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Ford Smart Gauge urges driver fuel efficiency

Trying to reduce gas consumption? Drivers of the 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids will be assisted by a Smart Gauge that screams instructions like a panicked driver’s ed teacher shows, among other things, multiplying green leaves as drivers drive more fuel-efficiently. Ford will also improve how far the cars can go on electricity […]

Palin gives first big speech on ‘strategic energy independence’

Sarah Palin in Toledo, Ohio. Photo: Madalyn Ruggiero / AP   For weeks now, GOP presidential candidate John McCain has been saying that in his administration, VP Sarah Palin would serve as energy czar, since she “knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America.” For the first time since […]

China concedes its CO2 emissions have caught up to the U.S.

In what appears to be the first official acknowledgement of findings that China is emitting at least as much carbon dioxide annually as the United States (if not more), an official in charge of China’s climate policy released a report saying as much that also warned of a big financial toll from climate change. “Climate […]

Wal-Mart scales back expansion plans due to poor economy

Wal-Mart announced this week that it will scale down its expansion plans in fiscal 2009 and 2010 due to concerns about a weaker economy. This year, Wal-Mart built 243 new stores, but in these relatively uncertain economic times, the retailer said it plans to construct just 212 new stores in 2009 and 177 in 2010. […]

Independent panel finds FDA conclusions on BPA flawed

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s finding earlier this year that the chemical bisphenol A is safe for use in food containers and other products is “not supported by the available data and science,” according to an independent review panel tasked with examining the FDA’s conclusions. The review panel found that “The margins of safety […]

McCain adviser challenges idea of regulating CO2 under the Clean Air Act

McCain senior policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin was on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday talking about the need for the next president to enact “comprehensive policies” to create jobs as well as a “real energy policy.” He also took on the recent assertion from Obama’s advisers that their candidate would regulate carbon dioxide as a […]

The financial crisis is distracting us from … everything!

Prince Charles busted out with a strong message on Tuesday: This economic stuff is scary, but climate change is the real crisis. Word. But it turns out Chuck ain’t the only one using this device. Depending whom you ask, the real crisis being overshadowed by financial turmoil is: green building (“can’t wait”), clean energy (“can’t […]

Newspapers call out climate and energy in prez endorsements

As of Tuesday, 222 daily newspapers had endorsed Barack Obama for president, and 93 had picked John McCain. Many papers mentioned climate and energy, those dark-horse Big Issues in this campaign, as a reason for backing or choosing not to back a candidate. The nation’s largest newspapers in terms of circulation are leaning heavily toward […]

If you thought ignoring financial risks blew up in our faces …

“We have seen the consequences of ignoring risk in the current economic and financial crisis. It has already led to negative growth in rich countries. The risk consequences of ignoring climate change will be very much bigger that the risk consequences of ignoring risk from the financial system.” — Sir Nicholas Stern, former World Bank […]

How to green your garage

Start greening your car hole. Photo: Paul Salzman Alt-rock band Weezer kept a Dungeon Master’s Guide, 12-sided die, and KISS posters there. Yours likely has a jumble of old tires, extension cords, motor oil, tire pumps, or camping gear. Not to get all SAT on you, but a garage is to a house what a […]