 Stories About: fuel efficiency
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Author |
Published |
Section |
Sticker Shocking The EPA has been misoverestimating the fuel economy of cars sold in the U.S., says enviro group |
Amanda Griscom |
02 Apr 2004 |
Muckraker |
| A whole lot of exaggerating going on. If you think the fuel economy of U.S. vehicles is dismal, well, you're right. Perhaps more right than you know. Official U.S. EPA statistics ascribe a pathetic average of 20.8 miles per gallon to the 2003 car fleet, about 6 percent lower than 15 years ago. The fleet averaged 22.1 mpg in 1987, before Americans got h ... |
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| Topics: Bluewater Network, energy, fuel efficiency, Muckraker, placemaking, politics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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CAFE Au Lait Bush plan to overhaul CAFE standards is a mixed bag |
Amanda Griscom |
20 Feb 2004 |
Powers That Be |
| Clean up the bus, gus. Photo: NREL. The Bush administration has taken to singing the clean-car gospel lately, but it's not quite hitting all the notes. Last month, U.S. EPA chief Mike Leavitt joined Detroit kingpins in a splashy D.C. conference to trumpet the arrival of new vehicles and fuels that reduce sulfur emissions -- a notable achievement, but what Leavitt was passing off as a Bush administratio ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, cars, fuel efficiency, placemaking, politics, United States (all these topics) |
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CAFE Au Lait Bush Revisions to CAFE Standards a Mixed Bag |
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20 Feb 2004 |
Daily Grist |
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| Topics: cars, consumerism, energy, fuel efficiency, placemaking, politics (all these topics) |
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Put the Pedal to the Mettle The word on relatively green cars and positively green bicycles |
Jim Motavalli, The Green Guide |
16 Dec 2003 |
Earthly Possessions |
| By Jim Motavalli and The Green Guide 16 Dec 2003 Hy-wire act. Photo: DOE. My daughter Maya, who is 9, saw a picture of the General Motors Hy-wire, the company's super-sleek experimental fuel-cell car, and immediately decided we should have one. Unfortunately, I had to explain to her that the hydrogen-powered, zero-emission, fossil-fuel-free car would be perfect for us in all respects except one: It's not ... |
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| Topics: bikes, cars, electric vehicles, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, hybrids, placemaking, Prius (all these topics) |
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The Corrections Reader responses on family cars, the internal combustion engine, and more |
Umbra Fisk |
11 Jun 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dearest Readers, How I enjoy your letters! I'm sorry I'm unable to answer them all; lest you fear that they vanish into the void, I assure you they do not. I read each and every one of them down here in Stacklandia. I must in particular thank those of you who write in to correct, amend, or expand on issues I address in my columns. Almost without exception, those perspic ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, cars, fuel efficiency, green living, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Plane Text Advice on driving vs. flying |
Umbra Fisk |
28 May 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Hi Umbra, I'm wondering if you have any numbers comparing the fuel efficiency of flying versus driving the average car for the same distance. Also, how does carbon dioxide production compare for the same trip? Steve Loomis, Calif. Dearest Steve, Flight blight? Here's what I can find so far, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Institute in beautiful Snowmass, Colo. Single-occupancy automobiles produce 0.91 pounds of carbon dioxide per ... |
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| Topics: advice, air pollution, Ask Umbra, cars, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, placemaking, travel (all these topics) |
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Give a Hoot, Don't Scoot On scooters |
Umbra Fisk |
28 May 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I was thinking of buying a scooter with the idea that (in addition to being fun) I would be using a more fuel-efficient means of transportation on days when the weather was good. Then I got the edition of the Daily Grist telling me how dirty motorcycles are. Now I'm worried: Are scooters the same? I'm talking about a Vespa-type thing. Please tell me that's not as polluting as a Harley! Thanks (even if the answer isn't wha ... |
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| Topics: advice, air pollution, Ask Umbra, fuel efficiency, green living, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Gnarly Davidson On motorcycles |
Umbra Fisk |
28 May 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I recently read a claim that "motorcycles produce far more pollution per mile than your typical car, truck, or SUV." Is that true? I've got a friend who's currently making her (bad-ass) way across country on a Harley -- 60 mpg, baby -- and we are both curious about the environmental impacts compared with a car. Billy Brooklyn, N.Y. Dearest Billy, Bad news for your friend and her bad behind. If she's getting 60 miles ... |
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| Topics: advice, air pollution, Ask Umbra, cars, energy, fuel efficiency, green living, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Vantastic On minivans |
Umbra Fisk |
28 May 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, We have a six-year-old daughter, a three-year-old daughter, and -- surprise! (well, not completely) -- a new baby girl due in the next two months. Our fuel-efficient car cannot fit two car seats and a booster across the back seat, and according to Washington state law ("six-years-old and 60 pounds"), my petite six-year-old will remain in her booster for some time. I've been looking into minivans but am discouraged by their poo ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, cars, energy, fuel efficiency, green living, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Things That Make You Go Hummer
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07 May 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Things That Make You Go Hummer Yesterday, Grist reported that the average fuel efficiency of U.S. vehicles is at a 22-year low. Today, we're happy to report that at least people are upset about it. A survey of complaints about new vehicles, released yesterday by J. D. Powers and Associates, found that fuel consumption was the second-most-common complaint among all respondents. In the 17 years ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, fuel efficiency, hybrids, placemaking, Prius (all these topics) |
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Autodidactic On picking the right car |
Umbra Fisk |
15 Aug 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, In 1981, I bought my first car, a Honda Civic. It was a great car, and despite what certain congressional leaders say about car size and safety, an excellent vehicle for handling winter snow and ice in mountain driving in Steamboat Springs, Colo. The problem is that now, living in Pennsylvania, my husband and I and our three children are looking for a car that will be able to carry the five of us for the next 10 years wi ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, cars, fuel efficiency, green living, greenhouse-gas emissions, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Coolant On cooling your car |
