Latest Articles

Review of car safety and gas mileage somehow fails to include hybrids

CNN's Gas Gripes page includes a link to a review of "safe" cars that "save on gas." The "safe" label is based on the results of side crash tests, and the article assumes 27.5 mpg on the highway to be "reasonably good." Somehow, neither article includes the word "hybrid" anywhere in it...

From Size to Spies

It’s not the size of the turtle, it’s how you save it Photo: WiLDCOAST. “My man doesn’t need turtle eggs,” says the sultry model in a controversial Mexican ad campaign, which urges men to stop buying the alleged aphrodisiacs and help save the endangered sea creatures. But does he need a Hummer H2? Money-mouth co-location […]

Oiloholics

The Economist has on its cover this week a not-so-flattering caricature of Uncle Sam and a dragon, both sipping down oil like there's no tomorrow. The article is "The Oiloholics."

Why do I mention this now? Usually you have to subscribe to the magazine to read this article. But today you can promise to watch an ad and do something else for 30 seconds watch an ad and get access for free.

Chain restaurants stake out turf near schools

Wait, why are we all getting fat?

Check a real person out from a Swedish library

Did anyone else spot this amazing (and amazingly to-the-point) article?

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) -- If you're one of those people who thinks all lesbians are sexually frustrated or all animal rights activists aggressive, then a Swedish library project that allows you to "borrow" a real live human being rather than a book may provide some useful insight.

Wow. My mind quickly jumps to bridge-building applications in the U.S.: Borrow A Conservative for a Day, Borrow a Tree Hugger, Borrow a Logger, Borrow a Freakin' Yankees Fan.

Readers talk back about poverty, population, and biodiesel

  Re: Forgive Us Our Debts Dear Editor: I was angered by Jon Christensen’s assertion that conservationists and environmentalists are sitting on the sidelines while others are supposedly doing all the heavy lifting with regard to alleviating AIDS and poverty in the developing world. Just because an environmental group is not a member of the […]

The latest solution to pumped-up prices

Because I'm obsessed with reactions to gas prices, I shall tell you about an email I got this morning from a childhood friend in Maine. Maybe you've also gotten it. But not from my friend, a sweet woman who usually forwards the Ann-Landers messages: you know, a poem reminding you to love your kids and scratch behind your dog's ears, because tomorrow you might all be dead, that sort of thing.

Today's note is about a campaign to "force a price war" by not buying gas from ExxonMobil. The thinking goes that once they feel the sting, they'll have to lower prices below $2, and everyone else will follow suit. Hmm ...

The most interesting part (to wonky ol' me) was this line: "Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas." Sigh. In a breakdown of an older version of this chain letter and an explanation of why it will never, ever work, Break the Chain slips in this bit of finger-wagging: "If you want to save money at the pump, slow down on the freeway, plan outings to get everything in one trip, walk more, and trade in that gas-guzzling SUV for an economical compact car for starters."

Play Your Cardigans Right

Americans look with dread toward this winter’s heating bills Skyrocketing energy costs aren’t just kicking Americans in the gas tank — they’re punching Americans right in the bills. The home-heating bills, that is. Folks are expected to spend $600 billion this year on oil purchases (including home heating oil), about $210 billion more than two […]

Gorge Push

Northwest’s Columbia River Gorge challenged by smog, acid fog Hundreds of miles north of California’s cow-poot-clogged San Joaquin Valley (yes, that was just an excuse to mention cow poots), the Columbia River Gorge along the border between Oregon and Washington is facing its own battle of the haze, with views of nearby Mount Hood often […]

Raider of the Last Parks

Proposal to change national-park rules stirring up controversy National parks are cool and all, but you know what they really need? More people on cell phones! That — along with more snowmobiling and off-roading — could happen under revisions to National Park Service policy proposed by Bush appointee Paul Hoffman, deputy assistant secretary of the […]