Climate Cities

Prairie Dogged

Faced with drought and plunging profits, Colorado farmers are under growing financial pressure to hawk their land to developers. Between 1993 and 2001, about 1.5 million acres of farmland in the state were put on the market and developed; 300,000 of the acres were sold in 2001 as a drought began to take hold. State […]

Random Acts of Unkindness

The Earth Liberation Front is back in the news, after vandals went about their business and then etched the group’s initials on the windows of two McDonald’s and one Burger King in the Richmond, Va., area, as well as on the windows of 25 SUVs at a local dealership. Those incidents occurred this fall; earlier […]

EV Rider

Subway to Heaven

Congregations in 15 states are joining forces this Sunday to belt out the clean-energy gospel in the launch of a national “What Would Jesus Drive?” campaign. Reverend Jim Ball, who directs the Evangelical Environmental Network, said: “Jesus wants his followers to drive the least-polluting, most efficient vehicle that truly meets their needs — though first […]

Sulfuring Succotash

Refiners should have no problem producing nearly sulfur-free diesel by 2006, according to a report released yesterday by an advisory panel to the U.S. EPA. The panel was convened last year by EPA Administrator Christie Whitman to assess possible technological barriers to complying with a clean diesel rule issued in the final weeks of the […]

Don’t Dig a Hole, Too, China

In yet another blow to the environment, the Chinese government is launching a massive expansion of its road network to accommodate its fast-emerging car culture. By 2010, the country says major roads will span a total of 22,000 miles in and between major cities, including Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai; by 2020, it hopes to […]

Yukon Take Your SUV and Shove It

Despite increasing awareness of alternative-fuel technologies and growing concern over U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the fuel economy of American cars is only getting worse. Statistics released today by the U.S. EPA show that the average fuel economy of the new fleet of cars for 2003 is 6 percent lower than it was 15 years […]

Fly the Unfriendly Skies

One-fourth of all North American bird species are at risk, according to a new study released by the National Audubon Society. The report blames increased urbanization and the resulting loss of open spaces for the decline; as cities grow, farmlands are converted to urban areas and grasslands are converted to farmlands, leaving birds with insufficient […]

That’s Sprawl, Folks

Communities in California, Georgia, and North Carolina are the worst offenders when it comes to suburban sprawl in the United States, according to a three-year study released yesterday by the Washington, D.C.-based coalition Smart Growth America. The study, based on the work of researchers at Rutgers University and Cornell University, measured sprawl by evaluating the […]

City of Angels

The famously smog-choked city of Los Angeles will be home to the first zero-emission fuel-cell cars in the U.S., according to an announcement made yesterday by Mayor James Hahn (D). By the end of 2002, Honda Motor Company will lease five FCX hydrogen-powered cars to L.A., which will loan them to city employees for commuting. […]