Blogs & Ecology

We noted earlier a study from the Harvard Medical School that calculated that for every 10% increase in gas prices there was a 2.3% decline in auto deaths.

Now a new report from Michael Sivak of the Transportation Research Institute at the University of Michigan finds an even more dramatic fall. Associated Press reports that:

Over the previous 10 months, monthly fatalities declined an average of 4.2 percent compared to the previous year. Then, Sivak's data shows, fatalities dropped 22.1 percent in March and 17.9 percent in April of this year...The declines found by Si...

Since the Smart Car was introduced in the USA in January, the reviews have generally been awful. Seth Stevenson of Slate test-drove one of the new Americanized, bigger and more powerful Smarts and was disappointed, and suggested that the main market will be those who crave attention. That's "what's driving the Fortwo's sales. Smart's press materials compare owning a Fortwo to owning an iPod or an iPhone, and it's easy to see why: All three are high-design, overpriced objects of shimmery desire."

The first solar powered car to make its way around the world continues its trek.

Scientists discover a vegetarian spider.

Green Home Huddler interviews trash enthusiast Tom Szaky, the CEO of TerraCycle.

TriplePundit reviews Throwplace, calling it "A sort of Freecycle on steroids."

An Ohio-based company has plans to convert Saturn Sky cars to run on all-electric.

Bringing Better Fuel Economy Closer to Home
The following post may classify as stating the obvious for some, in which case I apologize, but as it’s helped me to save some gas – I thought I’d share. Let’s start from the beginning…

Will Uncle Sam pay those in need to reduce emissions and stimulate the economy? Would it work?

A recent editorial in the New York Times drew attention to a stimulus proposal that exemplifies the intersection of the triple bottom line and continues to fuel discussion.

Not far from where I am writing this, three kids on vacation were killed recently when one of them flew his dad’s Audi off the road, shearing trees 40’ up and ending upside down in the lake, after collectively downing 31 drinks. Dad, quite logically, tells the press that “his son would still be alive if he hadn’t been drinking or speeding that night.”

While electric cars and PHEVs may still be all the rage stateside, a team of German students has already moved on to the next latest and greatest: wind-powered vehicles. That's right: students from Stuttgart University's Team InVentus have built the Ventomobile, a three-wheeled "car" which features a 2 meter diameter two-bladed rotor mounted on top.

Despite its seeming unwieldiness, the Ventomobile has already proven itself as a potent racing contender -- performing impressively during early wind tunnel testing. The airy vehicle weighs in below 100 kg and has an engine power of 6 kW. See below the fold for a video of the construction process....

We really really really don't want to call the presumtive Republican candidate an idiot, we really really want to maintain a pretense of being fair and balanced, of us reporting and you deciding. But it is sooo hard when McCain says things like this. Admittedly he is talking to a biker rally, and preaching to the motorhead crowd, but it is too much. He is also not telling the truth about what Obama has said, and is completely wrong about the effectiveness of prop...

Everyone's favorite faux conservative, climate change nay-saying pundit, Stephen Colbert, interviewed Slate's Brendan I. Koerner, author of the long-running "Ask the Green Lantern" column this past Thursday. Stephen quizzed Koerner on a range of topics -- including the benefits of CFLs (a point he took up ...

An Environmental Protection Bureau van checks air quality near the Water Cube
After over a week of mixed pollution, Beijing today outlined emergency measures for fighting smog during the Olympics, potentially expanding what is already the world's grandest pollution experiment. Under "extremely unfavorable weather conditions," like hot, humid air without the winds needed to disperse pollution, the government may enact further

Turbine Planning Decision Overturned