New Jersey might add mini-windmills to Turnpike

by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Jan 8th 2008 @ 7:43AM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News, Alternative Energy

Ok, the New Jersey Turnpike is, uh, not the prettiest part of New Jersey, but it might be a little bit greener if an NJ senator gets his way.

New Jersey might build mini windmills along the Turnpike as a way to generate electricity and cut pollution, according to State Senator Raymond Lesniak. The mini windmills, just a few feet high, could be placed on rooftops, bridges or towers along the turnpike.

Lesniak came up with the idea after bicycling in France, where giant windmills are common. These mini windmills could produce enough electricity to power state-owned buildings along the highway according to Lesniak,or to run refrigerated trucks as they idle at Port Elizabeth waiting to be unloaded.

Lesniak has pledged to put this mini windmill plan in an upcoming Turnpike bill.

Tom's of Maine Natural Deodorant keeps the funk at bay

by Kelly Leahy
Jan 8th 2008 @ 8:29AM

Filed under: Health, Shopping Guide, Natural Body Care

Every morning as I applied my antiperspirant, a little voice in my head kept shouting out all of the horrors I heard about aluminum and Alzheimer's as well as possible cancer links to deodorant ingredients. After finishing my last stick of aluminum laden antiperspirant and deodorant, I vowed to try a more natural brand.

I chose to go natural for a few reasons. First of all was that deodorant is something that I use every day; sometimes twice a day. My armpits are home to a pair of lymph nodes that are common sites for breast cancer and I'd like to avoid anything that might encourage the disease. Lastly, if there is a connection between aluminum and Alzheimer's, why risk it?

The last time that I tried natural deodorant was about 16 years ago (good God, I feel old) and it was from Tom's of Maine. I remember it not working well at all and I lived in New England at the time; an area not know for extreme heat. I now live about as deep into the South as you can get so it was with some hesitation that picked up another stick from Tom's. However, the label promised me new, improved ingredients not to mention it was the only "natural" deodorant available in this particular grocery store. Last but not least, Tom's is very committed to being environmentally friendly.

Tom's of Maine Natural Long-Lasting Deodorant Stick has added botanical hops into the formula to inhibit bacterial growth and it must be working because my highly scientific armpit sniff technique reveals little odor at the end of the day. I also don't get that sticky feeling that I remember from forgoing antiperspirants in the past. In fact my only complaint is that I was only able to find the unscented variety since I am accustomed to my underarms smelling like flowers and sunshine. Hopefully I'll be able to locate the lavender, apricot or lemongrass versions during my next shopping trip.

Related Link

Vista Shipped On 39% of PCs In 2007

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 08, @12:53AM
from the another-massive-success-could-sink-the-company dept.

Stony Stevenson writes "Vista is proving far less popular than XP did with new PC buyers during the earlier OS's first year on the market. This conclusion follows from statements by Bill Gates at this week's Consumer Electronics Show. Gates boasted that Microsoft has sold more than 100 million copies of Windows Vista since the OS launched last January. Based on Gates's statement, Windows Vista was aboard just 39% of the PC's that shipped in 2007. And Vista, in terms of units shipped, only outperformed first-year sales of XP by 10%, according to Gates's numbers, while PC shipments have doubled in the years since XP's release."

[+] microsoft, windows, vistasucks, slaythebeast, epicfail (tagging beta)

Westchester County says, "recycle or else!"

by Kelly Leahy
Jan 7th 2008 @ 12:01PM

Filed under: Home, Local, News

Westchester County, an affluent New York suburb, has had enough with residents who don't recycle. Starting this week, those who do not put recyclables in the proper bins will receive a yellow "oops" sticker on their garbage can. If the offending parties don't change their ways, a red sticker will be issued for a second offense and their garbage will not be picked up.

The idea is interesting. The stickers not only chastise the recycling offender directly but there is also an element of peer pressure and public shaming that goes into play. I assume that in order to issue the proper sticker, there will be some dumpster diving involved by the trash collection service which doesn't break any laws but who wants their trash rifled through?

