The Conservation Report

There’s a delicious irony of seeing private luxury jets flying into DC, and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands, saying that they’re going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses. It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. Kind makes you a little bit suspicious as to whether or not…we’ve seen the future. There’s a message there. Couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled to get here? It would have at least sent the message that you do get it.

- Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY)

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ALGAE-BASED FUEL: Colorado Company Takes Algae-Based Fuel to the Next Level

ANIMAL WELFARE: Activists Throw Flour On Fur-Clad Lindsay Lohan

ASTRONOMY: Sun Shows Signs Of Life: Long-Awaited Solar Cycle 24 Starting To Take Off, Cassini Finds Mysterious New Aurora On Saturn, NASA: A Bubble in Cygnus

AUTO INDUSTRY: Reasons to Bail Out GM, Here’s Why We Need A General Motors (GM) Bailout, You F***er

BALLOT INITIATIVES: Mixed Bag for State Environmental Ballot Initiatives

BIG OIL: In secret agreement, Shell nets 25-year monopoly on S. Iraq’s gas, Blow to Brown as BP scraps British renewables plan to focus on US

CHERNOBYL: Chernobyl. 21 years later

CLIMATE CHANGE: Impact Of Climate Warming On Fish: International consensus on the reality of climate change is now apparent: global warming is ascribable in large part to human activities. It is causing rapid deterioration of the environment and is increasing the threat to biodiversity. However, the mechanisms of its impact are still poorly known, particularly in the aquatic environment., Warming Trend Is Steepest in 5,000 Years, Canada Offers Continental Climate Pact, Lemming Numbers Dwindling Under Warming

CLONING: Frozen mice cloned - are woolly mammoths next?

COAL: EPA Blocks Coal Plant, Could Change Power Landscape

DIESEL ELECTRIC HYBRID: Hybrid tugboat may give local ports a green push

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Water restrictions ordered to help California fish

ENERGY MIX OF THE FUTURE: How Floating ‘Energy Islands’ Could Power the Future

FOSSILS: Marine Plankton Found In Amber: Marine microorganisms have been found in amber dating from the middle of the Cretaceous period. The fossils were collected in Charente, in France. This completely unexpected discovery will deepen our understanding of these lost marine species as well as providing precious data about the coastal environment of Western France during the Cretaceous.

FUNGAS-BASED FUEL: Microbes: Fuel of the Future?, Rainforest fungus makes diesel: Colorized environmental scanning electron microscope photo of Gliocladium roseum, an endophtic fungus that produces myco-diesel hydrocarbons.

FUEL EFFICIENCY STANDARDS: New York City’s Green Taxi Program Red Lighted By Federal Judge:

GREEN: Best of what is new in green technology 2008, In Times Square, a Company’s Name in (Wind- and Solar-Powered) Lights: The first eco-friendly billboard is coming to Times Square, entirely powered by the sun and the wind — but there is one small catch.

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: 10 Amazing Buildings Made of Dirt and Straw

HIV/AIDS: AIDS Patient Reportedly Cured, T Cell-based HIV Vaccine Candidate Demonstrates Positive Results: The question of whether or not to continue to pursue the development of T-cell-based HIV-1 vaccines has been a source of controversy following last year’s widely publicized failure of the field’s most promising candidate, a vaccine developed by Merck known as V520.

INAUGURATION TICKETS: It’s time to plan your inauguration trip: Festivities could last 10 days, but hotel rooms, flights to D.C. will be scarce

INVASIVE SPECIES: Scientists: Reverse Age-Old Engineering Or The Great Lakes Suffer

LED LIGHTS: Would You Buy This Funny-Looking Bulb?

LIGHT POLLUTION: Efficiency’s Mark: City Glitters a Little Less: The bright lights of the big city are getting a little bit duller — with just a hint of green.

MARINE CONSERVATION: Sea Snakes Seek Out Freshwater To Slake Thirst

MARINE MAMMALS: Killer Whales Are Discriminating Diners

NATURAL GAS: Does Natural Gas Have an Ally in Rahm Emanuel?

