Climate Cities

A guide to offsetting your carbon emissions

Taking a vacation to the other side of the planet is the ultimate luxury, but it’s one laced with guilt. On top of developed-country remorse, a new form of shame is beginning to stalk those of us taking “unnecessary” airplane rides: What about all that carbon dioxide spewing into the friendly but beleaguered skies? That’s […]

The Little Engine That Could

Honda develops “superclean” diesel engine for passenger cars Honda Motor Co. is aiming to clean up diesel’s dirty image with a new diesel engine for passenger cars that runs as cleanly as the most advanced gasoline-powered engines. In 2009, the company plans to start selling a sedan, probably a Honda Accord, powered by its new […]

Make a parking space into an impromptu public park

Late last year there was a bit of blogospheric hubbub about Park(ing), a nifty public art/activism/event/thingy whereby a parking space is colonized and made into a temporary, impromptu public park, with grass, a potted tree, and a park bench. (It stays that way as long as passer-bys are willing to keep feeding the meter.) I love the idea, but I never got around to posting about it.

And look, I blew it again! Yesterday was Park(ing) Day, and NPR did a nice little story about it, and me, well, I slept on it. Next year!

Search and You Shall Find

New Google philanthropy aims to build super-efficient hybrid car If you’re tired of waiting for bold innovation from big automakers, help is on the way from, of all places, iconic search firm Google. The company’s founders have established a controversial for-profit philanthropy, Google.org, which will focus on poverty, disease, and global warming. One of its […]

Hydrogen Hopes

BMW to put a few hydrogen cars on the road next year The cars of the future are here! Sorta. BMW announced yesterday that it will distribute about 100 hydrogen-powered 7-Series sedans to select drivers in the U.S. and E.U. in early 2007. The cars, which can travel about 125 miles before switching to gasoline, […]

Huston Eubank, director of the World Green Building Council, answers questions

Huston Eubank. What work do you do? I’m executive director of the World Green Building Council. What does your organization do? The World Green Building Council is a union of green building councils from around the world who are working to encourage development of green-building rating systems and accelerate the transformation of the global property […]

Keepin’ It Real Estate

Portland’s real-estate database makes it easy to search for green homes Realtors in and around Portland, Ore., will soon be able to search more easily for homes that have met national green-building standards. Starting in 2007, houses certified by LEED, Energy Star, and other such programs will be searchable in Portland’s authoritative Regional Multiple Listing […]

How Ultra-Low Can You Go?

California makes the jump to ultra-low sulfur diesel Starting today, on-road and off-road diesel vehicles in California will fill up with ultra-low sulfur fuel. California is leading the pack on this issue (natch); the rest of the U.S. will require on-road diesel vehicles to go ultra-low starting Oct. 15, but won’t require off-road vehicles to […]

A new exhibit lets New Orleans residents tell their own stories

In the beginning of July, I arrived in New Orleans for an internship at the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. I met with Anne Rolfes, the coordinator and one of the founders of the nonprofit health and environmental-justice organization, and we discussed the work I would be doing. I was to organize a photo exhibit displaying images […]

Umbra on electric cars

Dearest Umbra, Why are electric cars considered so great? They don’t pollute the air where they are driven. But certainly when they are plugged in they use energy from a power plant, which does pollute and also contributes to global warming. Doesn’t this just move the pollution from one area to another? Then you have […]