Climate Cities

In Security

A Ticket to Not Ride

Tree-huggers, time-wasters, socialists, elitists, leftists, losers, homosexuals, Democrats — those are just a few of the more printable epithets that have been directed at the members of Earth on Empty, an environmental organization dedicated to improving air quality and reversing global warming. What has Earth on Empty done to earn such malice? It has launched […]

Is biodiesel the fuel of the future?

The Granola Ayatollah of Canola, aka Charris Ford, slides behind the wheel of his 1980 International Scout truck and turns the key. The truck burbles to life and off we go, cruising down the gravel roads that divide the aspen groves of southwestern Colorado’s Horsefly Mesa. It would be just a standard evening joyride, except […]

Building a green community in the Green Mountain State

At 9:30 at night the phone rings. It is my neighbor Lorie, who asks me if I’d mind stepping out onto my porch for a minute. I think I know what this is about. Up the hill on Tom and Lorie’s porch there are candles burning on tables covered with the scattered remains of dinner. […]

Putting the Golf Cart Before the Horsepower

Seeking to comply with California regulations requiring automakers to reduce their emissions, General Motors has announced plans to give away thousands of electric vehicles over the next three years. The vehicles in question are literally modified golf carts (they have had seat belts, windshield wipers, and other parts added), and are only for use in […]

No Room at the Inn

Banff National Park is the jewel of the Canadian Rockies — and its most sparkly facet is Lake Louise, famous for emerald waters, dense forests, and glittering reflections of Victoria Glacier. But the peaceful-looking spot is actually a battleground between a large Canadian hotel chain and environmentalists who want to put a stop to a […]

Happy Contrails to You

Tragic as they were, the events of Sept. 11 provided an unexpected boon to climate science: They caused an unprecedented three-day interruption in U.S. air traffic that enabled scientists to assess the impact on the climate of condensation from jet planes. Those streaks of condensation, known as contrails, all but disappeared during the flight hiatus […]

Paradise Without the Dashboard Light

The word “Zion” means a peaceful paradise — and for the past two years, Zion National Park has lived up to its name. Two summers ago, the famed Utah destination became the first national park in the continental U.S. to ban automobiles during peak visitor season. The resulting changes have been dramatic: fresh air, peace […]

Space Goes Coast to Coast

Living on the coast is often a lose-lose situation — beaches erode, and big storms take out pricey homes — but that hasn’t seemed to quench the thirst for development along the Florida shoreline. Rather than discouraging beachfront development to protect property owners and the environment alike, state laws and practices promote such development and […]

Give Those Ranchers a Hand

In an unusual shake-up of traditional alliances, ranchers and environmentalists are banding together in Colorado to fight a common enemy: urban sprawl. In Custer County, at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, three conservation groups and six ranchers have signed a covenant limiting the kind of development permissible on the land — no […]