Cute, Tiny Smart Cars to Come to U.S. and Get Big The tiny, fuel-efficient, two-seater Smart cars (named after their manufacturer) that are so popular in Europe are coming to the U.S. Sort of. Convinced that a tiny car -- even one that gets 60 miles per gallon and has been repeatedly proven safe for drivers -- will offend Americans' sense that bigger means better and safer, Smart U.S.A. will be introducing a Smart SUV to U.S. streets in 2006. If you think that introducing another SUV to a crowded American market would be not only financially silly, but a …

Wall Street Remains Hesitant on Renewable Energy It's a familiar refrain: Wall Street investors, we are told, are not yet sold on renewable energy. They worry that the technologies are not mature, that massive upfront infrastructure costs are too high a barrier, that despite rosy predictions from socially responsible investors, the price gap between oil and gas stocks and renewable energy stocks is not narrowing. They're not convinced that the large companies investing in wind and solar power -- among them GE, Royal Dutch/Shell, and BP -- are making smart moves. But what goes unmentioned by Wall Street analysts in …

Toyota's Hot-Selling Prius Appeals to Drivers' Vanity Last month, Honda sold 1,963 Civic Hybrids and a meager 34 Insight hybrids in the U.S. -- and sales trends for both models are trending downward -- while the Toyota Prius fairly flew off lots, with 5,230 sold in the U.S. last month. A Toyota spokesperson said the company could have sold twice as many if production had kept up with demand. Why the difference? It's not performance or gas mileage, areas where the cars are roughly equivalent. Analysts say one thing can explain the disparate sales figures: vanity. Unlike the Civic, the …

Ford Battles Hybrid-Friendly Legislation, Destroys Electric Cars Ford Motor Co. CEO Bill Ford's vocal attempts to position his company as eco-friendly are sounding a little hollow this week. As the California legislative session nears its end, Ford has ramped up lobbying efforts to kill a bill that would allow drivers of fuel-efficient hybrids to drive solo in the state's carpool lanes. Ford said the measure -- sponsored by Assemblymember Fran Pavley (D) and backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) -- is a "buy Japanese" bill "intended for almost exclusive use by Toyota Prius drivers." Ford took issue with the bill's …

Report Warns Businesses to Heed Water Shortages A new report warns that businesses should start preparing for severe water shortages, and warning their shareholders of the risk such shortages pose to their operations. The report -- from independent California-based think tank Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security -- focused on businesses that depend on high-volume water use. That group includes two of Americans' favorites: makers of cola and microchips. Pepsi and Coca-Cola both had major factories shut down in southwest India this year due to drought-induced water shortages. Among the report's recommendations are working more closely with …

Gov. James McGreevey (left) and DEP chief Bradley Campbell. In the run-up to the 2004 election, those who have high hopes that a change in administration will automatically mean the curbing of environmental abuses by government should look to recent events in New Jersey for a cautionary tale. In the Garden State, Democratic Gov. James McGreevey, who has historically been a friend to the environment, has perplexed and outraged environmentalists by taking several pages from the Bush administration playbook. McGreevey last month signed sweeping legislation giving developers fast-track access to 1.5 million acres of the state. The act radically streamlines …

A coal-fired power plant. Photo: U.S. Geological Survey. It may have sounded like the understatement of the year when a lawsuit was filed last week against five major U.S. energy companies, alleged to be among the biggest global-warming culprits in the nation, on the legal grounds that they're causing a "public nuisance." In reality it may have been one of the gutsiest legal maneuvers the U.S. has ever seen on climate change -- and some observers say it could have the strange side effect of encouraging energy companies to ask the feds for mandatory emissions caps. Last Wednesday, the chief …

Boiling PointBy Ross Gelbspan,Basic Books, 256 pages, July 2004 Journalist Ross Gelbspan's new book, Boiling Point (out in late July from Basic Books), reveals how politicians, big oil and coal, the media, and even activists have fueled the climate crisis -- and how we might still avert disaster. This excerpt traces what Gelbspan describes as a corrupt relationship between the Bush administration and the fossil-fuel industry. Under the administration of George W. Bush, the White House has become the East Coast branch office of ExxonMobil and Peabody Coal, and climate change has become the preeminent case study of the contamination …

Is this power plant in trouble? Nah. Photo: USGS. What's this on the wires? The U.S. EPA is gearing up to prosecute a new batch of new-source review (NSR) cases against polluting power plants? Could it be that the Bushies have suddenly taken a keen interest in enforcing a Clean Air Act rule that they have gone to great lengths to weaken? Not really. The story goes like this: Greenwire reporter Darren Samuelsohn recently got ahold of an EPA document containing a list of 22 electric utilities that in the last five years have allegedly run afoul of NSR by …

Everyone knows that water is the stuff of life. But is it best viewed as a commodity or as part of the commons? Should providing safe, affordable water be the role of governments, corporations, or partnerships between the two? On Tuesday, July 13 (dates may vary for local stations), the PBS show P.O.V. is airing "Thirst," a documentary by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman that addresses these and other issues about water privatization. In partnership with P.O.V., Grist is hosting a week-long debate on the merits of water privatization between Peter Cook, executive director of the National Association of Water …