:52.559 you can anchor them on this rotating arm so you 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:54.880 can stand them up in a vertical position. He drives 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.199 them out to the location so they don't get damage, 0:13:57.440 --> 0:13:59.439 and then he can put them down and adjust them 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.840 to this angle. Boom, good to go. All right, So 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:07.080 Jeff calls his new invention the solar Eclipse, an ironic 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.880 name for solar power if you ask me, Yeah, but whatever, 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.960 Yeah it's Jeff. He's a rebel, definitely Elizabeth. So anyway, 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:17.160 he starts to market and sell his new invention and 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.600 attract investors for this cutting edge technology he got that's 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:22.720 self sustained solar generators. 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:22.920 Right. 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:24.920 People are like, oh, so what happens next for Jeff? 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:26.680 Yeah, what happens next for Jeff? 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:29.040 Do things turn around for this crazy kid? Well, his 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.840 new invention. It attracts interest. People immediately see the practicality, 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.720 the market friendly pitch. He's going it's clean green tech, right, 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.400 which is buzzwords in two thousand and seven. This is 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.840 at a time when people were earnestly interested in these things. 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.920 Like it seems so long ago now, right, the energy 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.800 coming into that Obama era of like green tech, which 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:52.120 interestingly we'll get into later. George W. Bush spearheads this 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:55.120 whole green energy movement. So anyway, it may not seem 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:57.520 like this when you're you're there, but Martinez isn't that 0:14:57.560 --> 0:14:59.640 far from the Silicon Valley, so it's like an hour 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:01.880 drive away, right, And like I said, at this time, 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:04.280 there's a lot of hype and excitement about the future 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:07.240 for new green tech, so that the investors come a calling. 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.720 With the backing of initial investors, Jeff he forms his 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.400 company and then the investors they aim their sites at 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:17.800 Hollywood in a concentrated effort to leverage Hollywood's desire to 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:19.960 go green. And they want to get you know, pats 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.479 on the head from like that Al Gore inspired environmental 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:23.280 activists of. 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:24.960 The early adds Leo DiCaprio. 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:30.080 Oh you just hold that thought, Elizabeth. So the solar power, right, 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.480 it's supposed to be, Oh, it's not loud, it's not gross, 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:34.920 it doesn't pollute Hollywood. People love it. And then for 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.400 far off locations it's perfect right, free energy from the sun. 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:40.800 So I think it sells itself right. And for me 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.000 it's quiet there when I know you love that. So 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.400 one of the early Hollywood types to get involved is 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.960 Heart Backner. Now this actor offers to throw his Hollywood 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.760 muscle behind them to help promote Karpoff's new green tech. 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.520 And you, Elizabeth, you may be thinking heart Backner. I 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:58.680 don't know that name. What Hollywood muscle does a whole 0:15:58.720 --> 0:15:59.120 heart have? 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:00.560 Is that like his birth name? 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.120 And his real name is no? You know his work? 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.560 Or rather, I'm confident you'd recognize him from one specific role. 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.680 You remember Diehard? Yeah? Do you remember the slimy bearded 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.040 cokehead Harry Ellis who tries to cut a deal with 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:15.480 Hans Krueber. Ellis says, and I quote, this will probably 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.360 throw you back. Hey, babe, I negotiate million dollar deals 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:20.600 for breakfast. I think I can handle this euro trash. 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:21.160 That's him? 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:23.320 Or is he the guy standing behind that guy? 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.720 No, Bauyo, that's Heart. So he's the one who tries 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:30.080 to throw his Hollywood muscle behind a rt H A 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:32.440 R T Yeah, bachner bo c HN. 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:36.000 I don't know why I'm getting wanting. Yeah, spellings, I 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:36.240 don't know. 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.440 I'm happy to help him provide them. So anyway, Jeff 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.600 and he they're like, yeah, let's do this, let's take 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.240 over Hollywood. So I with that, Elizabeth, I'd like to 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:47.240 take a little break these messages. I'll tell you about 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.520 where Jeff takes his solar powered dreams of Hollywood. And yes, 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:55.560 Leonardo DiCaprio gets involved. 0:16:52.920 --> 0:17:15.040 All right, Elizabeth, we're back. 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:16.399 So where were we? 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:19.159 You were telling me about how he was going to 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:20.439 take Hollywood by storm. 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.280 That's right, Jeff takes Hollywood. Yeah, okay, and I promise 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:24.920 you Leonardo DiCaprio would. 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:26.639 Enter the picture theo Lecaprio. 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:29.800 Well, he does, he does right now. So in twenty ten, 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:32.639 DiCaprio gives this interview about his latest film, a Little 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.359 Diddy called Inception. You may have heard of it, the 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.919 Christopher Nolan film that was proudly made with solar power. 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.760 According to DiCaprio, well, it was like twenty percent of it. 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.440 But anyway, He gave an interview to the Philippine Daily 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:48.639 Inquirer in which I love the press junkets. What are 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.639 you going to do right, so Leo said, and I quote, 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:53.800 A lot of this movie was made with solar power. 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:55.920 It's the first movie I got to do with solar power. 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:58.160 I had a conversation about it with Alan Horn, who's 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:00.520 the head of Warner Brothers. The generation that we had 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:02.920 on the set were all powered by solar energy. It's 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.160 gonna be a big conversion to do stuff like that 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:07.800 every day, not just in making movies, but everything in 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:08.640 the world. 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:10.960 So Leo DiCaprio is so spot on. 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:15.160 He's like, really gangbusters about this right now. The reason 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:19.160 why this well known environmentalist obviously so geeked unportable solar 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:22.399 power is obvious, but he still expresses it to the 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.520 Philippine Daily Inquirer for those catching up in twenty ten, 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:27.480 we do a lot of things in the world that 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.200 are wasteful. We keep talking about this all the time. Hopefully, 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.480 fingers crossed, with these small steps, we'll make that transition 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:36.520 on a much larger scale in the future. It got 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:37.399 bad news from the future. 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:37.720 Leo. 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.520 Listen, no, I know you had good intentions, buddy, but. 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:47.480