Do you think that Westchester is on the right track or is there a better way to get your neighbors to recycle?

Related Link

Chef Jamie Oliver attacks chicken

by Kelly Leahy
Jan 7th 2008 @ 3:04PM

Filed under: Food

Jamie Oliver, a.k.a. the Naked Chef, has a bone to pick with the chicken industry. A trip to a chicken farm last fall propelled Oliver into a crusade to make living conditions less foul for England's ... well, fowl. The pouty lipped chef is pictured on a his website cozying up next to a hen.

The Naked Chef asks the citizens of England to pony up the extra pound it takes to buy a free range chicken over a broiler that is conventionally farmed. Oliver notes that free range birds have more space to roam, natural light and "stuff to do."

A typical broiler takes five weeks to reach slaughter weight thanks to genetic engineering. This growth period is half as long as the typical chicken of the 1950's and puts a lot of strain on the health of the bird. Additionally, chickens are bred to have a disproportionate amount of breast tissue which causes moderate to severe leg disorders.

Jamie Oliver has produced Jamie's Fowl Dinners that will air in England on January 11th. He hopes that the informative show will encourage people to change their ways and demand that the old way of raising chickens will fly the coop. Brits, however, might become a bit peckish when told that their favorite, inexpensive meat could cost them more, if Oliver has his way.

Related Link

Mitsubishi laser TV unveiled

Posted Jan 8th 2008 1:21AM by Ben Drawbaugh
Filed under: CES, Features

Tonight at the Moon Room on the top floor of the The Palms Hotel & Casino overlooking Las Vegas, Mitsubishi unveiled its laser HDTV. As expected, Mitsubishi kicked off the event with a few execs expressing their love for lasers -- and Mitsubishi in general. They explained that Mitsubishi is a leader in laser technology and owns 75% of the led laser market, so bringing them together with big screen TVs made perfect sense. Then the event went from execs to night club as the curtain was dropped and there were three 65-inch laser HDTVs on display. At first glance the colors were sensational and the contrast was extremely intense; and although we were hard pressed to see anything that struck us as groundbreaking, we'll need to see this side by side with a traditional set to really know what we're looking at. Unfortunately, the event was short on details, such as price or availability, but during 2008 is the time frame Mitsubishi is aiming for.

Microsoft Apologizes To Rival

Posted by kdawson on Monday January 07, @08:12PM
from the it's-the-software-stupid dept.

Geoffrey.landis writes "Microsoft apologized to rival software vendor Corel Corp. for saying that Corel's file format posed a security risk, and issued a set of tools to unblock file types that had been blocked by default in the December Office 2003 service pack. In his blog on the Microsoft site, David Leblanc says 'We did a poor job of describing the default format changes.' He goes on to explain, 'We stated that it was the file formats that were insecure, but this is actually not correct. A file format isn't insecure — it's the code that reads the format that's more or less secure.' As noted by News.com, 'it is the parsing code that Office 2003 uses to open and save the file types that is less secure.' Larry Seltzer at pcmag.com also blogs the story."

[+] security, microsoft, corel, hellfrozeover, corellinux (tagging beta)

NASA Spacecraft Set to Shine Spotlight on Mercury

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday January 07, @06:30PM
from the long-lead-time dept.

coondoggie writes to tell us Network World is reporting that NASA will this month see the realization of a mission launched in 2004, sent to explore the planet Mercury. "MESSENGER, launched in 2004, is the first NASA mission sent to orbit Mercury, the planet closest to the sun. But on Jan. 14 it will pass close by the planet and use Mercury's gravity for a critical assist needed to keep the spacecraft on track for its ultimate orbit around the planet three years from now. Still, the spacecraft is also expected to throw back some never-before -seen images, NASA said. The flyby also will gather essential data for planning the overall mission. After flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury, it will start a year-long orbital study of Mercury in March 2011, NASA said. "

Making 3D Models from Video Clips

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday January 07, @05:24PM
from the fun-toys dept.

