fuel efficiency

They met on the Prius showroom floor …

Environmentalists were there to lighten their ecological footprint. Neocons were there to lighten the fat Saudi pocketbook, full of petro dollars that fund terrorism. According to Robert Bryce, writing in Slate, the strange bedfellows have come together to advocate measures that would increase car fuel efficiency, lessen foreign oil dependence, and pump up renewables.

While Bryce pitches the "sleeping with the enemy" angle, the key point is there are multiple, compelling reasons to aggressively pursue (and for the government to subsidize) energy efficiency, renewables and alternatives to fossil fuels, and reduced dependence on overseas oil. Greens have often worked this issue with one hand tied behind their backs.

Italy jumps on the SUV-bashing bandwagon

Europeans don't take as kindly to mobile global-warmers as do their American counterparts.  Latest country to join in the anti-SUV backlash:  Italy.  The nation's Environment Ministry is plotting to slap a new tax on big gas-guzzlers, and possibly use the funds to incentivize people to scrap old cars and buy more efficient ones, Reuters reports.

Bush plan to overhaul CAFE standards is a mixed bag

Clean up the bus, gus. Photo: NREL. The Bush administration has taken to singing the clean-car gospel lately, but it’s not quite hitting all the notes. Last month, U.S. EPA chief Mike Leavitt joined Detroit kingpins in a splashy D.C. conference to trumpet the arrival of new vehicles and fuels that reduce sulfur emissions — […]

The word on relatively green cars and positively green bicycles

Hy-wire act. Photo: DOE. My daughter Maya, who is 9, saw a picture of the General Motors Hy-wire, the company’s super-sleek experimental fuel-cell car, and immediately decided we should have one. Unfortunately, I had to explain to her that the hydrogen-powered, zero-emission, fossil-fuel-free car would be perfect for us in all respects except one: It’s […]

Reader responses on family cars, the internal combustion engine, and more

Dearest Readers, How I enjoy your letters! I’m sorry I’m unable to answer them all; lest you fear that they vanish into the void, I assure you they do not. I read each and every one of them down here in Stacklandia. I must in particular thank those of you who write in to correct, […]

Advice on driving vs. flying

Hi Umbra, I’m wondering if you have any numbers comparing the fuel efficiency of flying versus driving the average car for the same distance. Also, how does carbon dioxide production compare for the same trip? SteveLoomis, Calif. Dearest Steve, Flight blight? Here’s what I can find so far, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Institute in […]

Umbra on scooters

Dear Umbra, I was thinking of buying a scooter with the idea that (in addition to being fun) I would be using a more fuel-efficient means of transportation on days when the weather was good. Then I got the edition of the Daily Grist telling me how dirty motorcycles are. Now I’m worried: Are scooters […]

Umbra on motorcycles

Dear Umbra, I recently read a claim that “motorcycles produce far more pollution per mile than your typical car, truck, or SUV.” Is that true? I’ve got a friend who’s currently making her (bad-ass) way across country on a Harley — 60 mpg, baby — and we are both curious about the environmental impacts compared […]

Umbra on minivans

Dear Umbra, We have a six-year-old daughter, a three-year-old daughter, and — surprise! (well, not completely) — a new baby girl due in the next two months. Our fuel-efficient car cannot fit two car seats and a booster across the back seat, and according to Washington state law (“six-years-old and 60 pounds”), my petite six-year-old […]