Wednesday, 21 Sep 2005

Hybrid Anxiety

Ford plans to hybridize half its models by 2010

Reeling from recent profit declines and concerned about stiff competition from Japanese automakers, Ford Motor Co. today announced a big expansion of its hybrid strategy, including plans to offer gas-electric hybrid versions of half its models by 2010. Its current hybrid offerings are limited to SUVs -- the Mercury Mariner and Ford Escape. Ford plans to ramp up production of hybrids to about 250,000 a year by 2010, up from about 24,000 now. And though Toyota is still expected to dominate the hybrid market in the near future, churning out up to 400,000 in 2006 and aiming to offer hybrid versions of all its models eventually, Ford's announcement was hailed by greens who've long lobbied the automaker to jump on the efficiency bandwagon.


Fall has a lot going for it: crisp apples, cool air, more county fairs than you can shake a garish stuffed snake at. But there's one thing that reliably irks homeowners: all those leaves. Oh, sure, they're pretty to look at. But there's the raking, the blowing, the re-raking, and then the question of what to do with the damn things. Umbra's answer may surprise you -- it doesn't fall far from the tree.

How Green Was My Rally

Protest on behalf of Arctic Refuge draws thousands to D.C.

Thousands of Americans rallied in Washington, D.C., yesterday -- some dressed like polar and grizzly bears -- to demand that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge be protected from oil drilling. Congressional Republicans, riding the wake of Hurricane Katrina's disruptions to the nation's oil supply and record high gasoline prices, plan to authorize Arctic Refuge drilling as part of a filibuster-proof budget bill due for a vote this fall. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), and other prominent Democrats joined protestors to condemn the effort. "It makes no sense to respond to a disaster in the gulf by making a disaster in Alaska," said Clinton. "The answer to our energy challenge does not lie under the plains of the Arctic Refuge, but in the minds that are ingenious in America." The Canadian government, concerned about the Porcupine caribou herd that migrates across the U.S.-Canada border, is also pressuring the Bush administration to keep drills out of the refuge.

Gulf Toast

Woods, wetlands, and marine ecosystems hit hard by storm, pollution

The Gulf Coast's estuaries, wetlands, and cypress swamps are hurting in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The storm damaged 25 national wildlife refuges, and recovery costs are expected to be at least $93 million -- about a quarter of the federal refuge budget. In Mississippi's Noxubee refuge, pine trees crucial to the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker were flattened, while the coastal Breton Island bird sanctuary was virtually washed away. Experts suspect that offshore ecosystems have been swamped by sewage-laced floodwaters, which may cause blooms of oxygen-sucking algae. And then there are the industrial toxins and petroleum in the water being pumped out of New Orleans. Overall, some fear Katrina may be the final blow for many of the region's plants and critters. "All of those things, entirely unique to that part of the world, have been disappearing since about, say, 1927," says Louisianan Steve Cochran of Environmental Defense, "and now they've disappeared altogether."

Do as I Say, Not as I Vote

Majority leave environmental concerns behind at the ballot box

Most Americans want tough laws protecting air, land, and water -- but only about 1 in 5 say environmental issues have been a major influence on how they vote. According to a new survey, these numbers hold up across party lines, with 74 percent of Republicans and 85 percent of Democrats backing stronger environmental standards. But the environment ranked last on a list of nine issues that swayed actual votes -- trounced by the economy and jobs, health care, the war in Iraq, terrorism, and moral values, among others. Asked why they didn't vote their green beliefs, folks opined that there was progress being made on eco-issues, and that things weren't as bad as they used to be. Most said other matters are more urgent -- apparently global warming is a snoozer -- and they believed dealing with environmental issues might increase taxes or hurt the economy. "There is a clear disconnect here," said William K. Reilly, former U.S. EPA head and chair of the advisory board of Duke University's Nicholas Institute, which commissioned the survey.