Latest Articles

Sweet ‘n’ Low-Down

Sugar is causing environmental catastrophes A high-sugar diet is slowly fattening and sickening American people, but we’re getting off easy. Turns out the sweet stuff is outright killing endangered Florida panthers, not to mention the ecosystem in which they live. Almost 700,000 acres of the Florida Everglades have been drained to create the Everglades Agricultural […]

Low Income, High Concept

Low-income housing starts going eco-friendly Low-income housing, built in part with money from a special program of federal tax credits, has traditionally been low-cost, low-quality, and low-appeal. But the Enterprise Foundation is trying to change that with its Green Communities Initiative, investing $550 million over five years toward 8,500 units of affordable housing built to […]

The Vinyl Countdown

Anti-PVC campaign gets rolling A coalition of environmental and public-health groups this week kicked off a new campaign to discourage the purchase of products containing polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, which they argue is harmful to health and the environment. A report compiled by two of the groups concluded there is no safe way to dispose […]

O Conserve All Ye Faithful

London’s big Christmas tree powered by fuel cell This year, Christmas is getting an eco-friendly boost in London. All 648 energy-efficient light bulbs on the massive Christmas tree bedecking Trafalgar Square will be powered by a hydrogen fuel-cell generator in lieu of the traditional fossil-fuel-powered beasts used in years past. Roughly the size of a […]

Bush’s pick to head the USDA is a big ethanol booster

At a White House ceremony last week announcing the nomination of Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns (R) to succeed Ann Veneman as agriculture secretary, President Bush called his pick “a strong proponent of alternative energy sources, such as ethanol and biodiesel,” later adding that “in a new term, we’ll continue policies that are pro-growth, pro-jobs, and […]

Lights

Looking for some environmentally friendly -- yet full of holiday cheer -- lights for your tree/house/yard/plastic reindeer this season?  MetaEfficient recommends LED.

Diesel

Green Car Congress compares four Honda Accords -- a hybrid, a clean diesel, and two sedans -- and comes to a rather surprising conclusion: "The outcome: the Accord Diesel (using petroleum diesel) offers the lowest fuel consumption and the lowest CO2 emissions, even surpassing the Accord Hybrid."

UPDATE: Here's a follow-up post comparing different versions of the Honda Civic.

Stevie Nix

Interior Deputy Secretary Griles resigns The No. 2 official at the Interior Department, Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles, yesterday became the latest Bush administration appointee to announce he’s jumping ship come January. Under investigation during nearly half his tenure at Interior for ethics violations stemming from his uninterrupted $284,000 annual payments from his former employer, […]

Would You Like to Come Up for a CO2 Cap?

Bipartisan energy-policy panel calls for CO2 caps The notion of imposing mandatory restrictions on greenhouse-gas emissions in the U.S. continues to gather steam among those with no power to impose them. A privately funded panel of energy experts — including Republicans, Democrats, academics, environmentalists, and energy-industry representatives — wrapped up two years of study today […]

Suit of Harmer

Automakers sue California over greenhouse-gas emission regs The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers filed suit against California on Tuesday, charging that the state’s new regulations on greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles (requiring a roughly 30 percent cut by 2016) amount to the imposition of new fuel-economy standards, which is the feds’ purview. The Schwarzenegger administration has pledged […]