Masdar- Who Knew

From Mark Morford's  "Errata" column for June 18th - "Hell of a year (so far)" 

"And just look at those United Arab Emirates, would you? Talk about your giant sun-baked mixed blessing. Those UAE gazillionaires, desperate to be taken seriously for something other than living atop giant maws of oil and oppressing women and providing the impetus for countless wars and brutal socioeconomic injustices of the world, these guys have now decided to build the weirdest, most violently garish and overpriced megalopolises known to man — Abu Dhabi, the richest city in the world, and, a mere 90 miles away, Dubai, easily the weirdest. (Average net worth of every one of Abu Dhabi's 420,000 citizens? Seventeen million dollars. Hello, Las Vegas? Ppptthhbbbbtt).

But wait, it gets stranger. Because just down the road, these same gazillionaires are also proposing to spend $22 billion to build what just might become — if it actually succeeds — one of the most forward-thinking, sustainable, environmentally conscious social experiments in the world, a mini-burg called Masdar City, a place with no cars, full solar power, advanced water-saving systems, complete energy independence, 100 percent walkability, zero carbon emissions, zero waste, full of so many radical enviro-friendly ideas it seems almost impossible, considering it's also being built on one of the least hospitable hunks of land anywhere.
Verily, it's like a bloated Republican capitalist's wet dream (Abu Dhabi) right next door to a liberal environmentalist's cute little utopia, two extremes of vision competing for your attention and tourist dollar and God's love, except it's not God at all. It's just a lot of really, really hot sand.
Never heard of Masdar City? Here, let me grab some links for you."