NATURE: Venom Hunt Finds ‘Harmless’ Snakes A Potential Danger, Tiny Radio Tags Offer Rare Glimpse into Bees’ Universe

NANOWASTE: Plants Can Accumulate Nanoparticles In Tissues

NUCLEARIZATION OF ENERGY SOURCES: Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes: £13m shed-size reactors will be delivered by lorry

OCEANS: Mysterious Microbe May Play Important Role In Ocean Ecology: An unusual microorganism discovered in the open ocean may force scientists to rethink their understanding of how carbon and nitrogen cycle through ocean ecosystems., Elusive Microbe Fertilizes Oceans

PESTICIDES: Organic Farmer Murdered After Protesting Toxic Dumpsite: An Indian organic farmer and anti-pollution advocate was shot to death on Monday while in the midst of exposing an illegal dumpsite on his property to the media.

PIRATES: Somali Pirates Seize Supertanker Loaded With Crude

POLITICS: Prop 8 Myths, Fox’s Shepard Smith Disputes Idea That The Media Secured Win For Obama, Senate Dems To White House: Preserve Records (Especially You, Cheney)

POLL: Should Cape Wind be built?

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: California gives green light to high-speed train

RECLAIMED OR RECYCLED WATER: NASA astronauts to drink their own urine: As NASA prepared to double the number of astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, nothing did more for crew bonding than a machine being launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Friday.

RECYCLING: Eat & Drink from Recycled Bottles, Recycling By the Numbers: The Truth About Recycling: Americans haul 82 million tons of trash to recycling centers each year—but that’s still just 32.5 percent of what we throw out. Here’s how much energy recycling saves and how much that’s worth., Is Recycling Worth It? PM Investigates its Economic and Environmental Impact: Americans haul 82 million tons of trash to recycling centers each year. But does it pay off—for the environment or the economy? PM has some real answers.

SCIENCE: New Path Found To Antibiotics In Dirt, Forced Evolution: Can We Mutate Viruses To Death?, Mystery solved: How bleach kills germs, Octopus Family Tree Traced Using New Molecular Evidence, Rock-Eating Bacteria “Mine” Valuable Metals

SEA LEVEL RISE: Mass Relocations Planned as Sea Levels Rise

SOLAR: Mid-East’s Largest Solar Panel Manufacturing Plant to be Built In Dubai, Coating helps solar panels soak up more of the sun

THE MEGAFISHES PROJECT: Giant Prehistoric Fish Rebounding in Canada

WATER POLLUTION: Freshwater Pollution Costs US At Least $4.3 Billion A Year: Pollution by phosphorous and nitrogen isn’t just bad for lakes, streams and other bodies of fresh water. According to researchers at Kansas State University, it’s also bad for Americans’ pocketbooks., Thousands of factory farms will be exempt from needing permits that limit water pollution thanks to a new Bush Administration rule signed today. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency did not adopt improved controls for bacteria and other pathogens that can pose risks to human health and wildlife.

WATER WARS: Atlas of hidden water may avert future conflict

WIND POWER: Pickens Delays His Wind Farm Plan, Largest Wind Farm in World Halted By Credit Crisis, Wind power blights la belle France

YEAR OF THE FROG: Global Warming Link To Amphibian Declines In Doubt

ZOOLOGICAL CONSERVATION: 90 Year-Old Giant Tortoise Mates, Lonesome George, the World’s Rarest Tortoise, Isn’t Ready to Be a Dad, Breeding program may fail to produce progeny for Galapagos’ Lonesome George, VIDEO: Last Tortoise’s Hopes Dim

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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.

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AGRICULTURE: SCIENTIST AT WORK | NORMAN T. UPHOFF: Food Revolution That Starts With Rice

ANIMAL WELFARE: Boy fed zoo reptiles to crocodile: A seven-year-old boy has been filmed going on the rampage at a popular zoo in Australia, killing rare reptiles and feeding live ones to a crocodile

ARCTIC MELTING: Arctic Ice in “Death Spiral,” Is Near Record Low

AUTO INDUSTRY: No “Revolting” the Volt: Chevy Battery Does Not Recharge While Driving

BUSHMEAT: Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa’s Animals, Poor?

