cars

Build your stockpile of gas now!

Gasoline supplies right now are plumbing historic lows, just as May and the "summer driving season" are about to roll around. This fact has the industry types at the WSJ's Energy Roundup abuzz with predictions of $4/gallon gasoline, should the inevitable disruption (refinery fire, hurricane, Iran war) occur. As in years past, areas with higher cost gasoline, mostly the blue states along the oceans and Great Lakes, will see the highest prices.

Poll results!

The NYT has a bucketload of important poll results. Here’s the full poll; here’s the summary: Americans in large bipartisan numbers say the heating of the earth’s atmosphere is having serious effects on the environment now or will soon and think that it is necessary to take immediate steps to reduce its effects, the latest […]

Are hybrids for men?

You could not pay me to write drivel like this. Conspicuous in its absence is the Prius. Chickenshit editor took it out fearing a backlash from the many subscribers who drive them. This article is so bad I'm embarrassed for the author. Don't bust your gut laughing:

The lost art of conversation

I passed a big rabble of bikers on my way to downtown Seattle yesterday evening. Several complimented my bike as I passed. There were a couple of talls in the mix. I assumed it was another Critical Mass ride, but maybe not. Sure looked like fun. I need to participate in one of those someday.

I periodically attend a monthly gathering of Seattle atheists. There are always new faces, and they pick a different restaurant every month for variety's sake. We chatted about things like global warming, the recent shootings in Virginia, diesel verses hybrid cars and, of course, the American propensity for religiosity.

Check your local listings

All the magazines have gone to press with what's become their annual Green Issue. And now TV is in on the act.

MTV has a special Earth Day edition of Pimp My Ride: they take a '65 Impala, put in a 800 hp diesel engine, fill the tank with biodiesel, and race it against a Lamborghini. My money is on the Impala. Cameo by Governor Schwarzenegger, check local listings (April 22). While this isn't exactly a recipe for sustainability, that's not really the point, either. Everyone should work to their strengths, and if MTV can make it sexy to get the kids involved, all the better.

PBS is airing a NOVA special titled "Saved by the Sun," which asks the provocative question: "Is it time to take solar seriously?" Yes, is the answer. It features a hero of mine, Steven Strong of Solar Design Associates, who built the first solar powered neighborhood in 1984, put what was then the world's largest solar system on the roof of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and is now designing a solar system for the SF Giants baseball stadium. He has been doing this longer and better than anyone else in the business and fully deserves his day in the sun. Ahem. April 24, generally 8 PM on your local PBS station, check local listings.

A couple

Here are two lists, for those of you into that kind of thing: First, Sustainlane — which seems to produce a list every few weeks, no? — has a list of the Top Ten Cities for Renewable Energy. That’s the cities that provide citizens with the most green power. They are: 1. Oakland, CA 2. […]

If you won’t go after them, we will

The IPCC reports are some of the most highly anticipated of 2007. An obvious sign? Within two weeks of one report's release, papers are already covering a leak from the next.

IPCC Working Group III's focus is on mitigation, meaning a fair number of policy implications can be derived from its conclusions. So here's a hint for America's auto industry: the report calls for urgent action on road pollution.

In the United States, there are 483 passenger cars per 1,000 people (EarthTrends). The world average is about 100, and few countries outnumber our car count (Australia, for example, had 492 in 1996).

Um, overseas

“As part of efforts to shed its image of closeness to the motoring lobby, the party wants the government to commit immediately to key rail expansion projects …” That’s the conservative party. The dawn of hope and sanity? Yes. In the U.K.

What a bunch of whiners

So, remember that lawsuit by the automakers against states implementing California’s clean air standards? The one I said might be dismissed, um, several weeks ago? Breaking: it wasn’t dismissed! In fact, the trial is rolling along, and the whiny-ass-titty-baby automakers are in court right now arguing that they don’t have the smarts, money, or time […]