October 21st, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) are holding public hearings this week on the country’s first greenhouse gas emissions limits for passenger vehicles.
Hearings began today in Detroit and will continue in New York City on Friday and Los Angeles on Tuesday. You can thank President Obama for pushing this environmental agenda, in concert with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, automakers, the United Auto Workers Union and eco-conscious organizations.
According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), passenger cars and light trucks emit “nearly 20% of the nation’s greenhouse gases, in the form of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons. In April, EPA provisionally found that these four contaminants and two other greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare.”
The proposed standards would apply to new cars produced from 2012 to 2016. The EDF cites the following benefits:
- Breaking Our Oil Addiction and Strengthening National Security. The vehicles subject to the proposed standards are responsible for about 40% of all U.S. oil consumption. The standards would reduce our oil consumption by 1.8 billion barrels, while achieving a 5% annual improvement in fuel efficiency for U.S. passenger cars.
- Reducing Global-Warming Pollution. Vehicles covered by the proposed standards account for 60% of heat-trapping emissions from the transportation sector and about 20% of all U.S. heat-trapping gases. These emissions have increased by more than 1% annually. The proposal would cut carbon dioxide pollution from passenger vehicles approximately 21% by 2030, reducing emissions by 950 million tons.
- Saving Money at the Pump. Families can save more than $3,000 over a vehicle’s lifetime.
Photo:
Tags: cars, emissions, environment, EPA, global warming, greenhouse gases, Health, Obama, oil, pollution, Schwarzenegger
Posted in The Environment | 2 Comments »
April 14th, 2009 - Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese
Timberland boots, loved by rap stars and construction workers alike, are greening up their act. This fall, 200,000 pairs of shoes will have soles made with recycled car tires. A company spokesperson calls it commercially viable and ecologically sensitive strategy.
Although it’s a small fraction of the nearly 30 millions pairs of boots that the company manufacturers each year. Timberland Mountain Athletics and Earthkeepers are the two brands slated to incorporate the recycled rubber.
The soles will be a mixture of 42% recycled tires and 58% traditional virgin rubber, but Timberland won’t be grinding old tires themselves. A Malaysian company called Green Rubber uses an eco-friendly system to reprocess tires.
Old tires contain many pollutants harmful to human health, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, which are also found in cigarette smoke and a single tire has the equivalent of two gallons of oil and a pile of old tires can burn for years.
Right now, the process can only make black soles, due to the original dark color of the rubber.
Via Green Inc.
Tags: oil, tires
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January 22nd, 2009 - Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese
Luckily gas prices are on the down. But let’s face it. It won’t last! By the time summer rolls around, fuel prices will be way up again.
So, instead of pulling a Cheech and Chong and siphoning out someone else’s gas into a trash can, try these easy tips for boosting gas mileage:
- Drive under the speed limit. Keep it under 60mph.
- Properly inflated tires can improve mileage by 3%
- Use right the fuel. Check your owner’s manual.
- Keep up with maintenance. Get tune ups and oil changes.
- Lose weight. Have less bodyweight to lug around.
- Cut wind resistance. Remove luggage racks.
- Tighten your gas cap. Don’t let gas vapors escape.
- Don’t sit idle. Turn off your car in gridlock.
- Map out your trip. Plan a shorter route.
- Don’t run the air conditioning and park in shade.
You could probably add to that list. Try walking or bike riding more or taking public transportation—if you dare—like buses, subways and trains.
In related news, if you think the U.S. gets hammered with gas prices. Be glad you don’t live in the Netherlands, where gas prices can top $9.97 a gallon. Eek!
Via GreenUpgrader.
Tags: fuel, gas, oil
Posted in The Environment | 3 Comments »
June 22nd, 2006 - Barbara Feiner
If you’re away from home Saturday night, set the TiVo or VCR. Discovery Channel will air the world premiere of Addicted to Oil: Thomas L. Friedman Reporting at 10 p.m. (EST/PST). The one-hour special (click here to view a preview) is must-see TV for readers who embrace organic living, offering an in-depth look at the consequences of America’s oil dependence and ways to solve it.
With gas prices averaging more than $3 a gallon across the United States and the cost of the war on terror mounting, topics like energy conservation, global warming and alternative energy have never been more relevant to American economic and national security. In Addicted to Oil, Friedman brings his incisive reporting to the political, strategic, environmental and economic impact of America’s fossil fuel addiction and proposes business, technological and governmental solutions for beating it.
Friedman (pictured, center of photo) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist who brought globalization to the masses with his book, The World Is Flat. He now takes petropolitics—a phrase he coined to define the relationship between oil prices and the power of oil-rich nations—into the mainstream by explaining how today’s energy crisis differs from the gasoline lines of the late 1970s. Friedman’s explanation of the intricate relationship between energy, national security and geopolitics couldn’t be more timely or compelling as he tells viewers, “This is not your parents’ energy crisis.”
In candid interviews with former CIA director James Woolsey, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner and other key officials, Friedman explores America’s Achilles heel and the heart of today’s energy crisis: 97% of America’s transportation—including cars, planes and trains—is dependent on oil.
How did the United States get to this point? What is the message of petropolitics? Friedman examines the new realism that has driven some Americans to find a solution to the nation’s oil habit by researching and investing in green technologies for cars and homes, rather than waiting for government incentives. Friedman gives viewers a fresh perspective on the kind of cars they may be driving in the future by unveiling the materials and manufacturers of ultra-light automobiles, which can cut a car’s gasoline consumption by half.
Photo: Mark Mandler/Discovery Channel
Tags: autombiles, fossil fuel, gasoline, oil
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