CARBON: Heat Hinders Ground’s Ability to Absorb CO2

E-WASTE: 7 Hurdles to Electronics Recycling

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 19 Electric Car Players Pitch San Francisco, 30 electric cars companies ready to take over the road, China Planning Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

ENERGY: Researchers Developing the “Internet for Energy”, New Energy Project Will Be Even Larger than the Pickens Plan: Move over, T. Boone Pickens. You’re about to be overshadowed by Babcock and Brown

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Croc Hunter’s ‘Bum-Breathing’ Turtle Faces Extinction

EVOLUTION: Scientists Discover Fish in Act of Evolution in Africa’s Greatest Lake, From the Onion: Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs ‘Oh, Shit,’ Says Humanity

FUEL CELLS: First Fuel Cell-Powered Plane Presented in Germany

GOOGLE: Google search finds seafaring solution

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: 15 Inspiring Glimpses into the Future of Green Housing, The First LEED Platinum Skyscraper Nearly Completed, Lost middle-class tribe’s ’secret’ eco-village in Wales spotted in aerial photograph taken by plane, Paint it white: Cool roofs save cash and carbon, New experimental homes will heat themselves

HIV/AIDS: Colonial clue to the rise of HIV: The arrival of colonial cities in sub-Saharan Africa at the dawn of the 20th Century may have sparked the spread of HIV

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Honda Takes on the Hybrid Motorcycle, Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHYBRID unveiled

HYDROGEN FUEL: Scientists Reach Hydrogen Storage Milestone

INVASIVE SPECIES: State wildlife commission seeks tougher rules for owning pet snakes, Stop slithering intruders: Asian swamp eels are an invasive foreign species that is dangerously prolific and adaptive, threatening fish and other native creatures

NATURAL GAS-POWERED VEHICLES: Pickens Overlooks Existing Natural Gas Cars in Energy Plan: Reality Check

NEW SPECIES: New Iguana Species Revealed

OFFSHORE WIND POWER: Huge Offshore Wind Farm Wins Approval, Offshore Wind To Supply 15% of Rhode Island Electricity

PHEV: Plug-In Hybrids Aren’t Coming — They’re Here, Houses passes bill with $5k Volt tax-credit, mandatory alternative fuel pumps

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: California’s 220 MPH High-Speed Train Will Be Emissions-Free

RECOMMENDED IMAGE(S): Earth From Above comes to NYC, Yup, still a pig, Monk Seal

RECOMMENDED MAP: USA National Gas Temperature Map

RECOMMENDED YOUTUBE: SOUTH CENTRAL FARM - PART 1, The End of Suburbia - 52 minute documentary on oil, McCain’s YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare, Sarah Palin Gibberish

REDISCOVERED SPECIES: Rare Plant Thought Extinct Re-discovered in Upstate New York

SCIENCE: Sciencedebate2008: Presidential answers to the top 14 science questions facing America, Japanese Scientists Plan to Build Space Elevator

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Indiana will get $227 million waste to fuel plant

WATER AVAILABILITY: When Will Los Angeles Run Out of Water? Sooner Than You Think, Cactus Goo Makes Water Safe: The slimy ooze inside prickly pear cactuses that helps the plants store water in the desert can also be used for scouring arsenic, bacteria and cloudiness out of rural drinking water, according to research at the University of South Florida in Tampa

WATER CONSERVATION: Harvesting Rainwater by Not Letting It Go to Waste

WTF?: Cheney: Wildlife Conservation Has Been A ‘High Priority’ Of Bush Administration

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: Yellowstone seeks to balance nature, cell phones, Judge refuses to let snowmobiles roam Yellowstone

ZOONOTIC DISEASES: Hamsters, Exotic Pets May Put Young Children At Risk, Doctors Say

