Green Cars

11/28 From TheGrist.org
Bush administration's fuel-economy regs for bigger vehicles smacked down A federal appeals court has rejected the Bush administration's fuel-economy regulations for 2008-2011 model light trucks and SUVs. In the scathing tone that the Bushies are becoming quite familiar with, the judges declared that the regulations did not consider the economic impact of vehicle emissions' contribution to climate change, and ordered the Transportation Department to come up with new, tougher standards. The court also asked for an explanation of why the agency considers light trucks and SUVs in a separate category from passenger cars, saying the distinction "overlooks the fact that many light trucks today are manufactured primarily for transporting passengers." Enviros had petitioned the appeals court less than a month after the regulations were announced in March 2006; subsequently, 11 states joined the lawsuit. While we always love to see climatic injustice smacked down, this specific issue may become moot if Congress passes -- and Bush OKs -- an energy bill with tougher fuel-economy regulations.

sources: The New York Times, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee

11/28 From TheGrist
Hybrid Chevy Tahoe wins "Green Car of the Year" award
The Green Car Journal has awarded the "Green Car of the Year" prize to ... drumroll please ... the hybrid Chevy Tahoe. An eight-passenger SUV not yet on sale? Whaaa? "People don't think green when SUVs are concerned and for generally good reason, since SUVS often get poor fuel economy," says Green Car publisher Ron Cogan. "Chevrolet's Tahoe Hybrid changes this dynamic with a fuel efficiency improvement of up to 30 percent." Be that as it may, the Tahoe Hybrid's 21 miles per gallon in city driving is a far cry from the fuel economy achieved by smaller, more park-able hybrids.

From AutoBlog.com
Here we have the first image of the upcoming plug-in hybrid luxury car from Fisker set to debut at this year's Detroit Auto Show in January. Developed in conjunction with Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, the plug-in hybrid will cost around $100,000 and initially be built in a run of just 100 units. Fisker hasn't given out any details on the car, like how much power it will produce or what its fuel economy will be, but from the picture above we can tell it will be a stunner. That's not surprising, as the company's namesake, Henrik Fisker, designed such cars as the BMW Z8, Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage, among others. Though the image is small, we can make out design elements from many other high-end autos including a Ferrari 599-esqe front end, some Maserati Quattroporte in the midsection and, of course, a little Aston in the rear. Check back here in January for some solid info on what this car's all about.
[Source: Fisker via Carscoop]

From Greenmesh.com
India’s largest automaker, MDI, is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The vehicle uses compressed air in an innovative engine design instead of exploding gasoline resulting in zero emissions at the tailpipe.

The $12,700 CityCAT, one of several Air Car models, can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. The vehicle is filled with 4350 psi of air in minutes by a special hose at equipped service stations for about $2.. It also has an internal compressor that can fill the car in four hours from the electrical grid.

From TheAirCar.com
Welcome to the future!
After fourteen years of research and development, Guy Negre has developed an engine that could become one of the biggest technological advances of this century. Its application to Compressed Air Technology(CAT) vehicles gives them significant economical and environmental advantages. With the incorporation of bi-energy (compressed air + fuel) the CAT Vehicles have increased their driving range to close to 2000 km with zero pollution in cities and considerably reduced pollution outside urban areas. The application of the MDI engine in other areas, outside the automotive sector, opens a multitude of possibilities in nautical fields, co-generation, auxiliary engines, electric generators groups, etc. Compressed air is a new viable form of power that allows the accumulation and transport of energy. MDI is very close to initiating the production of a series of engines and vehicles. The company is financed by the sale of manufacturing licenses and patents all over the world

From Yahoo.com
Top 100 Green Cars

From EPA.gov
IMPORTANT REMINDER: EPA's fuel economy estimates are designed to allow consumers to comparison shop. Your fuel economy will almost certainly vary from EPA's rating. This is based on a number of factors such as weather, road conditions, your driving and maintenance habits, and your use of air conditioning. For more information on how your fuel economy can vary, or tips to improve your fuel economy, please visit Your MPG Will Vary and Gas Mileage Tips on www.fueleconomy.gov.

GreenCar.com - e-zine

Bottled Water WHY?!

To look at water filters for your home - a small investment compared to bottled water:
http://www.waterfiltercomparisons.net/WaterFilter_Comparison.cfm

10/19 From - The Grist - Bottled Rage
Anti-bottled-water campaign kicks off in cities across U.S.

