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Enviro group settles on campaign finance violation

The Sierra Club has agreed to pay a $28,000 fine to settle charges that the organization violated Federal Election Commission regulations during the 2004 election.

The FEC found that the club's 2004 election brochure contained "express advocacy" which constituted an "independent expenditure" -- making it off-limits for the nonprofit Sierra Club.

Cellulosic ethanol, that is

Ha. This headline from Greenwire yesterday (sub. rqd) verges on parody:

Cellulosic fuel on cusp of commercialization, but hurdles remain, experts say

How to transform personal transportation with existing tools

Previous posts about CyberTran described next-generation mass transit systems.

But nobody expects automobiles to disappear from U.S. roads in the near future. We need to get efficiency way up, fast.

The automobile equivalent of CyberTran is the ultra-light electric car. Electric cars don't have to be dull; Tesla Motors sells the Tesla roadster, a ~$100,000 electric sports car that can outrun a comparable Ferrari costing almost twice the price.

But they also don't have to be toys for the filthy rich. Solectria demonstrated the midsize four-passenger Sunrise in 1997. It traveled 216 miles from Boston to New York at normal highway speed, using only 85% of the power in a battery containing energy equivalent to less than a gallon of gas (PDF). Solectria claimed at the time it could profitably retail the car for as little as $20,000. So why did it never come to market?

The problem with a mass market car is you have to make in mass quantities. Generally, if you cannot use the full capacity of a major factory by selling at least 40,000+ units per year, a car is considered a niche product. Below that, you cannot get the full economies of automobile mass production.

Inhofe on the U.N. climate summit

The last gasps of a dying chairmanship: Inhofe weighs in on the U.N. climate summit.

His biggest concern regarding the summit -- which, by the way, he didn't attend -- was a children's book (PDF) on climate change, which Inhofe claims is "brainwashing little kids."

Pits of Despair

Coal industry fends off concerns, keeps working on comeback Some of the tap water in West Virginia’s Mingo County is flowing in funny colors: red, brown, and black. Alarmed residents asked the state if the discoloration, caused by high levels of heavy metals including arsenic and lead, could be related to Big Coal’s practice of […]

A Bee in His Bonnet

London mayor proposes steep congestion charge for gas-guzzlers London Mayor Ken Livingstone has announced plans to make the city’s weekday congestion tax much steeper for drivers of polluting vehicles. Under the proposal, owners of SUVs and other gas-guzzlers would shell out the equivalent of about $47 a day to motor into London between 6:30 a.m. […]

The Case of the Mislabeled Case

Wal-Mart accused of incorrectly labeling organic products Ah, Wal-Mart — always reliable for some good old-fashioned eco-drama. This week, the Cornucopia Institute, an activist group representing small farmers, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that accuses Wal-Mart of incorrectly labeling or otherwise misrepresenting various products as organic in some stores. Visiting a […]

Taking It From All Sides

Bush faces climate criticism from greens, U.S. mayors, entire world You know how, when you’re making a bad choice, your friends try to tell you, but you can’t see it? Listen up, Bush administration. In a speech yesterday, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan cited a “frightening lack of leadership” on climate change. He later said […]

Low-oxygen event troubling in Hood Canal

Arrr mateys, there's nothin' like a noggin o' rum cuppa joe to sober wake ye up on a Thursday morn. And there's nothin' like a depressing video of a fish die-off to harsh ye mellow. The footage of Hood Canal comes from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and includes a brief explanation of the problem:

Green building convention is abuzz

I'm currently attending GreenBuild, the U.S. Green Building Council's big annual convention. This is just the fifth iteration, but already it's a behemoth. Last year it drew over 10,000 attendees, and this year it's expected to best that record.

The vast trade show floor (over 700 exhibitors) testifies to the big business of green building. The show places leviathan bridge-builders next door to some guy selling composting toilets. An entire aisle is lined with suppliers of modular green roofs.

What I find interesting, though, is less the breadth of exhibitors than the depth.