As fuel prices skyrocket across the country, owners of vehicles at both ends of the fuel efficiency spectrum are making political statements simply by driving around town. On one extreme is GM’s Hummer H2, weighing in at over 6,000 pounds and guzzling gas at a rate of 10-13 miles per gallon. On the other are the compact Japanese hybrids by Toyota and Honda, which top out at a whopping 60 miles per gallon.
Several state and municipal governments are trying to stimulate demand for alternative energy by offering cash incentives to companies and homeowners that install solar electric (photovoltaic) systems, fuel cells, small wind turbines, solar thermal systems for heat and hot water, and other renewable energy technologies.
If you want the environmental movement’s take on the Bush administration, go no further than <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578051096/qid%3D1086378064/sr%3D2-1/ref%3Dsr%5F2%5F1/002-7162455-7362444">Strategic Ignorance</a> (Sierra Club Books, $24.95), written by Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope and Sierra magazine senior editor Paul Rauber.
Dairy products are among the leading causes of food allergies, and there are growing numbers of people who seek to avoid them for that reason, or because their bodies are lactose intolerant, or because they seek to avoid all foods that come from animal sources as part of a strict vegetarian diet.
The paperless office does appear to still be a distant dream. A recent University of California-Berkeley study found that, worldwide, the amount of printed matter generated between 1999 and 2002 not only did not decrease
Large marine vessels such as container ships and oil tankers are among the least-regulated sources of air pollution in the United States. Though they are more fuel-efficient than other forms of commercial transportation
Last week an international treaty mandating the phase-out of a dozen highly toxic chemicals, including DDT and PCBs, took effect with 50 signatories despite lack of formal involvement by the United States.
Overturning its six-year old ban on genetically engineered foods, the European Union (EU) last week changed course and approved the import of an insect-resistant strain of corn developed by Swiss company Syngenta.
In an effort to reform logging practices in Canada’s 1.4 billion acre boreal forest, environmentalists are asking consumer products manufacturers and retailers to buy only wood, pulp and paper from logging companies certified as sustainable extractors.
In a curious turn of political events, President Bush has been lambasting Democrats for playing politics over oil. The issue in question is whether or not to open America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help offset skyrocketing prices at the gas pump for consumers.
