Switchgrass: Image Credit: USDA

I'm not that much of an automobile enthusiast. Despite my proximity to the Motor City, I don't pay constant attention to the latest twitches in the auto…

Last week, the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee passed the Green Jobs Act of 2007 (HR 2847) by a vote of 26-18. Originally introduced by Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis (D-CA) and John Tierney…

The package of energy legislation headed to the floor of the US House of Representatives does not contain vehicle fuel-efficiency standards. It does, however, contain provisions to promote plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and components. More… Nearly half (47%) of US car owners are willing to buy a more fuel efficient car should gas prices increase $1, but a strong majority rule out using alternative transportation to offset rising gas prices and are more likely to cut discretionary spending, according to a survey by Discover Financial Services. Discover Financial Services is a business unit of Morgan Stanley, and operates the Discover Card with more than 50 million cardmembers. More… Demand for Canadian crude oil—most of it from the oil sands—by US refineries will likely double from about 1.6 million bpd in 2006 to almost 3.1 million bpd by 2015. Over the same period, demand by Canadian refineries for the Canadian oil is expected to rise from 765,000 bpd in 2006 to almost 1.1 million bpd in 2015, a 44% increase. More… The Chrysler Group and Ford Motor have joined the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), endorsing and participating in its call for economy-wide mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. More… (more)

(Posted by Mike Millikin in Transportation at 4:02 PM)

Farmland to Revert to Forest in China’s Green Plan
Moving Beyond Kyoto
Come On, Gang, Let’s Save the World!
Society ‘Needs the Right Chemistry’
Policymakers Must Rethink Desertification

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(Posted by David Zaks in News and Views at 12:27 PM)

The Heineken World Bottle was designed with multiple functions. Image courtesy of hyperexperience.comIf we really want to be sustainable when it comes to our brew, we will consider the package. …

With all the media attention on "blood diamonds" and unsustainable metals, a more natural option has become necessary. Wood jewelry has been popular for many years, but as clear-cutting…

Getting misunderstood by the New York Times is a strange experience: it’s a bit frustrating, but you have to still be kind of flattered that it happened at all. So I certainly have a mixed emotions about the Times’ story today, Buying Into the Green Movement: HERE’S one popular vision for saving the planet: Roll out from under the sumptuous hemp-fiber sheets on your bed in the morning and pull on a pair of $245 organic cotton Levi’s and an Armani biodegradable knit shirt. Stroll from the bedroom in your eco-McMansion, with its photovoltaic solar panels, into the kitchen remodeled with reclaimed lumber. Enter the three-car garage lighted by energy-sipping fluorescent bulbs and slip behind the wheel of your $104,000 Lexus hybrid. Drive to the airport, where you settle in for an 8,000-mile flight— careful to buy carbon offsets beforehand — and spend a week driving golf balls made from compacted fish food at an eco-resort in the Maldives. That vision of an eco-sensitive life as a series of choices about what to buy appeals to millions of consumers and arguably defines the current environmental movement as equal parts concern for the earth and for making a stylish statement… (more)

(Posted by Alex Steffen in Media at 12:44 AM)