Why should we bail out the American auto industry, since the industry has clearly made wrong choices? The auto industry wants corporate welfare, because the industry claims it needs low interest rate loans from the American government to retool manufacturing plants to produce smaller cars. Haven’t environmentalists been arguing for smaller and more alternative/fuel efficient cars for a long time? These companies shouldn’t be bailed out. In this case, nature should be allowed to run its course. There are several new progressive car companies, which are starting to offer smaller fuel efficient and electric cars. These companies are early adopters, and these new automakers should be rewarded for taking advantage of markets that companies like GM have denied existing for some time. Furthermore, we can be using this money for education and environmental initiatives. From the Washington Post, United States:

General Motors chief executive G. Richard Wagoner Jr. has been selling cars for a long time, but his pitch today in Washington will be one of his most urgent. He will try to convince lawmakers that the country’s homegrown automakers deserve help from the government as they prepare to build more hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars for a radically different market.

Wagoner is scheduled to address a Senate energy summit today. In addition to the loans, he is expected to ask lawmakers to approve new drilling, streamline emissions regulations and subsidize alternative-fuel development, according to those familiar with Wagoner’s remarks.

He and other Detroit executives wrap up a week of lobbying Washington at a time when the landscape of the U.S. auto industry is far different from three decades ago and even a few years ago.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: $800 Million Prize for Alternative Energy to Power Africa’s Villages

ANIMAL WELFARE: Wheeled Tortoise Gets Around

ANTARCTIC MELTING: “New” Killer Whale Types at Risk From Antarctic Warming

ARCTIC MELTING: Shellfish May Invade North Atlantic As Ice Melts, Hungry Musk-Oxen, Caribou Could Help Warming Arctic

AUTO INDUSTRY: Shaq buys smart fortwo, wears as shoe, Saudi Arabia threatens Nissan boycott over Israeli ad

BIG OIL: ExxonMobil owns the media’s convention coverage Oil Expansion Plans In L.A. Rile Residents

BIOPLASTICS: Biodegradable Plastics Are Good for Atmosphere, Too

BIOPRODUCTS: Dandelion Rubber Could Replace Rare Sources, Silk-Based Optical Lenses Green Enough to Eat

BLOGGING: What Makes for a Good Blog?

CARBON SEQUESTERING: Cattails Shown to Be Effective CO2-Eaters

CHINA: MINI Clubman Rickshaws running around Beijing

CLIMATE CHANGE: Climate Change Caused Widespread Tree Death In California Mountain Range, Study Confirms, West Africa’s coastline redrawn by climate change: experts

COMPOSTING: Human Waste Used by 200 Million Farmers, Study Says

ENERGY MIX OF THE FUTURE: Smokestack heat: Fuel of the future?

ENVIRONMENTALISM: ARE WE ALL STILL ENVIRONMENTALISTS?, The Death of Environmentalism?, FREE & GREEN: A NEW APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, Green but Anti-Government, Pro-Environment, Not Pro-EPA

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW: Appeals Court OKs Oil Firms’ Billion-Dollar Award, Companies to end lead wheel weight use in Calif.

EXTINCTION: Extinction Threatens Half of Primate Types, Study Says

FOOD: Half of All Food Produced Worldwide is Wasted

FUEL ECONOMY: Sweden Requires Fuel-Efficient Driving Lessons, Billions of gallons of gas could be saved by “Smart Intersections”

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: Oregon Tech To Be Powered Entirely By Geothermal Energy, Google Investing Over $10 Million in Geothermal Energy

GIANT SQUID: Colossal Squid Ripped, Stitched, Hoisted and Moved

GLACIAL MELTING: Huge Greenland Glacier Disintegrating

GLOBAL WARMING: Will Grasslands Overtake U.S. Forests Due to Warming?, Dead Penguins Found Closer to Equator Than Ever Before, Birds Thrown Off by Global Warming, Arctic Tundra Holds Global Warming Time Bomb