BoingBoing is covering an interesting piece of software called VideoTrace that allows you to easily create 3D models from the images in video clips. "The user interacts with VideoTrace by tracing the shape of the object to be modeled over one or more frames of the video. By interpreting the sketch drawn by the user in light of 3D information obtained from computer vision techniques, a small number of simple 2D interactions can be used to generate a realistic 3D model."

[+] media, technology, computer, vision, modeling (tagging beta)

Korean robots to build high-rises by 2010

Posted Jan 8th 2008 4:30AM by Barb Dybwad
Filed under: Robots

Dude, Korea knows we've been sending humans to do a robot's job for far too long already, and in a few short years the dangerous world of high rise construction could be left to the true masters of the craft. By 2010, the Korean Construction and Transportation Ministry hopes to have an almost completely automated construction process in place for high-rise projects that could cut labor costs by up to a third, project timelines by 15 percent, and reduce the number of construction-related injuries on these typically dangerous projects. Of course, an inevitable robotic Jurgis Rudkus will be blowing the whistle on robotic working conditions shortly thereafter. Still, civilization stands to benefit greatly from the accelerated completion of super-sized skyscrapers -- at least until the builders turn on us and convert us into human fuel cells.

Portland's "bike boxes" make the city even more bike-friendly

Posted Jan 7th 2008 11:52AM by Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: On Two Wheels, Green Daily

I've been a biker ever since my college days. I've used a bike to commute through Michigan (and northern Japanese) winters, hot times in Georgia and up steep residential streets in Hawai'i. But I've never biked in a place as bike-friendly as Portland, Oregon. I've only spent a few days there, but damn if that city doesn't put a premium on encouraging two-wheeled, human-powered transportation.

Still, whenever bikes and cars share the road, accidents are likely - and bikers almost always suffer for it. Following six bicycle deaths on city roads last year, new "bike boxes" will be added to 14 busy Portland intersections, according to The Oregonian. These boxes are common in Europe, but Portland is likely to be the first place in the U.S. to use them. The blue-painted areas are intended to give bikers a place to rest in front of automobiles at traffic lights and prevent accidents due to "right hooks" (where cars turning right hit a biker using the right side of the road). Cars will also be prevented from making right turns on red. The boxes make a lot of sense when bike are able to get to the bike box when the light is red, but they'll still need to be extra careful once traffic is moving.

[Source: Andy Dworkin / The Oregonian via Worldchanging]

China looking at environmental disaster

by Patrick Metzger
Jan 7th 2008 @ 11:30AM

Filed under: News, Polit-eco, Climate Change

If you want to dance, you gotta pay the piper. China has been the global economic success story of the last two decades, with average income has increased in leaps and bounds. The world's most populous nation has become the world's leading manufacturer of everything from sportswear to washing machines, and if some toxic toys and poison pet food occasionally find their way into shipping containers, well, that's the price you pay to get rich. However, now the cost of rapid industrialization is becoming clear, in the form of burgeoning ecological catastrophe caused by climate change and indifferent environmental policies.

Forbes reports that China's largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake, has been so afflicted by drought that it has shrunk from 3000 square kilometres in July to 50 square kilometres today. As a result, 100,000 people living near the lake are reportedly suffering from severe water shortages, and a species of finless porpoise that lives in the lake is at risk of extinction.

And Poyang Lake is only one symptom of the evironmental problems that are troubling China, which are exacerbated by engineering projects like the Three Gorges dam. The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has said that the drought currently affecting most of the country will probably continue through 2008, and the government is working desperately to clean up Beijing in time for this year's Olympics, in spite of sandstorms sweeping in from the Gobi desert and enveloping the city with growing frequency.

The climate change crisis isn't limited to China, of course, as anyone living in drought-stricken regions of the US an attest. However, as the world's biggest spewers of greenhouse gases, both China and the US need to take the lead in cleaning up their act. Othewise, that piper bill is going to get real expensive.

