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Prius sales top one million

The Toyota Prius is "the world's first mass-produced petrol-electric hybrid car to hit 1 million in sales." More than half of those were sold in North America. Toyota's goal is to sell more than one million per year.

I own one and must say it is a terrific car. I get about 45 miles per gallon combined city and highway -- double the mpg of my old Saturn, which was not as big.

I think the comments from the Wired blog bear repeating, considering how GM (and others) mocked Toyota for pushing what they claimed was a money-losing vehicle:

Bush admin debuts final recovery plan for spotted owl

The Bush administration has released a final plan for helping out the northern spotted owl, after a prior plan was deemed to have been watered down by political interference. Critics admit the plan is an improvement over last year’s draft — which relied heavily on, ahem, taking out predator barred owls with shotguns — but […]

I loathe the farm bill but can’t bring myself to accept the Bush administration’s party line

People keep asking me what I think about the new farm bill — the one that will soon likely become law, since both houses of Congress passed it with majorities that would withstand Bush’s threatened veto. I hate it; it fails utterly to make the investments we need to rebuild local and regional food systems […]

Val Kilmer to star in Arctic horror flick

Photo: © Val Kilmer This summer, the Iceman cometh … to a horror flick about global warming. The Thaw, which begins shooting mid-June with star Val Kilmer, is based on the premise that melting ice caps reveal a woolly mammoth hosting a deadly prehistoric parasite that comes back to life to infect the world … […]

Why that organic label on your milk doesn’t tell the whole story

Tastes great, but who’s paying the health-care bills? As a writer, one of my goals is to demystify farming for non-farmers — to remind people that their food comes from somewhere, grown by someone, often drawing down finite resources. Less than 2 percent of Americans farm, yet all of us eat. Whether you’re scarfing a […]

Senate slips life support for ‘clean coal’ boondoggle into war supplemental package

Remember FutureGen, the pilot program that was supposed to yield the nation’s first zero-emissions, “clean coal” power plant? The one that even the Bush administration realized was a bad idea, after the price tag on the project ballooned to $1.8 billion? Well, some senators just don’t want to see it die ($ub req’d). Yesterday, the […]

Greens celebrate two holidays today

If you saw a tiger riding a two-wheeler to the office this morning, that’s because it’s Endangered Species Bike to Work Day. Wait, wait, we’re getting a memo — oh, actually, it’s both Endangered Species Day and Bike to Work Day. (Then what the hell was that tiger doing?) In honor of Bike to Work […]

Smart-growth advocates offer tips for changing your neck of the woods

This week we’ve profiled several cities that are changing the way their residents live, work, and get around — all with an eye toward fighting climate change and building a more sustainable future. So what can you do if your community hasn’t seen the light? We asked our sources for advice, and here’s what they […]

Smart(ish) Cities series ends, sustainability efforts march on

By now, you may have forgotten that Portland was ever crowned the Miss Universe of Sustainability, and have started packing up your bicycles and solar panels for the big move to Syracuse or Tampa. OK, maybe you’re not thinking of uprooting yourself and your family. More likely, you’re evaluating your own city to figure out […]

Adrian Grenier’s eco-entourage heats up Planet Green

I mentioned Adrian Grenier’s upcoming project, The Green Life, back in January, but the latest scoop is that the show — billed as a makeover series wherein Grenier and "his entourage" help everyday folk go green — has been renamed Alter Eco and will premiere in June. According to LAist, one of the first renovations […]