GREEN: Colorado Creating US’s First Fossil Fuel-Free Community

GREEN CONSERVATISM: Gingrich Cites Big Oil And Right-Wing Intern To Claim That All Economists Support Drilling, Extreme anti-environment Cheney aide up for top Energy Department post, McCain: ‘I Have Not Missed Any Crucial Vote’ On Energy Legislation

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS: Kangaroo Meat Could Help Australia Cut Gas Emissions

GREENWASHING: Shell rebuked for ‘greenwash’ over ad for polluting oil project

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT: People vs. Monkeys in Singapore

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Calif. Requires Hybrid Cars To Make Some Noise

INVASIVE SPECIES: Invasive Lionfish Explode

MARINE CONSERVATION: NASA Tool Helps Track Whale Sharks, Polar Bears, Bush Seeks to Protect 3 Pacific Island Chains

MARINE MAMMALS: “Ugliest Dolphin” Finally Filmed, Mexico Invests to Save Endangered Porpoise

NANOTECHNOLOGY: Nanomaterial Cleans up Broken Fluorescent Bulbs

NEW SPECIES: Newfound Monkey Species “Rarest in Africa,” Expert Says, New, “Chubbier” River Dolphin Species Found in Bolivia

OCEAN DEAD ZONES: Ocean ‘dead zones’ expanding worldwide: study

PLASTIC: Did Big Plastic Pay Off The FDA???

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Amtrak Gets Funding Boost To Meet Record Demand, Sweden Rolling Out 183 MPH High-Speed Green Train

RECLAIMED OR RECYCLED WATER: Recycled Sewage: Coming to a Tap Near You?

RECYCLING: Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle, gets trashy, Old tires make new roads, No Economic Slowdown For Reusable Bags

RENEWABLE RESOURCES: Colorado to Ditch Two Coal Plants, Moving to Solar and Wind, 13 Magnificent Renewable Energy Successes and Failures

SOLAR: IKEA Solar Panels on the Horizon, Miami Gets 600 Solar Bus Shelters, Coal Power Plant Retrofit With Solar, Solar Efficiency Record Broken, Oregon Launching First Solar Highway in the US, Want Solar? Head to Sam’s Club, 2 Large Solar Plants Planned in California, Will Each Be 10 Times Bigger Than Largest Now in Service, Solar-Powered Plane Flies for Nearly 83 Hours, Doubles World Record, Hot Asphalt as Better Energy Collector than Solar Panels?

SUSTAINABILITY: Wal-Mart Pares Costs By Selling Local Produce

WALL-E: Wall*E + Kleenex = Iron*E

WATER POLLUTION: AP: Drugs found in drinking water

WATER WARS: McCain’s Colorado River Gaffe Might Cost Him Key Western States

WETLANDS: Australian Wetlands Threatened

WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING: 14 Tons of Frozen Scaly Anteaters Seized in Indonesia

WIND POWER: New Study Says City-Based Rooftop Wind Power Doesn’t Pay Off, Kites Could Become Major Source Of Wind Power, Wind Turbines Give Bats the “Bends,” Study Finds

ZOOLOGICAL CONSERVATION: Huge Insectarium Opens, Lonesome George a Father?

AL GORE: Al Gore places infant son in rocket to escape dying planet

ARCTIC MELTING: Robot planes getting bird’s eye view of shrinking Greenland Ice Sheet

AUTO INDUSTRY: Going small: A smart experience: With $4-a-gallon gas and waiting lines nine months long, the Smart Fortwo is becoming the car for informed Americans wanting to make a statement, The Cars.com true mileage index

BIG OIL: Big Oil’s biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all

CARBON TAX: South Africa pushes climate change plan: Ambitious proposal includes carbon tax

CHINA: China fails to keep promises it made to win Olympic game

ECOSYSTEM IMBALANCE: Jellyfish invasion bothering beachgoers: The stinging creatures showing up on sand and in water in unusually high numbers

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: Incredible fish armor could suit soldiers

ENERGY CONSERVATION: Energy conservation: Starting at home, Maryland residents asked to cut energy use

E-WASTE: Electronic e-waste to be e-cycled: How to greenly recycle your gadgets

FISHERIES: Killer herpes decimates young French oysters

GREENWASHING: Insidious Examples Of Greenwashing

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT: Pelican vs. trout: Who wins in Idaho?

