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Much has been written about the Insight, Honda’s new low-priced hybrid. We’ve been told how much carbon dioxide it produces, how its dashboard encourages frugal driving by glowing green when you’re easy on the throttle and how it is the dawn of all things. The beginning of days. So far, though, you have not been told what it’s like as a car; as a tool for moving you, your friends and your things from place to place. So here goes. It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing...

Forget sticks, and stick with carrots instead. So says Brent Schulkin, founder of a fledgling movement of activist consumers employing a kind of reverse boycott that he calls a Carrotmob. The concept is simple: instead of steering clear of environmentally backward stores, why not reward businesses with mass purchases if they promise to use some of the money to get greener? "Traditional activism revolves around conflict," says Schulkin, 28, a San Francisco–based activist turned entrepreneur. "Boycotting, protesting, lawsuits — it's about going into attack mode," says the former Googler and onetime game developer. "What's unique about a Carrotmob is that...

The state energy commission denies it wants to ban any kind of television sets. They claim that they just want to limit the market only to those models that provide better energy efficiency in order to save costs and cut down on emissions. The Orange County Register notes that the annual savings in energy costs between comparable plasma and LCD models amounts to a grand total of $30 per year.

The Environment: Wednesday's airwaves, print media, cable news shows and Webosphere will be filled with nonsense about the scourge of capitalism, corporations and humanity. All of it will ignore the real truth. Buried beneath all the badgering and fear-mongering about lavish Western lifestyles is a reality that the stuck-on-green left won't talk about and the average American isn't aware of: The world, especially in developed nations, is a cleaner — and greener — place than it was when the environmental movement began. Every year Steven Hayward, a scholar at the Pacific Research Institute and the American Enterprise Institute, compiles his...

Oscar-nominated actor compares those who do not accept human-induced global warming with Holocaust deniers Actor Pete Postlethwaite yesterday denounced climate change deniers as a "negative force" with their "heads in the sand". Ahead of Sunday's premiere of The Age of Stupid, an environmental doomsday docudrama, he compared those who do not accept that human-induced global warming is occurring with Holocaust deniers, and said the evidence for global change is now beyond doubt. "The naysayers are a negative force," said Postlethwaite, whose new film, The Age of Stupid, premieres on Sunday. "Because that can be really bad for people who are...

In some places you don't mess with gun rights. In Portland, you don't mess with bikes. So it was no surprise Friday when Portland's avid cycling community erupted after four Oregon legislators proposed a $54 fee for registering adult bikes every two years. BikePortland, a local cycling blog, was besieged with complaints. The "intention is exactly to discourage and kill cycling," one blogger fumed. Another fretted about the hefty tab for his garage full of bikes. Rep. Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, one of the chief sponsors of House Bill 3008, conceded the legislation probably won't pass, particularly with "everybody struggling"...

In one of the first internal struggles of the incoming Obama administration, environmentalists and smart-growth advocates are trying to shift the priorities of the economic stimulus plan that will be introduced in Congress next month away from allocating tens of billions of dollars to highways, bridges and other traditional infrastructure spending to more projects that create "green-collar" jobs. The debate has centered on two competing principles in the evolving plan: the desire to spend money on what President-elect Barack Obama calls "shovel-ready projects," such as highway and bridge construction, vs. spending on more environmentally conscious projects, such as grids for...

John McCain has earned a part of his maverick reputation by supporting strong and purposeful environmental policy that protects our common resources and public land. His history of advancing change within his own party makes him the best presidential choice for protecting the Earth. As an environmental entrepreneur and co-chairman of McCain's Environmental Coalition in Washington, I can attest that his leadership is inspiring a new generation of Republicans to revisit our philosophical roots as conservationist in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt.

PARIS (AFP) — Wall Street's sickness and its contagiousness for the world economy are bad news for the already faltering effort to craft a new pact to tackle climate change. Tighter budgets, shrinking corporate profits and worries about jobs could crimp manoeuvering room at upcoming UN talks on toughening curbs on greenhouse-gas emissions, sources say. But -- so far, at least -- the crisis does not appear to be having an impact on investment in clean technology, say these sources. Indeed, some are confident that spending on wind, solar and other renewables may even rise.

Glenn Beck: Crazy town Express Audio Available: June 25, 2008 - 12:47 ET Drill Alaska! Why should the "pretty" states get a free-pass when it comes to drilling for oil? Just because you have snow capped mountains and exotic wildlife doesn't mean you can't play host to a few drilling fields. Buy Now! GLENN: The people who are running this country, they're on a train to crazy town. Let me give you the example. This is from the front page of today's Wall Street Journal. As the mile-high city gears up to host Democratic bash for 50,000 organizers, they are...

In the community of Shady Grove Woods, trees are becoming more and more scarce. Residents and other anti-Intercounty Connector activists marched through the neighborhood on Saturday, pointing out the trees that were cut down to make way for the six-lane highway. ‘‘It’s just that we didn’t have a say in it in so many ways and we’re not talking about a two-lane road, we’re talking about a major highway running through here,” resident Sam Chim said of the ICC. ‘‘We have a lot of nice, private woods back here and now we’re going to have a highway running through instead....

Does anyone have a link, example or opinion about the "eco costs" associated with eating off of paper plates versus porcelain ones in the work place? Pretty fine-tuned debate, I know, but a co-worker was making a big point today of not eating lunch at work off the provided paper plates. I mentioned that it might actually be less "damaging" to the environment not to have everyone standing in line at the sink with the hot water running washing their plates after lunch. She was not buying it, but hell, I don't know if I was either. Your thoughts?

WASHINGTON - Ralph Nader could be poised for another third party presidential campaign. The consumer advocate will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. Nader launched his 2004 presidential run on the show. A spokesman for Nader did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Kevin Zeese, who was Nader's spokesman during the 2004 presidential race, but is no longer working for him, said Friday that Nader has been actively talking to "lots of people on all sorts of levels" about the possibility of making another run. Zeese said he could only guess what Nader might do, but added:...

WASHINGTON — Four years after he announced a presidential run on NBC's "Meet the Press," Ralph Nader is poised to do it again. He's scheduled to appear on the program Sunday, and longtime associates say they think the consumer advocate will announce his candidacy. Having abandoned the Green Party after being its nominee in 2000, he's more likely to run as an independent again, those familiar with his thinking said. Kevin Zeese, Nader's 2004 campaign spokesman, who isn't involved in the 2008 exploratory efforts, said he thought that Nader was going to throw his hat in the ring again. "If...

Open borders + campaign finance hypocrisy + eco-radicalism = McCain’s billionaire national finance co-chair Jerry Perenchio By Michelle Malkin • January 28, 2008 09:50 AM Scroll down for updates…meanwhile: “Romney, McCain call each other ‘liberal’… 1peren003.jpg Meet Jerry Perenchio. He’s a National Finance Co-Chair of the McCain 2008 campaign and the billionaire founder of Spanish-language media conglomerate, Univision. He also heads up a charitable foundation that has showered gobs of money on extremist green lobbying groups. Take open-borders zeal, add campaign finance hypocrisy, mix with eco-radicalism, and presto: The perfect, multiculti-profiteering McCain money buddy. Here’s his official bio on the...

MIDI SITE for LISTEN PEOPLE Little people, do as we say Not as we do...we are here to show you the way So, little people, know your place and take advice that we are giving We know things that you have got to do Listen to us about how you should be living And you'll find the planet saved for you We're elitists, the authority Follow orders...what a nice place this world will be So, little people, know your place and take advice that we are giving We know what you have got to do Listen to us about...

I have long been perplexed by the greenies who refuse to eat meat because they believe they would be murdering the animal. This same group of people has lobbied for decades to prove that plants are living creatures. They then eat the plants, which they say are alive, while refusing to eat meat because the animal is alive. Hypocrisy, I know. Furthermore, I remember hearing these people talk about how you are "hurting" or "torturing" trees and plants if you pull off a branch or leaf. They often equate it with pulling off one of your fingers, or limbs. With...

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- The Navy is disappointed with EarthJustice’s decision to pursue litigation against critical training activities in Hawaiian waters, the deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said. “These fleet training activities are essential to the Navy’s ability to ensure our nation’s armed forces are fully combat ready and adequately trained according to established, time-tested standards,” said Rear Adm. John M. Bird. The suit, filed May 16 by EarthJustice on behalf of five non-government organizations, asks the court to prohibit naval sonar exercises near Hawaii, saying that sonar can have a negative impact on marine mammals. But such...

Calculate your carbon footprint. Click on the link. Is your carbon footprint (boy am I glad I hit preview and was able to edit my original text here) bigger than mine? The average is 10.73 metric tons of CO2 per year

OVERSEEING GRAZING SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A U.S. government agency is considering using unmanned surveillance planes, or drones, to help oversee remote areas of eastern Idaho, raising concerns in a region deeply wary of outside interference. Officials the Bureau of Land Management office responsible for most of eastern Idaho may initially buy one hand-launched drone for an estimated $15,000 to help keep track of the vast, thinly populated area. They said the unpiloted aircraft, with a wingspan of about 4 feet, would monitor vegetation and streams in areas used largely for grazing and recreation and there were no immediate plans...