Related Link

Mathematician Theorizes a Crystal As Beautiful As A Diamond

Posted by Zonk on Monday January 07, @02:41AM
from the i-prefer-my-stones-blood-free-thanks dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Why are diamonds so shiny and beautiful? A Japanese mathematician says it's because of their unique crystal structure and two key properties, called 'maximal symmetry' and 'strong isotropic property.' According to the American Mathematical Society (AMS), he found that out of all the crystals that are possible to construct mathematically, just one shares these two properties with the diamond. So far, his K4 crystal exists only as a mathematical object. And nobody knows if it exists — or if it can be synthesized."

Alienware curved display rocks Crysis at 2880 x 900

Posted Jan 7th 2008 1:16AM by Barb Dybwad
Filed under: CES, Displays

Don't get all frothed up quite yet because it's still only a prototype, but this sweet doublewide curved DLP display with OLED illumination from Alienware will reportedly be available in the second half of '08. The curvature of the 2880 x 900 rez screen mimics peripheral vision, and in action the performance seemed pretty flawless to our Crysis-dazzled eyes (official specs report less than .02-millisecond response time). We did notice three faint vertical dividing lines that appeared to indicate four sub-panels making up this screen, but we may be willing to suspend disbelief in exchange for the potential of indulgent wrap-around immersion. There's not even an inkling of an MSRP on this thing yet, but you know we're gonna be keeping our eyes on this sucker for ya. Pics below and don't miss our video footage.

Why Intel and OLPC Parted Ways

Posted by Zonk on Sunday January 06, @08:13AM
from the so-the-drama dept.

runamock writes "The New York Times has an article that sheds some light on why Intel left the OLPC board: 'A frail partnership between Intel and the One Laptop Per Child educational computing group was undone last month in part by an Intel saleswoman: She tried to persuade a Peruvian official to drop the country's commitment to buy a quarter-million of the organization's laptops in favor of Intel PCs. Intel and the group had a rocky relationship from the start in their short-lived effort to get inexpensive laptops into the hands of the world's poorest children. But the saleswoman's tactic was the final straw for Nicholas Negroponte.'"

Anti-Missile Technology To Be Tested on Commercial Jets

Posted by Zonk on Sunday January 06, @06:46PM
from the because-our-airline-tickets-were-too-cheap dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "As many as three American Airlines passenger jets will be outfitted this spring with laser technology intended to protect planes from missile attacks. The tests, which could involve more than 1,000 flights, will determine how the technology holds up under the rigors of flight. The technology is intended to stop attacks by detecting heat from missiles, then responding in a fraction of a second by firing laser beams to jam the missiles' guidance systems. A Rand study in 2005 estimated it would cost about $11 billion to protect every US airliner from shoulder-fired missiles. Over 20 years, the cost to develop, procure and operate anti-missile systems could hit $40 billion."

&#@^@#$(*(*@#$ GPS

Man follows GPS directions onto train tracks, into dummy hall of fame

Posted Jan 4th 2008 2:57PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Once again proving that "people be stupid," a Bedford Hills, New York man allowed his GPS to navigate him onto train tracks... while a train was approaching. Entering a long line of folks like Cherry Tree Guy and the Narrow Lane Invader, this mentat in question apparently followed directions to "turn right" onto a set of tracks, which he then inexplicably became stuck on. Upon noticing the speeding locomotive heading towards his car, the man jumped out of the vehicle and tried to warn the engineer by waving his arms frantically -- to no avail. The train slammed into the truck at 60 MPH and pushed the vehicle more than 100-feet, damaging 250-feet of track. The man was unharmed, though we understand his ego has filed for divorce.

[Thanks, Dr. Mark]

Driver follows GPS onto pedestrian walkway, into cherry tree

Posted Jul 21st 2007 5:15PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Transportation

In another example of the evils of computer navigation, a 37-year-old trucker followed his GPS directions to their totally illogical conclusion when he drove his truck down a pedestrian walkway and wedged the delivery vehicle into a cherry tree. The driver, who was looking for a factory to drop off his cargo, blindly followed the female voice of his navigation system, apparently ignoring several no-entry signs and turning onto the walkway in broad daylight. The motorist then attempted to reverse out, damaging two lamp posts, a hedge, and of course the cherry tree, which Swiss workers later had to take a chainsaw to. The tucker was fined 650 Swiss francs (about $540), and his GPS was given a firmware update and a copy of Google Maps.