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Things go better with Coca-Cola hybrids

MARINE MAMMALS: Belugas troubled by tourism?

NEGLECTED DISEASES: Nigeria’s neglected diseases: Making the case to fight schistosomiasis

NEW SPECIES: Aptostichus stephencolberti: Stephen Colbert gets a spider named after him, Dolphin find may make marine history: A DIMINUTIVE dolphin called “Snubby” may make history in marine science if DNA samples taken this week from animals off the northwest Kimberley coast prove they are the world’s newest dolphin species or sub-species, New catfish species found, Crew films rare species of dolphin:
A camera crew has filmed a rare species of dolphin that has only been known to scientists for three years near Broome, Western Australia

OFFSHORE DRILLING: Drilling is up, prices are up, Bush rips Democrats for opposing offshore drilling

SCIENCE: ‘Gravity tractor’ could deflect asteroids

SHARKS: Blue sharks beat the odds, by tasting bad, Shark avoids suffocation by turning off electricity

SOCIAL ISSUES: Attenborough alarmed as children are left flummoxed by test on the natural world

SOLAR: Utah’s solar fired furnace to power California for less than the cost of coal or gas

WIND POWER: World’s largest wind farm planned in Oregon

I agree with Image Found HereRick Haglund 100%:

When $140-a-barrel oil destroyed sales of full-size pickups and SUVs in May and June, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. took radical steps to shift production away from trucks to cars.

GM’s future car-laden product plan is based on oil prices rising to as high as $150 a barrel by next year. But what if oil falls to $70 a barrel and gasoline drops to around $2 a gallon?

Demand for big SUVs could again rise, forcing automakers to reallocate billions of dollars they just shifted to development of new cars back to trucks. That’s not exactly helpful to bottom lines already bleeding red ink.

A reprieve in oil prices also would hurt efforts to develop alternative energies that make us less dependent on foreign oil and reduce harmful greenhouse gases. That’s happened before.

It has happened before. Former Democratic president Jimmy Carter endeavored to develop a renewable energy infrastructure for America. He even set solar panels onto the White House. However, after taking office, former Republican President Ronald Regan removed the solar panels from the White House. You might think that today’s auto industry and consumers are too smart to be trapped by oil again after record oil prices, but I would not bet my life on it. Neither groups saw our current predicament coming even tough there were plenty of warning signs given by environmentalists and within our economy.

AIR POLLUTION: Beijing smog awful: Dutch coach

ALTERNATIVE FUELS: Power from poop: Putting manure to use, From garbage to gas tank: Trash as biofuel

ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON: Tarantulas, fire ants lurk in Texas floodwaters, Power outages widespread in Texas after Dolly

AUTO INDUSTRY: New markets spur Honda to record quarter: Honda reports record fiscal 1Q profit as demand in new markets offsets currency damage

BIOFUELS: Chemical breakthrough turns sawdust into biofuel

CETACEANS: North Shore residents want whale carcass off their property, Whale playground sheds light on melting Arctic

CHINESE CONSUMPTION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: China’s cars, accelerating a global demand for fuel

CLIMATE CHANGE: Bush cronies tried to redefine ‘carbon dioxide’ to save power plants from emissions regulations

DEFORESTATION: Half the Amazon rainforest to be Lost by 2030

FISHERIES: Coast Guard ends search for missing fishing-boat captain, Point Judith memorial to honor Rhode Island fishermen lost at sea, Mexico risks losing mangroves, fisheries

FOOD INDUSTRY: Schwarzenegger Terminates Trans Fat in Calif.

GREEN: Direct mail tries to go green. No, really.