Umbra Fisk |
15 Aug 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, Is it more efficient to drive down the highway with my windows down or the air conditioner on? I know the air conditioner decreases gas mileage, but I bet having my windows down at 75 miles per hour produces pretty good drag. Thanks, Sara Dearest Sara, This is July's Question of the Month for Grist readers, apparently. I received a passel of virtually identical queries with minute variations. ("How much drag do you get from ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, cars, fuel efficiency, green living, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Car Talk On hybrid cars |
Umbra Fisk |
04 Jun 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Umbra, hi, With Honda having just released its gas-electric hybrid Civic in the U.S., many enviros are scrambling to buy one. But one question that hasn't been answered to my knowledge is whether the total amount of energy, pollution, mining, etc. involved in making a new car -- even a hybrid -- constitutes a greater overall environmental impact than the added emissions and fossil-fuel consumption of a huge old second-hand clunker that would cost ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, cars, energy, fuel efficiency, green living, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Is That a Lawmaker in Your Pocket, or ... ? A breakdown of the CAFE standards yeas and nays in the Senate |
Amanda Griscom |
14 Mar 2002 |
Muckraker |
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| Topics: energy, fuel efficiency, legislation, Muckraker, politics (all these topics) |
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Detroit Sucks The Big Three are talking a good game, but reality does not match the rhetoric |
Roland Hwang |
26 Jan 2001 |
Soapbox |
| Judging by the media hype over Ford's and General Motors' early January announcements on "hybrid" vehicles at the North American International Auto Show, one would think that automakers have seen the light and are finally matching their professed concern for the environment with deeds. Hybrid cars deliver better fuel efficiency by using two power sources -- a gaso ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, Big Auto, business, cars, energy, fuel efficiency (all these topics) |
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James Grimmelmann, Microsoft
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03 Nov 2000 |
Dispatches |
| James Grimmelmann is a resident of Seattle, Wash., a software design engineer with the Microsoft Corporation, and the madman behind The Laboratorium. Dispatch: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Friday, 03 Nov 2000 SEATTLE, Wash. The results of the bug bash are in. Our lead developer has gone through and "triaged" the bugs we found yesterday. After culling out the duplicates and the ones that, on further reflection, aren't bugs at all, he's sorted them by their importance. ... |
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| Topics: cars, Dispatches, fuel efficiency, hybrids, tech (all these topics) |
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James Grimmelmann, Microsoft
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02 Nov 2000 |
Dispatches |
| James Grimmelmann is a resident of Seattle, Wash., a software design engineer with the Microsoft Corporation, and the madman behind The Laboratorium. Dispatch: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Thursday, 02 Nov 2000 SEATTLE, Wash. Stayed late at work yesterday: My team was having a bug bash. We spent the evening looking for bugs in a twisted parody of a brainstorming session: Who can think up the most creative way to break the product? This one was pretty good. We found 65 bugs in a ... |
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| Topics: cars, Dispatches, fuel efficiency, hybrids, tech (all these topics) |
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James Grimmelmann, Microsoft
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01 Nov 2000 |
Dispatches |
| James Grimmelmann is a resident of Seattle, Wash., a software design engineer with the Microsoft Corporation, and the madman behind The Laboratorium. Dispatch: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Wednesday, 01 Nov 2000 SEATTLE, Wash. How much power does your computer use? It's probably around 100 watts for a desktop machine, but what does that 100 watts mean? I work in an office with two honking current-guzzlers, and I have a pretty visceral sense of their power usage: I can feel it i ... |
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| Topics: cars, Dispatches, fuel efficiency, hybrids, tech (all these topics) |
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James Grimmelmann, Microsoft
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31 Oct 2000 |
Dispatches |
| James Grimmelmann is a resident of Seattle, Wash., a software design engineer with the Microsoft Corporation, and the madman behind The Laboratorium. Dispatch: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Tuesday, 31 Oct 2000 SEATTLE, Wash. Software development is a resource-obsessed business, even though these "resources" are close to pure abstractions. Everything is measured in terms of its costs: how many CPU cycles this algorithm will take to run, how much disk space the program ... |
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| Topics: cars, Dispatches, fuel efficiency, hybrids, tech (all these topics) |
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James Grimmelmann, Microsoft
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30 Oct 2000 |
Dispatches |
| James Grimmelmann is a resident of Seattle, Wash., a software design engineer with the Microsoft Corporation, and the madman behind The Laboratorium. Dispatch: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Monday, 30 Oct 2000 SEATTLE, Wash. I've worked at Microsoft for a year and half total, and in that time I've received two spider Koosh balls (Kooshes with only 20 or so hairs, giving them the lean look of predators), three twisty link toys, an indoor Frisbee, a magnetic poetry kit, a high-bou ... |
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| Topics: cars, Dispatches, fuel efficiency, hybrids, tech (all these topics) |
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A Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
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Ben White |
15 Jul 1999 |
Muckraker |
| They are intrepid: Navigator, Explorer, Expedition, Blazer. They are virile and exotic: Bronco, Cherokee, Laredo, Tahoe. They are your friends: Amigo. They are even, on occasion, honest about themselves: Suburban. SUVs are huge and getting huger by the model year. One need not pore over market statistics (SUVs now represent about 20 percent of the automobile market, compared with 2 percent in 1980) to know that these behemoths are ... |
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| Topics: cars, energy, fuel efficiency, legislation, Muckraker, politics (all these topics) |
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