[Thanks, pork_musket]

GPS leads driver into tight spot, stays wedged for three days

Posted Nov 2nd 2007 3:56PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Every few months, we happen upon yet another story involving a motorist who simply believes that their GPS system would never, ever lead them astray. This go 'round, a Czech lorry driver continued down an incredibly narrow lane at the request of his sat nav, and even though his ginormous camion was clearly too large to make it around the 90-degree turn, he threw common sense to the wind and continued onward. Needless to say, his ride ended up wedged so tightly he couldn't reverse his way out, so he decided to set up shop for three whole days rather than calling for "an expensive weekend rescue." Interestingly enough, the fellow managed to acquire food after befriending a couple that lived nearby, and while we're sure he uttered Michael Scott's words in a different tongue, we've little doubt that "the machine knows!" was heard by nearby wildlife shortly before this situation turned sour.

Tags: accident, czech, dumb, gps, mishap, nav, navigation, problem, sat nav, SatNav, stupid, trouble

• Read

Faith in GPS sends Mercedes downstream

Posted Mar 27th 2007 10:14AM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: GPS, Transportation

So far, over-dependence on GPS devices has resulted in more inconvenience than actual danger, but things took a turn for the worse earlier this month when a U.K. woman sent her £96k Mercedes SL500 flying into a river, trusting the car's optimistic GPS guidance instead of the road signs warning of impending doom. Matters were made worse as the river was swollen from recent heavy rains, which caused the vehicle to be swept some 200 meters downstream before the woman was able to escape. While she emerged unscathed, the car unfortunately wasn't quite so lucky, remaining stuck in the river for a week after the incident and now believed to be a complete write-off.

[Via The Register]

Tags: gps, gps accident, GpsAccident, mercedes

• Read

Motorist has faith in GPS, drives into sandpile

Posted Oct 10th 2006 7:08PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Sure, we're well aware that focusing too intently on that mesmerizing GPS screen can be dangerous, and we've heard a few reports of the Darwin effect doing its best to weed out the unfit-to-drive, but most recently, an 80-year old gentleman apparently thought his nav-equipped Mercedes was of the yet-to-be-released autopilot variety when he failed to take matters into his own hands. The elderly German motorist set out sans a clue of what route(s) he'd be taking to reach his destination, but obviously felt that his trusty navigation unit knew far more about the highways and byways than he did. After blatantly ignoring a prominent "closed for construction" sign, he threw common sense to the wind and put that 4MATIC system to good use by wheeling over "a number of warnings and barricades" in search of his next landmark. A police spokeperson said frankly: "His trip finally ended when he wound up crashing into a pile of sand." The most alarming tidbit may not be the overt reliance on technology or the slightly antiquated maps he was utilizing, but that even his wife found no reason to object to cruising head-on into a sandpile. Two heads are apparently not always better than one.

[Via Fark]

Tags: Germany, NAV, navigation, sand, stupid

UK drivers trust GPS more than their own eyes

Posted Apr 20th 2006 5:42PM by Marc Perton
Filed under: GPS, Transportation

We've heard reports before about the dangers of driving while under the influence of GPS, but it looks like drivers in the UK have taken trust of their navigation units to the extreme. Twice in the space of the last two weeks, we've seen reports of British drivers taking serious risks because they trust the info displayed on the small screen more than what they see through their windshield. In the most recent case, drivers passing through the village of Luckington have found themselves landing in the River Avon, by following a GPS-recommended route that pointed to a bridge that has been closed for a week. Despite warning signs on both sides of the road, and nothing but water straight ahead, local villagers have found themselves pulling an average of two cars a day out of the river for the past week. "When you ask what happened, they say, ‘My sat-nav told me it was this way,'" one resident told The Times. Meanwhile, the village of Crackpot (yes, that's really its name) has had to deal with drivers whose navigation systems have directed them to the edge of a cliff with a hundred-foot drop. So far, there have been no serious injuries, but drivers have found themselves stranded on a rocky path. "It's only a matter of time before something happens," said one resident. Listen, we like GPS as much as the next sense-of-direction-impaired driver. But we also do our best to use our eyes, as well. And if you don't, well, there's a village in England named for you, and it ain't Luckington.