INVASIVE SPECIES: New research seeks methods to kill alien species, Foreign shellfish on ‘pest’ list

OCEAN DEAD ZONES: Gulf dead zone grows bigger than ever

OIL: Debate on oil speculators hits new pitch, How lower oil prices might increase demand

PLASTIC BAGS: No plastic bags in LA stores beginning July 2010

REEL BIG FISH: Giant river stingrays found

SEA TURTLES: Global warming forces innovative sea turtle protection

SHARKS: Sharks feed on whale carcass, Swimming with whale sharks, a reality near Cancun, Aquarium abuses whale sharks, Shark count to begin off Cornwall coast

WILDFIRES: Yosemite Park wildfire rages out of control

WIND POWER: Homeowners living near windfarms see property values plummet: Thousands of homeowners may see the value of their properties plummet after a UK court ruled that living near a wind farm decreases house prices, U.S. takes global lead in wind energy production, World’s largest offshore wind farm back on track

WTF?: Piglet born with monkey’s face

I just watched someone get out of a Hummer H2 and step in dog shit. How prophetic.

Toyota continues to surprise the competition by combining even greener elements into the Prius through adding “solar-powered air conditioning to high-end models of its Prius hybrid cars. …” The integration of solar will occur in the high-end model of the third generation Prius, which is due out next year.

Solar cells are already successfully integrated into hybrid cars to recharge their batteries. However, to my knowledge, this is the first time that combining solar power with hybrid technology sold in the United States or possibly anywhere in the world will take place on a large scale during the manufacturing process by a large automaker.

Take that Hummer!

Here is a YouTube video on integrating solar cells into a Prius to recharge its batteries:

On the Net:

1. Next-Gen Prius to Get Solar Panels
2. Solar Electrical Vehicles
3. HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: No matter what you say the Toyota Prius is still GREEN
4. HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Comparing hybrid technology with petroleum diesel engines like comparing apples with oranges
5. SOLAR: PHEVs, solar and changing behaviors
6. HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: GM still missing the point

Fuel prices and a slump in Hummer sells have left GM’s stock below $10. According to MSN Money, the automaker has not seen such numbers since September 1954. Certainly, GM has suffered because of its prejudices towards change or failure to offer a fleet of fuel-efficient automobiles. Furthermore, problems such as a collapsing American economy, falling US dollar, interruption in oil supplies, poor refining capacity, rising demands for energy and subsequent rising fuel prices in addition to climate change have been ignored by GM management. Fuel prices have been rising for some 5 years or more without GM being more aggressive in providing what their customers need and want. GM has literally been asleep behind the wheel. Pun intended.

Contrarily, automakers like Toyota introduced the Prius hybrid to the Japanese market in 1997 and some time after to American and European markets. While GM’s stock fell below $10, Toyota’s stock is worth over $90. However, GM is getting into the fuel-efficient car market by offering the Chevy Volt. There is still plenty of opportunity for GM to make money because the demand for fuel efficient or alternative energy cars is enormous and the move is commonsensical. However, GM and other automakers face a few big problems: A failing economy and whether Americans can afford the high prices associated with purchasing some energy efficient alternative automobiles. From TransWorldNews (press release):

When fully charged, the Volt could drive about 40 miles without using any gasoline, and a small conventional engine would recharge the vehicle, allowing it to get the equivalent of 150 miles per gallon. GM plans to sell about 100,000 Volts a year by 2012.

ARTIFICIAL REEFS: Are artificial reefs good for the environment?: Proponents say they replenish the ecosystem. Some scientists aren’t so sure

ATOM SMASHER: Smashing the universe’s mysteries, “There’s good news this week for everyone who’s been fretting over whether the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will end up destroying the universe.”

AUTO INDUSTRY: MERCEDES are aiming to end the need for filling your fuel tank with petrol or diesel within just SEVEN YEARS

BIOFUELS: Mozambique’s better biofuels, “Ireland could become a key player in the production of biofuel from seaweed…”, Coal plants and algae fuel…symbiotic?

