Big banks sign on to stricter environmental and social guidelines Big financial institutions are increasingly talking green -- and some of them might even mean it. Forty-one lenders from around the world, including Citigroup and J. P. Morgan Chase, have signed on to the three-year-old Equator Principles, which call for investment projects to avoid harming the environment or local populations. Today the lenders unveiled a new, more rigorous version of those principles, which includes labor standards, calls for vetting of projects' environmental and social impacts earlier in the process, and applies to all projects costing at least $10 million, down …

As Google continues its march towards global domination with the launch of Google Checkout, Gristmillers can sleep soundly tonight knowing that the following prohibited items can't be sold/bought via the new service: Endangered species: Plants, animals or other organisms (including product derivatives) in danger of extinction Precious metals: Bulk sales of rare, scarce, or valuable metals The fact the former has to be listed is depressing. Luckily it will be a four-day weekend for Grist to lift the spirits!

Ford backs out on hybrid pledge, plans more alt-fuel vehicles Remember Ford's much-hyped commitment to produce 250,000 hybrid vehicles by 2010? Er, about that: CEO Bill Ford Jr. backpedaled on the promise Wednesday. While not abandoning hybrids altogether, he said Ford's focus (ha) is shifting (ha ha) to cars that can run on alternative fuels like ethanol, clean diesel, and biodiesel. In an email to employees, the CEO said the quarter-million-hybrids objective was "too narrow to achieve our larger goals of substantially improving fuel economy and CO2 performance." (Of course, ethanol substantially improves neither, so, uh, WTF?) Also on Wednesday, …

Whole Foods unveils initiatives to boost local and compassionate farming Whole Foods Market, the fast-growing natural-foods purveyor, has announced a series of initiatives that would support small, local farms and improve treatment of animals. In an open letter to food writer Michael Pollan, who has criticized Whole Foods for relying on "industrial organic" farms, CEO John Mackey described the chain's coming efforts to build a network of "animal-compassionate" farms, purchase more local food for its distribution centers, and even allow local farmers to sell food directly to customers in store parking lots.

Seismic movement could assist in oil production Like so much else in this crazy world, earthquakes are bad for you but potentially good for oil companies. Seismic shaking appears to increase permeability of underground rocks, leading to easier oil flow. "[T]his has practical implications for oil extraction," says University of California scientist Emily Brodsky, who with two other researchers published findings in Nature. Artificially shaking the ground, the researchers believe, could help extractors obtain oil from natural reservoirs; scientists already use vibroseis trucks (trucks that shake the ground) to take a sort of X-ray of the earth, determining the structure …

Two busiest California ports propose pollution regulations The peerlessly polluting ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., will propose far-reaching environmental policies today. "What we're doing right now is a no-growth, job-losing, cancer-causing plan, and we're just not going to do that anymore," said David Freeman, chair of the L.A. Harbor Commission. What they aim to do instead is require all ships calling at the two large ports to switch to low-sulfur fuel, use other emission-reducing technologies, and plug in to local electrical power at docks instead of idling. Trains and trucks at the ports would also have to …

Grist talks with the makers of Who Killed the Electric Car? In the 1990s, California required automakers to introduce zero-emission cars. GM put out the electric EV-1, a sporty coupe that inspired head-over-heels devotion among the few people who got their hands on one. Then California backed down, the car leases ran out, and GM took the EVs back and squashed them. Who's to blame? Today, Hannah Eaves interviews the makers of Who Killed the Electric Car?, a documentary film debuting this week that explores the question. In Gristmill, David Roberts continues that conversation, digging into questions of peak oil, …

Chris Paine, the director of Who Killed the Electric Car?, looks a little embarrassed as he walks toward his waiting limo. "I should really have them drop us off a block away from the theater," he says, laughing uneasily. At least he's carpooling. Dean Devlin and Chris Paine at Sundance. Photo: Fred Hayes/WireImage. With him are Dean Devlin, one of the film's executive producers (whose other projects include Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Patriot); former electric-vehicle sales rep Chelsea Sexton, who appears in the film; and Sexton's husband, Bob, who helped launch Saturn before becoming the go-to technician for EV …

A carbon tax is the answer to our energy woes, argues an economist Some recent news reports may have led you to believe that there is no "price elasticity" around gasoline -- that no matter how much gas prices rise, people just keep on drivin'. But it's not so: High prices are dampening demand. Why does it matter? Because price elasticity is the secret behind the effectiveness of a carbon tax, the one market-neutral, fast-acting strategy that could get us to clean energy as fast as we need to go. Economist Charles Komanoff preaches the carbon-tax gospel.

There's a wonderful new advertisement for an Italian washing machine that simulates deep sea life. A clever concept, brilliantly executed. If you've got 30 seconds to spare, check it out here.