Read - Luckington
Read - Crackpot

Tags: accidents, cars, crackpot, drivers, gps, uk

Starry Night bed: like sleeping on a pile of money

Posted Jan 4th 2008 3:32PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: HDTV, Household

Sure, your bed is pretty comfortable. you probably even have one of those plush down mattress covers. You may have convinced yourself that you're in the lap of luxury, but according to Leggett & Platt -- you're nowhere close. Enter the Starry Night bed, the be-all-end-all when it comes to breakneck, nosebleed opulence, and unparalleled extravagance. The sleeper not only combines dual, remote-controlled, adjustable mattresses with temperature control and anti-snore technology (whatever that is), but also manages to embed a 1080p HD projector, four subwoofers and tweeters, a 1.5TB hard drive, 4GB of RAM, Media Center integration, WiFi, and an iPod dock. Seriously. All they forgot was to make it not ugly. Showing at CES 2008, and priced from $20,000 to $50,000 (depending on options).

[Via About Projectors]

Scientist Suggests We Explore 'Universe is a VR Simulation' Theory

Posted by Zonk on Friday January 04, @12:44PM
from the what-would-we-do-if-he's-right dept.

holy_calamity writes "A New Zealand physicist has written a paper saying that physicists should seriously explore the possibility the universe is a giant virtual reality simulation. He says that the existence of quantum phenomena could be due to the underlying digital nature of the simulation and also claims his VR hypothesis can explain relativity, the big bang and more. It should be possible to perform experiments to prove the hypothesis too. He reasons that if reality was to do something that information processing cannot, then it cannot be virtual."

[+] scifi, whatisthematrix, intelligentdesign, thereisnospoon, thecakeisalie (tagging beta)

Leonardo DiCaprio drops $3,200 on eco-friendly toilet

by Jonathon Morgan
Jan 4th 2008 @ 4:10PM

Filed under: Celebrities, Home

It's official, going green would be way easier if you were famous and totally loaded. Then you'd be able to drop $3,200 on an eco-friendly toilet like Leonardo DiCaprio. Plus, along with doing your part for the planet, you'd get to play with all the awesome features included with the Toto toilet -- including a seat warmer, automatic flusher, and remove control.

And dudes, check this out -- the seat flips up all by itself whenever you approach it. Nice.

Swedish group deflates SUV tires

by Josh Loposer
Jan 4th 2008 @ 12:30PM

Filed under: Activism, Climate Change

A group of climate crusaders in Sweden -- calling themselves the "Indians of the Concrete Jungle" -- have launched a campaign to deflate as many SUV tires as possible. Using pebbles and beans, the vandals vigilantes unscrew the tire cap, insert the object and viola -- one pissed off SUV driver. So far the "Indians" have reported deflating the tires of over 1000 vehicles in the affluent parts of Stockholm. Claiming to be fighting for the survival of the planet, they hope to squelch Sweden's fascination with wasteful 4x4s.

So far, their self-righteous attitude has provoked a national debate and spawned counter-deflation groups like the "Cowboys of the Concrete Jungle," who vow to defend their right to drive the vehicle of their choice -- by whatever means necessary. Hopefully, there will not be any meeting between the two groups, since I'm pretty sure it could get ugly. I know the green movement is pretty intense, but at lest here in the States, the 4x4 culture is downright fanatical.

