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Lakes and Pains

Great Lakes beset by myriad threats This weekend, The Detroit News published a massive series on the latest threats facing the Great Lakes — and we mean massive: close to 30 articles. The lakes, which hold a fifth of the world’s freshwater, were once emblematic of America’s environmental malaise, choked with algae and pollutants. While […]

That’s Some Commitment

Bush administration cuts protections for Pacific salmon habitat In a move it says reaffirms its “commitment to salmon recovery,” the Bush administration on Friday slashed critical habitat for Pacific salmon facing extinction. The National Marine Fisheries Service announced that federal protection for salmon habitat in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington would be cut from 167,700 […]

Umbra on true hybrids

Dear Umbra, I read the New York Times article that reported auto manufacturers are using hybrid technology to boost power rather than improve mileage. It specifically mentioned the Honda Accord, claiming that the mileage difference between the six-cylinder and the hybrid is minimal. What are the facts here? Is there a hybrid that really, actually, […]

Same paper, same day, two claims

Saturday's LA Times features two articles about the effect of high gas prices on the choices that commuters make. One asserts that the recent run-up in gas prices is prompting more people to use public transportation. Another article, however, claims that changes to driving habits come in the form of choosing more efficient vehicles or just driving less.

In the interest of full disclosure, the first article is filed under the opinion section. And the claims of the two articles are not entirely opposed to one another. Both articles acknowledge that ridership is up; however, the second article notes that only half of the transit riders who considered trains a way to cut costs were still riding six months later. The convenience factor of cars, it seems, is just too great.

Also in the court of differing opinions: the second Times article's statement that "riding a Metrolink train also is more of a 'lifestyle choice' made by professional workers who have more flexibility with their schedules" v. Lisa Simpson, describing buses as "the ride of choice for the poor and very poor alike."

Beware the hype around plug-in hybrids

An article in Business Week Online tells us that experimental hybrid cars get up to 250 mpg (a very similar article appeared in the New York Times business section a couple of months earlier). I enjoy reading between the lines of lay press science and technology articles. There was a great discussion in Grist on this subject not too long ago.

Gremban ...spent... $3,000 tinkering with his car... [I]n the trunk sits an 80-miles-per-gallon secret -- a stack of 18 brick-sized batteries... [T]he extra batteries let Gremban drive for 20 miles with a 50-50 mix of gas and electricity.

In other words, for his $3000 he will get 80 miles per gallon for 20 miles before his carriage turns back into a pumpkin. For the rest of the day he will carry a hundred pounds of bricks around in his now-useless trunk, which by the way will degrade his gas mileage. For the first 20 miles he drives each day he will save 0.25 gallons, thus recouping his $3000 in about twenty years, assuming his batteries last that long. The more miles he drives after the batteries go dead, the worse things get because of the extra weight of the dead batteries in his trunk. Which leads me to ask: If his commute is only ten miles each way, why not just ride a bike, get a little exercise, and save $3000? You can also get 80 mpg out of a 40-mpg car by carpooling with one passenger, or get 120 mpg with two passengers, or 160-mpg with three passengers.

LA Story

When it rains, it pours: Yet another story on LA's urban density. This time courtesy of High Country News.

Rumors of a shortage of dump space were greatly exaggerated

I'm not a regular reader of the New York Times' business page, but on Friday this almost-worthy-of-Grist headline caught my eye: Waste Yes, Want Not.

Some of you might remember the saga of the Mobro 4000, the trash barge from New York that traveled the Eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico in 1987 searching out a final resting place for its cargo. I was a middle schooler in Corpus Christi, Texas when it came through our portion of the Intercoastal Waterway. I don't recall that it tried to stop in our port, but it was the talk of the town as it passed by. We weren't alone. The Mobro's odyssey was news across the country and brought about much hand wringing about the shortage of space to dump the nation's trash.

Turns out -- in the words of the subheadline -- Rumors of a Shortage of Dump Space Were Greatly Exaggerated.

Eco-wonderlands

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels ambivalent about this sort of thing. On one hand, it would be nice if people for once would just stay the hell out of an "eco-wonderland." On the other hand, these places do instill a kind of reverence for nature that carries over to other parts of a traveler's life.

What do you think?

(via Divester)

LA builds big for residents

The Washington Post article that Ana and I both pointed to yesterday crowned Los Angeles as the most densely populated metropolitan area in the country.

The heart of that metropolitan area, downtown LA, is feeling the effects, according to the LA Times. The last high rise built in the downtown area was completed in 1992, but a wave of skyscrapers is slated for the city. Five have been approved, and a total of 20 buildings over 20 stories tall are proposed.

Marking a departure from historical usage of the buildings, most of the new towers are primarily for residential use, not office space. This leaves some, like historian and author D.J. Waldie, wondering: "They're putting in even taller high-rises ... but down on the ground, where are the resources to make that into a place to live?"

The article also mentions the proposed 2000-foot Fordham Spire in Chicago. Pictures.

Dreams of growing your own food don’t look so hot in reality

My youngest daughter wants to be a farmer. She is heading off to the local fair grounds tomorrow to help get the barn cleaned up in preparation for the big 4-H show where she will give a presentation on fur mites. Although her rabbit is extremely cute, it usually comes in last place, because cuteness doesn't count. We indulge her farm fantasies because she is learning a great deal about life and having a wonderful childhood while she's at it. Childhood only comes around once, at least until you have kids and can partially participate a second or third time.