A "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign kicked off last week, urging municipal governments to cut off bottled-water contracts and to press for greater disclosure of the source of bottled H2O. The campaign is spearheaded by Corporate Accountability International and joined by cities including Boston, Minneapolis, Sacramento, and Portland, Ore., many of which held taste tests to see if consumers could tell the difference between bottled and tap water. Chicago's mayor urged a 10-cent tax on bottled water, while Salt Lake City Mayor (and official Grist crush) Rocky Anderson told it like it is: "When I see people ... waste their money buying bottled water at the vending [machine] when it's standing right next to a water faucet, you really have to wonder at the utter stupidity and the responsibility sometimes of American consumers." Not to be outdone, the International Bottled Water Association issued a press release stating that the campaign is based on "factual errors and subjective viewpoints."

sources: Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Sacramento Bee, The Oregonian, PR Newswire
see also, in Grist: California may require labels on bottled water, Hatin' on plastic water bottles is all the rage

Thirst for bottled water may hurt environment
By TOM PAULSON
P-I REPORTER

America's infatuation with drinking high-priced "natural" water from a bottle rather than from the tap is contributing to global warming and could even qualify as an immoral act.

That, at least, is the position of a number of environmental, social justice and religious organizations.

"People need to think about all the unnecessary energy costs that go into making a bottle of water," said Peter Gleick, an expert on water policy and director of a think tank in Oakland, Calif., called the Pacific Institute.

More than 8 billion gallons of bottled water is consumed annually in the U.S. -- an 8-ounce glass per person per day -- representing $11 billion in sales. The Earth Policy Institute estimated that to make the plastic for the bottles burns up something like 1.5 million barrels of oil, enough to power 100,000 cars for a year. Nearly 90 percent of the bottles are not recycled.

Gleick offered a simple way to visualize the average energy cost to make the plastic, process and fill the bottle, transport bottled water to market and then deal with the waste:

"It would be like filling up a quarter of every bottle with oil."

One of the simplest things folks can do to reduce their "energy footprint," he said, is to drink tap water rather than buy bottled water. If you don't like the taste, he said, buy a filter.

"There's really no valid reason to think bottled water is any healthier than tap water," Gleick said. "Especially in Seattle. You guys have great water."

Despite the fact that the United States generally has high-quality tap water, it is the world's largest market for bottled water. There are a variety of explanations for this put forward by the purveyors of bottled water, including the contention that it is cleaner than tap water.

"It's about purity and convenience," said Trish May, chief executive officer of Athena Partners, a non-profit Seattle-based organization that produces Athena brand bottled water. "We're doubling our sales every year and now sell more than a million bottles a month."

Athena is one of the small, local bottled-water producers in the area. It is unique in this business -- and perhaps more difficult to make a target of ecological outrage -- because May, a breast cancer survivor, started selling bottled water to raise money for women's cancer research.

"We give every penny of our profits to cancer research," she said.

The water used by Athena -- just as for Aquafina, Dasani and other brands -- starts as plain tap water. It already has been through a purification process, but the water that will be put in bottles is further "purified" by a number of processes. such as filtration or reverse osmosis (which removes minerals that are then sometimes added back, mostly for taste reasons).

"I would submit to you that our purified water, with minerals added, is more pure than municipal water," May said.

That's not always going to be the case, said Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"The bottled water industry is selling a vision of purity and people are buying it with the best of intentions," Solomon said. "What they don't realize is that bottled water is actually much less regulated than tap water. There are a number of studies in which we find arsenic, disinfection byproducts and bacteria in bottled water."

The Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for regulating bottled water, last month recalled Jermuk bottled water, sold in California under five brand names, after finding levels of arsenic high enough to cause nausea. But such recalls are unusual.

The FDA does allow trace levels of contaminants in bottled water based on the same criteria set by the Environmental Protection Agency for tap water. But on the FDA's web site, the agency also says, "Bottled water plants generally are assigned a low priority for inspection."

The FDA is required to inspect water-bottling plants twice a year. In Washington, that duty is often delegated to inspectors with the state Department of Agriculture.

The FDA has a list of 44 firms it regulates here. State Agriculture officials listed 32 water "processors" they regulate and only about 20 of the firms are on both lists. That, officials said, may be because of the fact that some are just ice producers or that some have ceased operations.