Fashionable Milan jumps on congestion fee bandwagon

by Patrick Metzger
Jan 4th 2008 @ 11:00AM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation

No longer will stretch Hummers carrying dozens of stick-thin models to their catwalks rumble freely through the streets of central Milan. As of January 2, that city has joined London, Stockholm, and Singapore in implementing "congestion fees' for vehicles accessing 8 square kilometres in the city centre. Daily fees range from about $3 to $14, or up to $around $370 for a yearly pass. No worries, though, those scooters that look so cool when Italians ride them but somehow become ridiculous on American streets will still be exempt, along with certain other low-emissions vehicles.

Unhappily, the Times Online reports that the first day of the new system was chaotic, as drivers complained that online and phone payment systems weren't working properly. However, once the glitches are ironed out, the city hopes to pull in about $35 million annually from the program, 2/3 of which they plan to reinvest in public transit.

In London, an anti-congestion fee was initially successful at reducing traffic in the city core, but in the last year delays have returned to pre-implementation levels. However, over $600 million has been raised for public transit funding since 2003.

Related Link

16 states suing as EPA supports automakers over clean air

by Patrick Metzger
Jan 4th 2008 @ 9:05AM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Activism, Climate Change

What part of the word "protection" doesn't Environmental Protection Agency Chairman Stephen Johnson understand? California and 15 other states and several environmental organizations are suing the EPA after the agency refused to grant a waiver allowing California to impose tailpipe emissions limits stricter than federal standards. While the EPA technically has the right to refuse such a waiver, it has never done so in the past and legal experts suggest that its stance in this case won't hold up in court.

The California Clean Car law would require cars sold in the state to have 30% less tailpipe emissions by 2020, a benchmark considerably tougher thant the federal Clean Air Act standard. The rationale for the denial of the waiver is odd, to say the least. The EPA 's Johnson - a Bush appointee - has said that it was to "avoid a confusing patchwork of state laws", which isn't the case and has nothing to do with anything anyway. Johnson also claims that Federal fuel efficiency standards would have the same effect, a statement disputed by California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols, who says that the California law would keep 38 million additional tons of CO2 out of the air between 2009 and 2016 alone. Reports citing EPA insiders have suggested that Johnson is actually responding to pressure from the White House and auto companies, who fear that stricter standards will drive up manufacturing costs.

Other states joining the suit are Massachusetts, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. If you live in one of them, you may feel a small twinge of pride that your legislators have done something useful.

via Wired

Related Link

Organic vending machines in Italy

by Kelly Leahy
Jan 4th 2008 @ 8:30AM

Filed under: Food

In an effort to provide fast, healthy food and curb childhood obesity rates, Italy's Lazio region has added organic fruit to their vending machines. For 50 cents to one Euro a piece, you can get organic bananas, apples, pears, and oranges. Regional Agricultural Councilor, Daniela Valentini intends to fill institutional buildings like schools and hospitals with healthy options.

Lazio is a region of Italy bordered by Tuscany. Rome is the capitol. With more than more than 2,700 organic producers, Lazio has the highest consumption of organics in the country. They were even represented when 20 Lazio companies made an appearance at Dubai's Middle East Natural and Organic Products Expo. Perhaps Lazio's efforts to provide quick healthy food will spread to this country as well.

Related Link

HydroPak water-activated fuel-cell generator unveiled

Posted Jan 4th 2008 9:25AM by Evan Blass
Filed under: CES, Misc. Gadgets

While still quite a ways away from our ideal method of drawing power directly from tap water, the new HydroPak generator from Millennium Cell and Horizon Fuel Cell at least trumps those heavy, dirty, traditional models in both cleanliness and efficiency. As we first heard a few months back, this water-activated, fuel cell-based "portable power product" uses $20 disposable cartridges to provide "enough energy to recharge an average notebook computer 8 to 10 times" or "operate low power devices such as portable lights, notebook computers, portable televisions and ad hoc communications networks for more than 14 continuous hours," via AC outlet or dual USB jacks. Also on display at CES alongside the $400 system will be a smaller version called the HydroPak Mini, a prototype device designed to juice up gadgets such as cellphones or gaming systems.