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Panther in the Dark

FWS admits using bad data to determine panther habitat The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has admitted to using shoddy science and thrice violating federal law while designating habitat for the endangered Florida panther, thereby allowing giant development projects to proceed within the species’ range. Turns out, the core of the disputed science was a […]

Hybrids tested and reviewed — Wired style

Thinking about buying a hybrid car?

Paul A. Eisenstein, founder of TheCarConnection.com, write's up the results of Wired's road tests of the following vehicles:

Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid
Ford Escape Hybrid
Honda Accord Hybrid
Honda Civic Hybrid
Honda Insight
Lexus Rx 400h
Toyota Prius
Toyota Highlander Hybrid

They drove them down city streets, up freeway on-ramps, and along the tight twists of a mountain road. They judged the cars on acceleration, maneuverability, comfort, features, esthetics and fuel efficiency.

The Sound of One Hull Splitting

Sixteen years after Exxon Valdez, tankers still not safe This week, to mark the 16th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez disaster that spilled 11 million gallons of oil in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is running a special series on the environmentally precarious state of modern oil-tanker transport. Some key findings of its […]

How’s your air?

Via MetaEfficient, check out Scorecard, the Pollution Information Site. You can type in your zip code and find out the air quality (and much more pollution data) where you live, including a map of pollution sources and comparisons to national averages. Very handy. Oh, and scary.

Here's the pollution situation where I live. The top polluter in my county is Rexam Beverage Can Co. The top chemical pollutants are glycol ethers. We've got two Superfund sites polluting our water.

How's your home turf doing?

Clean-Energy Trends 2005

I'm way behind in my blogginess, thanks to that other full-time job I have, so forgive me as I catch up on stuff that's (gasp!) up to two days old.

Check out the report from Joel Makower and Clean Edge on "Clean-Energy Trends 2005" (PDF). Says Joel:

It offers ten-year projections for key clean-energy markets, examines factors that are influencing clean-energy markets and venture investments, and offers five trends we find noteworthy.

Here are the five trends:

• the growth of fuels from biomass in the U.S. and Europe
• the growth of energy efficiency due to high energy prices
• the resurgence of electricity generated by concentrated solar power stations
• the emergence of the hydrogen infrastructure
• how the growth of green buildings is stimulating markets for new products and technologies

Joel's got more.

Protect American River Canyons

Nice genes

In more strange news from nature (see: pandas peeing, bats running): It seems that plants store genetic information from generations past, and can use it to fix oddities they've inherited directly. Scientists -- who began to cotton on to the phenomenon when a weed expected to produce mutant flowers bloomed normally instead -- aren't entirely sure what to make of this news, but they think it could help fight diseases in plants, and might give a hint of human possibilities as well.

As genetics professor Gerald Fink told the Washington Post (in a quote that has made me love him), "something weird is definitely going on."

The Agency

The Onion is, as always, amusing.

Sky Blue

It is the year 2142. Earth has suffered severe ecological damage due to billions of humans inhabiting the planet. The sky is black and acid rain has been pouring down for a century.

Fortunately, for some, a sanctuary was constructed: Ecoban, a living city genetically engineered to house an elite society. As with many cities, Ecoban exists thanks to the tireless work of an impoverished underclass -- the Diggers. But the very city that they strenuously work to keep alive is killing them. Mercury and sulfur are poisoning their environment, and children are being born blind. So it is up to Ecoban's creator, along with a group of rebel Diggers, to restore balance to the world, to once again see the blue sky -- but at the cost of Ecoban and its inhabitants.

States of grace, states of confusion

Which states use the least gasoline?  Which ones have the best gas-conservation trends? Probably not who you'd think, at least for the latter question.

Based on Federal Highway Administration data covering 2001 through 2003, residents of New York State use the least gasoline, person for person, of any U.S. state: about 0.8 gallons per person per day, vs. the national average of 1.2 gallons per person. That's to be expected: New York City--which makes up a sizable chunk of the state's population--is among the densest cities in the country, which allows many of its residents to get by perfectly well without cars, except for the occasional taxicab.

The runners-up to New York were: Hawaii--with high priced gas and surprisingly dense Honolulu--at .9 gallons per person per day; Rhode Island--dominated by urban Providence--at one daily gallon per capita; and Illinois--which has a significant share of residents in urban Chicago and its dense inner suburbs--with 1.1 gallons. Oregon, Washington, and Idaho rank 8th, 12th, and 17th, respectively, in per capita gas consumption; but all three states are close to the national average.

The states that use the most gas are either predominantly rural, have particularly sprawling cities, or both. Wyoming residents use the most gasoline (1.8 gallons per person per day), followed by residents of Georgia, South Carolina, and Vermont at about 1.5 gallons per capita.

Now, for the trend lines -- over the long term, which states are going in the right direction? If you guessed Nevada, you hit the jackpot.