cars

Fight climate change by following the speed limit

Bay Area drivers could get a friendly push from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to fight climate change through "smart driving." This means: going easy on fuel consumption by avoiding sudden acceleration, keeping their tires inflated, ditching the golf clubs in the truck, keeping their cars tuned up, and most of all, following the goddamn speed limit.

Spanish city lets you trade in your car for a lifetime pass on public transit

The Spanish city of Murcia offered its residents a lifetime of free trolley rides if they would only give up their cars.

Auto manufacturers don't trust people to buy efficient cars

The federal government is proposing a new fuel efficiency standard of 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025. This is fairly modest, on a global scale -- it would require a 5 percent increase every year from 2017 onwards, but Europe is on track to hit 60 MPG by 2020, so it can certainly be done. Car manufacturers aren't happy about the prospect, though, and are pushing for a lower standard.

Their objections: It could add thousands to the cost of a new vehicle (whereas using less $4-a-gallon gas would probably only save hundreds per vehicle every year). And more to the point, it would require them to make smaller cars. This is America -- who's going to buy a smaller car? Where would you keep your ATV? Where would you mount your buck? For god's sake, man, where would you hang your truck balls? THIS IS NOT WHAT WE FOUGHT THE NAZIS FOR BY JIMINY.

Gigantic, gorgeous visualization of humanity's transport footprint on planet Earth

It's the Atlantic, as you've never seen it before: Cities are red, shipping routes blue, roads green and air networks in white. Click on the image to see the full map of the entire planet.

GM working on sexy new all-electric car for every country except U.S.

Germany, Korea, China, and now India are all venues for U.S. carmaking giant General Motors’ new all-electric hotness, the Chevrolet Beat.

Car costs may make it harder to save

Keeping money in the bank isn't easy when you're sinking dollars into your four wheels.

Crazy Europeans think people are more important than cars

All across Europe, urban policy is shifting to favor humans over automobiles. What are they thinking? The New York Times takes a look.

Critical List: ‘Irrational exuberance’ about shale gas; doubling fuel economy in the U.S

The New York Times obtained government documents that call natural gas companies' enthusiasm about shale gas and hydrofracking "irrational exuberance.”

That exuberance has convinced some lawmakers, though. Nine of them are writing to President Obama to ask him to push for more gas drilling.

In other technology-that’s-not-actually-going-to-save-us news, China's building a $1.5 billion clean coal plant, the first commercial clean coal plant of this size.

Great places: how livable streets make us happier humans

My dense, walkable, transit-rich neighborhood does a lot of great things for my carbon footprint. But what it does for my soul might, in the end, be more important.