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Issa wants cheaper cars, more climate change

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), whose official role as chairman of the House oversight committee is to be an administrative gadfly, is investigating the new fuel economy standard the Obama administration announced last Friday.

Issa is concerned about how the Obama administration negotiated with car manufacturers over these standards, which will push the average fuel economy of the country's fleet of new cars and trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The problem, according to Issa, is that the standards could make cars cost more money and limit consumer choice.

The newest front in green energy: churches

Sure, some religious folks see climate change as anathema to their worldview, but plenty -- probably most -- do not! And with the help of their religious leaders, they're banding together into blocks of citizens who can negotiate for cheaper, cleaner energy, as well as discounts on energy-efficiency retrofits.

Owning a car is like having a second mortgage

Auckland Transport Blog points out a sobering calculation from the book The Option of Urbanism: The financial cost of owning and maintaining a car is equivalent to the cost of owning a small house. (Well, a small house in a cheap area. But still.) AAA calculated that the average cost of car ownership and maintenance […]

Glacier National Park to be devoid of glaciers by 2020

In the 19th century, there were 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park, and now there are just 25. By 2020, even those will be gone, says Daniel Fagre, coordinator of climate change and glacial geology studies in the park.

New site shows how far public transportation will take you

Mapnificent lets you see how far you can get on public transportation in a set amont of time, in more than 60 metro areas worldwide. (Above: 15 minutes on bus and rail in Chicago.) It's a new way of visualizing how easy it is to navigate a city without a car. You can use it to check out places where you might want to live or visit, to get an idea of how far transportation will get you and how much of your day it might take up to get where you need to go.

Here's what 15 minutes looks like in a few more cities:

Destroying dams could save a salmon species

Twenty years and $350 million after President George H.W. Bush first signed an act to restore Washington State's Elwha River, the process to bring down two gigantic dams has begun. That could save the Elwha’s population of salmon.

Better than air conditioning: Tips for biking through the heat wave

Heat wave biking isn't for everyone. But if you put some thought into how you dress, take it slow, and always have water on hand, you'll love it.

Critical List: China makes solar power cheap; U.K. fishing fleet wastes cod

China is making solar power cheap in order to drive solar growth.

Since 1963, U.K. fishing boats have tossed $1 billion worth of dead or dying cod overboard to keep within their quotas.

In Washington State, what The New York Times calls "the largest dam removal project in American history" will destroy two dams and help salmon regrow their population.

The sustainable seafood myth

Seafood sustainability ratings don't get to the heart of the matter: If global warming continues unabated, there won't be any fish left to eat.

The new abnormal: look who's talking about climate and weird weather

Journalists, experts, and The Onion offer different approaches to the conversation about connections between climate change and extreme weather.