cars
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What would we do if bikers’ lives were worth as much as auto convenience?
Great idea for a new law: Spouses and children of all traffic engineers must travel on the streets planned by their loved ones using a bike at least 50 percent of the time.
What would happen then? Probably this.
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I prefer to fly
I changed my mind. I no longer want a plug-in hybrid car. Them's for punks.
Now I want a solar/plug-in airplane. Video below the fold.
Takeaway message: battery technology is the roadblock. That and rain.
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Political parties may be divided on the issue of climate, but Americans agree on solutions
On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency has authority to regulate greenhouse gases as a pollutant (some called it a strong rebuke of the Bush administration's policies), George W. Bush saw fit to ramp up his language on the issue of global warming (hint: the new key word is "serious"):The decision (of) the Supreme Court we take very seriously. It's the new law of the land. I've taken this issue very seriously. I have said that it is a serious problem. I recognize that man is contributing to greenhouse gases.
But, despite this outpouring of concern, the Prez kept to old-school thinking, arguing that "anything that happens cannot hurt economic growth." (Clearly, nobody gave him any of the the reports on the enormous costs that we will likely bear as a result of climate changes, or for that matter, the compelling memos that have been circulating about the economic opportunities the climate challenge presents to those with a touch of "American ingenuity.")
The American public, on the other hand, appears more ready than Bush to embrace new thinking when it comes to solutions. Republicans and Democrats alike broadly embrace actions to curb emissions.
Based on a March telephone survey of 1,009 American adults, ages 18 and older, Gallup reports that an overwhelming majority supports stronger government restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. And, majorities, regardless of political persuasion, say we should spend more tax money to develop alternative sources of fuel and energy.
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Fuel-efficient vehicles could save you several times over
A proposed new California law would take from the guzzlers and give to the sippers:
Call it the Robin Hood approach to global warming. California drivers who buy new Hummers, Ford Expeditions, and other big vehicles that emit high levels of greenhouse gases would pay a fee of up to $2,500.
And drivers who buy more fuel-efficient cars -- like the Toyota Prius or Ford Focus -- would receive rebates of up to $2,500, straight from the gas-guzzlers' pockets. -
Our prez nearly made a slip of the plug
The funniest news lede I've read in a long time:
Credit Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally with saving the leader of the free world from self-immolation.
Apparently, our befuddled prez was about to stick an electrical plug into the hydrogen tank of a Ford hydrogen-electric plug-in hybrid. This act, if completed, would have generated Hindenburg-esque bad publicity and probably made Cheney our next president. (Eep!)
To make the save, Mulally apparently "violated all the protocols," grabbing the president's arm and steering him away from the plug.
Maybe that's exactly what Bush needs: someone who's not afraid to step in to steer him away from stuff that's eventually going to blow up in his -- and our -- face.
Wonder if Mulally would accept a pay cut ...
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You heard it here first
The lawsuit filed by automakers against states that have adopted California’s greenhouse-gas restrictions on vehicles may be dismissed as early as tomorrow (Wed.) afternoon. When the Supreme Court ruling in Mass. vs. EPA was announced, the judge handling the automakers’ lawsuit — Judge William K. Sessions III of the U.S. District Court of Vermont — […]
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So keep it up
Think about this article -- descriptively titled "Legislature flooded with bills about climate crisis; poll driven politicians see need to tackle global warming" -- the next time you get an email asking you to call or email your representative on an environmental issue. You keep it up long enough and they get it:
