Thousands of babies are on a mission to Washington, D.C. They’re fed up with being exposed to more than 80,000 untested toxic chemicals lurking in their homes. OK, so not literally. But the Million Baby Crawl campaign is and they’re taking a stand for those that, well, can’t stand.
Mexico City has some of most polluted air in the world. And until recently, there were few public transportation options available to commuters looking for a cleaner, easier way to get around the city. Seeing the need for more options, EMBARQ, a project of the World Resources Institute, stepped in to help the city create a thriving public bus system, the Metrobus.
In 2002, EMBARQ established a Mexican nongovernmental group, CTS-México, whose goal was to create a new bus system. It opened in 2005. Commuters who had previously sat in traffic for up to two hours to get across town are now able to make the same trip in 30 minutes. The buses have been so popular that the system was expanded in 2008, and now serves 450,000 passengers a day.
The Mexico City project shows how any city can improve its air quality and reduce its emissions — and also make its citizens' commutes more bearable — by focusing on public transportation. And for its work in Mexico, EMBARQ recently won the 2009 Roy Family Award for Environmental Partnership from Harvard University.
What makes one car more environmentally friendly than another? Better gas mileage, right? But that's only part of the equation. A greener auto combines fuel efficiency with lower tailpipe emissions of noxious gases like carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and formaldehyde.
Drawing from this logic, Forbes published its list of America's dirtiest cars and trucks. The worst? The gas-guzzling, emissions-coughing Jeep Grand Cherokee. Domestic automakers make up most of the entries on the list, with Chrysler alone responsible for five. (Tsk, Tsk.)
Forbes didn't produce a list of the cleanest cars, but hybrids boast excellent gas mileage and many have extremely low tailpipe emissions. The California Air Resources Board maintains a useful site that compares cars and trucks to others of the same year and assigns each a "global-warming score" and a "smog score," similar to how the Forbes list was drawn up.
Great news! We can all go home. No need to campaign about the climate anymore. The earth is actually improving because of carbon emissions. At least that’s what Plants Need CO2 says. The group, a pending nonprofit organization, hopes to woo climate activists with its tag line: “CO2 is Green.”
Why, pray tell, is it green? In short, it's good for plants. Carbon dioxide is “essential” to the earth and provides food for all living creatures. The site even explains that the carbon dioxide produced in China has made the country greener and plants thrive there. That’s funny. Aren’t China’s cities some of the most polluted in the world? China’s citizens say that pollution is a big problem in their country.
It seems this organization, led by retired energy-industry executive H. Leighton Steward, has forgotten about EPA's ruling earlier this year. You know, the one that says that greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, contribute to air pollution that harms the environment and human health? So the group launched campaign ads promoting fossil fuels.
Escape to the movies with one of our Movie Review Friday selections. Each week we review a film with an environmental theme that's currently in theaters or available on DVD. Seen a good eco-flick lately? Send us a short review and look for it in the next Movie Review Friday.
Sprawling from Grace, directed by David M. Edwards, is a documentary about American suburban sprawl and how it created an undying and dangerous love affair with the automobile. With fears of peak oil and expensive gas, the movie investigates American city planning and examines methods to eliminate our dependence on cars and foreign oil.
Cheap fuel and the desire for freedom have heavily contributed to the creation and expansion of suburbs, says the film. Winning World War II created a booming economy, and the wealthier people sought to escape congested cities. The discovery of large oil reserves sped this process up and today, thousands of miles of roads accommodate America's 250 million cars.
Edwards interviews city planners and energy experts who discuss how we're addicted to oil and cars. With our need for foreign oil leading to overseas conflicts, plus developing countries like China and India vying for their share of petroleum, it becomes clear that America can't continue down its same consumptive path.
We know, we know: It’s better to take public transit, or to walk or bike, than to drive. But for those times when driving simply can’t be avoided, remember this week’s tips about ways that you can minimize your vehicle’s impact on the planet.
Tip #2: No Need for Speed
Not only does aggressive driving aggravate others: it also wastes gas. To prevent excess pollution (and to preserve others’ positive moods), drive within the speed limit, accelerate and brake gradually, and use cruise control on highways. Driving in a too-fast, herky-jerky way can lower gas mileage by 33 percent. Plus, your zen-like lack of road rage will clear the streets of psychological pollution too.
Via posts on Gas 2.0,Mayor Newsom and Mayor Adams have recently outlined their plans to roll out the world's first plug-in charging grid in their respective cities. They’ve promised huge investments in technology and corporate partnerships so that their municipalities will be wired and ready to go when electric cars finally start flying off assembly lines. Who'll get there first? -- Mario Aguilar
We're well into spring and summer's coming, so if you're feeling bitten by the travel bug and find yourself getting into vacation mode, please remember to protect the planet you're so intent on seeing. This week we're presenting tips about how to make your travels more earth-friendly.
A few weeks ago, we blogged about some of the ridiculous marketing techniques that the coal industry has used to try to promote "clean coal." This week, the folks at the Reality Campaign (of which the Sierra Club is a partner), teamed up with all-star directors Joel and Ethan Coen (of Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and No Country for Old Men) to make a hilarious ad called "Air Freshener" that pokes some good fun at the oxymoronic "clean coal" concept. Check out the ad above, and if you're feeling bold, make your own "clean coal" ad and submit it to the Reality Campaign. If they like it, they'll post it on their site and give you $500!
Mercury Rising: Led by the U.N. in Nairobi, Kenya, more than 140 countries, including the U.S., agreed to forge a treaty toward reducing worldwide mercury emissions. TreeHugger
But Not For Long: The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to consider overturning a Bush-era rule that went easy on mercury emissions from power plants. Scientific American
Heat’s Back On: Wildfires returned to Australia just two weeks after firefighters quieted blazes that killed 200. National Geographic
Underlying Threat: As Arctic permafrost thaws, it’ll release huge amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Los Angeles Times
MTVegan: MTV is running slightly shocking nationwide ads for five weeks that demonize factory farms; the ads end by encouraging viewers to go to TryVeg.com. Ecorazzi
