Congregations in 15 states are joining forces this Sunday to belt out the clean-energy gospel in the launch of a national "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign. Reverend Jim Ball, who directs the Evangelical Environmental Network, said: "Jesus wants his followers to drive the least-polluting, most efficient vehicle that truly meets their needs -- though first he might look at other ways to get around. ... He'd definitely be in favor of us taking public transportation." His organization plans to run ads on Christian radio stations and cable TV asking consumers and automakers to wake up and smell the emissions.

Now that President Bush has strengthened his hand with a Republican-controlled Congress, his once-doomed energy plan -- which would provide $30 billion in tax cuts for the fossil-fuel and nuclear-power industries and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling -- stands a good chance of passing. Enviros are pinning their hopes on possible presidential contenders, John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), who in the past have promised to filibuster any bill in the Senate that would allow drilling to begin. Meanwhile, Bush's plan to increase logging in national forests as a way to combat wildfires will also be …

Refiners should have no problem producing nearly sulfur-free diesel by 2006, according to a report released yesterday by an advisory panel to the U.S. EPA. The panel was convened last year by EPA Administrator Christie Whitman to assess possible technological barriers to complying with a clean diesel rule issued in the final weeks of the Clinton administration. That rule requires refineries to reduce sulfur emissions from 500 parts per million to 15 ppm by 2006, a move that will go a long way toward cleaning up tailpipe exhaust from trucks and buses. Such exhaust causes and accelerates respiratory ailments such …

At midnight one late-September evening, a convoy of 18-wheeler flatbed trucks carting 14 houses (some whole, some in parts) and thousands of square feet of solar panels rolled past the Washington Monument, drove along the National Mall, and headed up to the front lawn of the Capitol building. Upon arriving, the first truck in line barreled through a yellow ribbon held by members of a hooting and hollering welcoming committee, as if it had finally reached the finish line. But the race was about to begin. Airstream of conscientiousness. Photo: Warren Gretz, NREL. Fourteen teams of architecture and engineering students …

In yet another blow to the environment, the Chinese government is launching a massive expansion of its road network to accommodate its fast-emerging car culture. By 2010, the country says major roads will span a total of 22,000 miles in and between major cities, including Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai; by 2020, it hopes to have doubled the expansion to 44,000 miles. The only areas with no projected new motorways are Tibet and its north-west neighbor Qinghai Province. Last week, when addressing a forum on road development, Hu Xijie, China's vice minister of communications, promised to "basically eliminate the traffic …

Despite increasing awareness of alternative-fuel technologies and growing concern over U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the fuel economy of American cars is only getting worse. Statistics released today by the U.S. EPA show that the average fuel economy of the new fleet of cars for 2003 is 6 percent lower than it was 15 years ago. In 1987 and 1988, back before the SUV craze set in, new cars averaged 22.1 miles per gallon, compared to 20.8 for the 2003 model cars. Only 4 percent of the new crop of cars get more than 30 miles per gallon, compared with …

A government-supported pilot project in Alberta, Canada, is offering companies greenhouse-gas credits for every employee who works from home, in order to reduce emissions associated with commuting. The plan is the first step in an effort to produce a Canadian carbon-credits market, whereby firms that cut greenhouse-gas emissions will be able to sell credits to others that are unable to meet reductions targets. The project is being organized by Teletrips, a firm that has already launched similar pilot projects in five U.S. cities. Teletrips has developed software that tracks the number of trips employees save by working at home and …

One-fourth of all North American bird species are at risk, according to a new study released by the National Audubon Society. The report blames increased urbanization and the resulting loss of open spaces for the decline; as cities grow, farmlands are converted to urban areas and grasslands are converted to farmlands, leaving birds with insufficient habitat. The Audubon Society now has more than 200 birds on its "watch" list and says 21 are endangered -- meaning that overall, nearly twice as many bird species are in trouble as were five years ago, the last time the report was issued. Frank …

Communities in California, Georgia, and North Carolina are the worst offenders when it comes to suburban sprawl in the United States, according to a three-year study released yesterday by the Washington, D.C.-based coalition Smart Growth America. The study, based on the work of researchers at Rutgers University and Cornell University, measured sprawl by evaluating the density of development, the blend of homes, jobs, and services, the accessibility of streets, and the strength of downtown areas. California's Riverside-San Bernardino region came in at rock bottom, scoring a dismal 14.2 points on a "sprawlometer" where 100 is average, and higher is better. …

Massachusetts is preparing to adopt California's ambitious zero-emission vehicle legislation, which would require 10 percent of cars and trucks sold within the state to produce no pollution. For the moment, though, the U.S. government is still bickering internally over whether California's legislation is legal. Earlier this month, the Bush administration said California had overstepped its authority by trying to regulate not only emissions but also fuel efficiency, and as a result the Justice Department put the new standards on hold until 2005. The U.S. EPA, however, has proposed supporting a similar program in Massachusetts that calls for low (rather than …