Biofuel May Risk Deforestation and Harm Environment
August 30th, 2006
Biofuels can both bring down high pump prices and help halt climate change, their supporters hope.
But the result of the global boom in the green fuel additive may just have precisely the opposite effects in the near-term, according to both oil company executives and green campaigners.
The higher cost of the new fuel will end up being passed down to drivers by the oil industry, and the rush to plant more biofuel crops could result in burning swathes of virgin forest cleared for cultivation, speeding up global warming.
Hybrid Owners of America
August 17th, 2006
A new and 100-percent independent organization – the Hybrid Owners of America – is being launched today to organize and advocate for the interests of the roughly 500,000 Americans who are saving money on gas, reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil, and reducing global warming pollution by driving hybrid cars and other gas/electric vehicles.
In addition to tracking federal, state, local and private sector incentives to keep hybrid car owners armed with the latest information, HOA is encouraging hybrid vehicle drivers to get involved by urging Congress and the White House to embrace a five-point “hybrid friendly” agenda: lifting the current cap on the federal tax break for hybrid purchases; creating a new federal tax incentive for those who undertake a plug-in hybrid conversion; promoting a new federal tax break for corporations that provide direct incentives to employees who buy hybrids; rewarding U.S. automakers that undertake more hybrid research and production with assistance in dealing with health care and other high-cost issues; and conversion of 30 percent of the federal car and truck fleet over three years to hybrids. Read the rest of this entry »