cars

That smarts! Dutch pranksters go car-tipping, and more

Dutch treat Forget cow-tipping. Dutch pranksters are all about car-tipping these days, dumping dozens of lightweight Smart cars into Amsterdam’s canals. What tossers! Image created by The Sun

Sarah van Schagen Culture

Tesla speeds past financial troubles, opens retail stores across country

Five months ago, Tesla Motors appeared to be following in the footsteps of other American automakers. Lay-offs, a dearth of financing, and a spring recall of 70 percent of delivered Roadsters prompted speculation that Tesla might soon be the next casualty of the economic downturn. But Tesla proved just too cool to fail. In May, […]

Sara Barz Technology

Can we really make the drive-thru a source of power?

My father believes that the one modern invention above all others to contribute to the downfall of the planet, not to mention our civilization, is the drive-through — or, in the spirit of efficiency on which it’s based, the drive-thru. Your idling could light this sign!Not only does it encourage laziness and obesity by tempting […]

Lisa Selin Davis Cities

Ask Umbra on buying a convertible

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Long story short, my parents have been thinking about buying me a car since soon I will be going to University and that way, I won’t constantly be using their cars. My mom suggested a Volkswagen Beetle Convertible, which I love the look of. However, it doesn’t […]

Ask Umbra® Culture

EPA affirms California’s right to set tougher automobile emissions standards

The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday that it will grant a waiver for California and 13 other states to set automobile emission standards that are higher than national ones — at least for the next two years. “The waiver affirms California’s authority to set the standards for the cleanest cars in the nation and […]

Kate Sheppard Politics

The New York Times sells its integrity to ExxonMobil

Please email the NYT at nytnews@nytimes.com about this egregious ad and/or email its public editor at public@nytimes.com to explain you are “concerned about the paper’s journalistic integrity.” Click image for full pic of the NYT’s June 16, 2009 front page. These are hard times for the newspaper business. The paper of record has taken to […]

Joseph Romm Technology

One man’s plan to re-create suburbia, sans cars

California’s East Bay — the collection of towns, cities, and suburbs across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco — has a lot to boast about. There’s the perpetually great weather, enlightened inhabitants, and a halfway decent, if in my opinion overpriced, public transit system in the form of BART. Yet despite BART’s 43 stations spanning […]

Lisa Selin Davis Cities

Congress gives green light to “cash for clunkers” bill; Obama to sign

The “cash for clunkers” bill is now headed to President Barack Obama’s desk, and he’s expected to sign it enthusiastically. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden personally lobbied senators to support the bill, helping stave off a Republican-led effort to kill it. The bill ultimately passed the Senate on Thursday as part of a large […]