"Also, if a firm does not engage in interstate commerce (receiving ingredients or shipping outside the state), it would not be considered an FDA workload obligation," said Stephanie Dalgleish, with the Seattle office of the FDA. That means anyone making bottled water here and selling it only in-state is not regulated by the FDA.

There are about 4,000 municipal water systems in the state that serve at least 25 people or more. These are regulated by the state Department of Health and the EPA on a near-constant basis.

"People are told within 24 hours if there's any problem, or potential problem, with their water system," said Leslie Gates of the health department's Office of Drinking Water.

A recent break-in at a water supply facility for the town of Orting, for example, prompted officials to suggest residents drink only bottled water until they could assure no contamination. There was none.

The water system for the City of Seattle, which also operates under EPA and Department of Health regulations, is monitored 24 hours a day, with constant sampling throughout the system and up in the wilds of the Cedar and Tolt watersheds.

"We never shut down," said Wylie Harper, water quality manager for the city. The water supplied to Seattle residents is purified through many of the techniques used for bottled water, so Harper joked that maybe the city should start bottling its water.

"But our focus isn't on making a profit," Harper said. "We provide a community service."

The bottled water market is big business. Coca-Cola (Dasani), PepsiCo (Aquafina) and Nestle (Perrier, Poland Spring and a host of other brands) are the major players in the United States.

Wall Street and investment managers are predicting the bottled water market (or, as one enthusiast called it, the "blue gold" market) will keep growing. Water, some financial investment managers say, is the next-best thing to oil or diamonds. And that's where the moral issues of bottled water come in.

The United Church of Christ, United Church of Canada, National Council of Churches, National Coalition of American Nuns and Presbyterians for Restoring Creation are among the religious organizations that have raised questions about the "privatization" of water.

They regard the industrial purchase and repackaging at a much higher resale price of this basic resource as an unethical trend. (Bottled watercosts about 1,000 times more than tap water.)

"The moral call is for us to not privatize water," said Cassandra Carmichael, director of eco-justice programs for the National Council of Churches. Bottled water is the tip of the iceberg, Carmichael believes, in a push by industry to take ownership of this basic resource.

"We're scratching our heads on that one," said Preston Read, spokesman for the American Beverage Association. "Water privatization is certainly a big issue but I don't see it as connected to bottled water."

As for the claim that bottled water causes global warming, Read said the same argument could be made against any beverage that is packaged in a plastic bottle, transported and sold.

"I think it's a little bit odd that bottled water is being singled out in this way," he said.

Ethos Water says its goal is to use profits to assist poor communities hard hit by the world water crisis. Ethos is a water bottler that was acquired in 2005 by Starbucks. Its founders say they launched the company a few years before that, in California, to raise money for water projects in the developing world.

Today, as a subsidiary of Starbucks, Ethos donates five cents for every bottle sold toward the goal of raising $10 million for water projects in poor countries.

"I wanted to create a brand that would raise awareness about the world water crisis," said Peter Thum, founder of Ethos Water and now a vice president at Starbucks.

Thum says he respects Gleick and understands his complaint about the energy costs that go into bottled water. He said he didn't know the economics of the situation well enough to respond to concerns about water privatization.

"I'm not going to defend the bottled water industry," Thum said. "Ethos Water can't answer for what others in the industry are doing. We're just trying to take the demand that is there and divert it to do some good."

Though not everyone accepts that Ethos Water is indeed focused more on doing good than making a profit, Ethos has already funded a number of water improvement projects in places such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Honduras and India.

But Athena and Ethos are hardly representative of the bottled water industry. Thum and May were willing to tackle these concerns, but most of the other bottlers and distributors contacted for this story did not respond.

Gleick said he is not opposed to water privatization, as long as the focus is on providing people with affordable access to water. But he and others are definitely opposed to the unnecessary use of bottled water because of its environmental impact.

But it is the demand for bottled water itself that many believe is bad.

"This is not an issue that's going to go away," Gleick said. "If anything, it's a growing movement. I think consumers deserve the option of drinking bottled water. But I also think they need to be informed about its true economic and environmental costs."

Also:
http://www.wisebread.com/bottled-water-bottled-hype-part-1
This is the first in a three-part series about bottled water. To read the second installment, click here. To read the third installment, click here.