Contaminated U.S. Ships Cause a Stir in Britain Controversy continues to swirl around four highly contaminated former U.S. Navy vessels -- dubbed "ghost ships" -- that are making their way across the Atlantic* to Hartlepool, England, where a British company has a contract to dismantle them. The first two toxin-tainted ships are being towed through the English Channel today, but they won't be broken apart anytime soon. Last week, British Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett effectively suspended dismantling of the ships, citing European Union and international law, and said the vessels would spend the winter in British waters but would then …

As New Homes in Massachusetts Get Bigger, Enviros Get Worried If Americans follow the trend in Massachusetts, they'll increasingly be living in larger homes on larger lots, even though fewer people reside in each house. A new report by the Massachusetts Audubon Society found that the state is losing 40 acres of forest, farmland, and open space to development every day, with about 90 percent of that going to new home construction. Between 1970 and 2001, the average square footage of a new single-family home grew by 44 percent, while the average size of a house lot grew by 47 …

House and Senate Reach Agreement Over Ethanol in Energy Bill Clearing one of the last major hurdles on the way to a final energy bill, negotiators from the House and Senate agreed yesterday on most parts of a plan to almost double the use of ethanol by 2012 and provide a new tax credit for diesel fuels that are blended with soybeans or other farm products. Under the plan, the U.S. gasoline industry must mix at least 5 billion gallons of ethanol into other fuels by 2012, compared to 2.7 billion gallons today. That's good news for farmers in the …

Slow Growth Sees Rapid Setback in Virginia County The vote took place yesterday in Loudoun County, Va., but the outcome was a blow to smart-growth advocates around the nation. Four years ago, voters propelled slow-growth advocates into eight out of nine county board positions, turning Loudoun into a national model of environmentally friendly urban planning. But yesterday's elections reshuffled the board dramatically, with Republicans winning six out of eight seats, thanks in large part to heavy backing and hundreds of thousands of dollars from real-estate and construction interests. The new board members have vowed to relax or reverse many restrictions …

Most of us don't think much about car insurance. We eyeball the policy every year, fiddle around with a few changes to bring down the premium, and then forget about it until the bills come. And come they do -- each exactly the same amount, no matter whether we've driven across the country or left the car in the garage. Counting the miles. Doesn't sound right, does it? Mileage -- like factors such as age and driving record -- has long been correlated with accident risk. The more you drive, the higher the chance of a crash. But unlike a …

Dear Umbra, I have a question about getting the most miles per gallon. If you put your car into neutral at stops or going downhill, do you save any gas? My car is an automatic. JeffVerona, N.J. Dearest Jeff, Another great question we have all pondered. Louisa and her fellow mechanics thought you might save a little gas. Let me be more specific: a very, very small amount of gas. Droplets. In the final cost-benefit analysis, those droplets you save cannot compare to what you risk. Should you suddenly need to execute an accident-avoiding maneuver while coasting in neutral, you …

Dear Umbra, My friend and I have a bet going that I hope you can settle. She thinks that running the heat in a car in the winter is "free" -- that is, it doesn't use additional gas. As a conservationist, this pleases her greatly. However, I think that turning on the heat does use additional gas if you are using the defroster. Can you settle this for us? Thanks! SamaDenver, Colo. Dearest Sama, You win. But I fear this is a wager with no practical application: The defroster is not a luxury feature. Seeing the road is a vital …

Dutch Car Crosses Finish Line First in Solar Stakes A Dutch-designed solar vehicle dubbed the Nuna II crossed a finish line in Australia yesterday to win the 2003 World Solar Challenge. The race, which covers 1,870 miles from Darwin in the north of Australia to Adelaide in the far south, is seen as a proving ground for new solar technologies. Thanks to the relentless sunlight in the Australian outback, the cars can often exceed 60 miles per hour -- and indeed, the Nuna II covered the entire distance in just 30 hours, 54 minutes. The Dutch entrant, which also won …

New Stats On Energy Use in China Alarm Environmentalists The most populous country on the planet may also pose the biggest threat to the global climate, according to recently released statistics about coal production and consumption in China. Until a few months ago, many energy experts hoped that the nation would have a relatively limited impact on climate change, because its state-owned companies were thought to be increasingly efficient and coal use appeared to be declining steeply. But with the release of the official government figures, cause for optimism has disappeared: Coal use in China is growing faster than almost …