CARBON FOOTPRINT: Airports, long an eco-nightmare, slowly clean up

CIVILIZATION: “Uncontacted” Amazon tribe actually known for decades

CLIMATE CHANGE: Exclusive: No ice at the North Pole: Polar scientists reveal dramatic new evidence of climate change, North Pole may be ice free for first time this summer, Climate-change satellite launched, Greenland ice shows rapid climate flips

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Aeon to offer accelerated EV charging at malls

ENVIRONMENTALISM: “Environmentalism is not a [sic] ethos but a design quirk.” REALLY? Environmentalism is an ethos.

FLAGSHIP SPECIES: Canadians argue for polar bear hunt

FLOODING: Levee breaks, threatening eastern Mo. homes, What to do with all the sandbags?

FUEL ECONOMY: U.S. drivers should think in gallons per mile, Gallons per mile would help car shoppers make better decisions

FUEL EFFICIENCY STANDARDS: Mazda to cut fuel consumption 30 percent by 2015

FUEL PRICES: Cops slap speeders with fuel surcharge, Oil drives plastic companies out of business

GREEN: Germany ‘is world’s greenest country’

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: First picture of £4billion glass tower that could save - but dwarf - Battersea Power Station

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: PBS falls for debunked Prius/Hummer story

IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER: Some searchers still expect to see ‘Lord God bird’

JUSTICE: “A millionaire who inflicted years of abuse on two Indonesian housekeepers held as virtual slaves in her Long Island mansion was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison.”, If it was torture in Mississippi, then it’s definitely torture, right?

NANOTECHNOLOGY: New nanopaper is stronger than iron, still made of wood

NASA: Alkaline soil sample from Mars reveals presence of nutrients for plants to grow

NEW SPECIES: Top ten new species of 2007 named

OIL: Don’t blame the oil ’speculators’, Why oil prices are so high, Are they really oil wars?, To lower oil price, boost the buck?, Oil reaches $142 on view dollar will keep falling, Oil and gas prices peaking?

POLITICS: Mr. Bush, lead or leave

WHALING: Japan holds whale activists without charge

WILDFIRES: California forest fire moving closer to Big Sur, Californians warned of smoke threat as 1,000 fires burn

WIND POWER: Wind farm to be built off Delaware shore

E&ETV’s “OnPoint” hosts a discussion with George Kerchner who is the executive director of the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association. Mr. Kerchner discusses the need for policy development to make electric vehicles more viable and the influences that electric vehicles will have on the grid. Go here to see the video.

Chrysler’s fuel promotion program is too good to be true.

Everyone loves Car Talk! Click on the image above or go here for more information for the discussion which will include fuel cells, ethanol, hybrids, electric, hydrogen and many other types of cars of the future.

I believe Ford being an early adopter of green initiatives and social equality make it a great company to invest with. Here are some links to Ford’s green initiatives:

FORD, U-HAUL LAUNCH INDUSTRY-FIRST FLEET OF ECO-FRIENDLY PAINTED VEHICLES ON U.S. HIGHWAYS

FORD PUSHES VEHICLE RECYCLING TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

GREEN INSIDE: FORD COOKS UP ‘EDIBLE’ INTERIORS

SOWING SUSTAINABILITY: FORD PIONEERS GREEN SEATING ALTERNATIVE, LICENSES SOY SEATING TO JOHN DEERE

PLUGGED-IN AND ON ROAD: FORD PUTS ESCAPE PLUG-IN, EDGE HYSERIES RESEARCH VEHICLES THROUGH PACES

FORD OFFERS COURSE ON ECO-DRIVING

Ford Escape Hybrid

Investment Information: Ford & the Market

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Late adopters never win in the auto industry. The change should have been made long before or should happen now. Otherwise, the industry will suffer even more loses. The industry is literally being dragged kicking and screaming into a more fuel efficient era. Simply poor management. From CBS NEWS:

In its lawsuit against the state, the auto industry argued that it was the federal government’s responsibility to establish one uniform fuel economy standard. Without one, manufacturers would be forced to produce vehicles using too many different efficiency standards.

They argued that a federal energy law passed in 1975 gives the U.S. Department of Transportation sole jurisdiction over fuel economy.

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