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Bear

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Sustainability News Headlines - 2/11/2008
News of Sustainability Benefiting People Today

About CV Notes' Sustainability News Headlines
Mon, February 11, 2008 - 12:03 PM permalink
Chris Matthews Fails America, Embarrasses MSNBC, on Climate Change
One of the things that really scares me about the politics of advancing climate change solutions is the unbelievable ignorance of current and former elected officials like James Inhofe and Tom Delay.



Yesterday, Delay was on Chris Matthews' MSNBC show, Hardball. When Matthews asked Delay for "the official conservative position on climate change", Delay stated that:



"there is no science to suggest that man is the cause of climate change", and "it is arrogant to suggest that man can affect climate change. There is no science that supports such a notion."


How about, perhaps, the joint statements of the G8+5 nations' National Academies of Sciences?



What was just as concerning to me as Delay's absurd statement is the lack of a pointed response from Chris Matthews. Hardball, you call your show, Mr. Matthews?! You completely abdicated your responsibility to educate your viewers in the best available knowledge on climate change by failing to challenge Delay's wrong, if not delusional statement.



For those of you who are working hard to advance climate change solutions, and are highly discouraged by Matthews' failure to properly play 'Hard Ball' with Delay on this most important matter, email Chris Matthews at hardball@msnbc.com and ask him to do a better job next time.



- Jon Gelbard



P.S. The level of ignorance displayed by Delay here suggests to me that people should really be required to pass some kind of basic exam before they are allowed to run for major public offices and make decisions that affect the well being of the entire world. Otherwise, you end up with people in power who absolutely lack the knowledge and competence to be formulating policies. We've certainly been learning this the hard way the past 8 years!
Fri, February 8, 2008 - 3:00 PM permalink
Sustainability News Headlines - 2/8/2008
News of Sustainability Benefiting People Today

About CV Notes' Sustainability News Headlines
Fri, February 8, 2008 - 10:24 AM permalink
Toyota Highlander Hybrid Review
In August, I picked up a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Our other car is a Toyota Corolla, which we'll replace with a Prius as soon as we can.



Since we travel to Tahoe (we are big skiers) and camp a lot, we like to have a 4WD vehicle with plenty of space for ourselves, our gear, and Qanuk the collie.



How does the Highlander stack up for a hybrid?



Frankly, I give it a C-. Why?



1. The mileage is highly unsatisfactory



It's nice to average 26+ miles per gallon in an SUV, but Toyota could have done better in a bunch of ways:

  • First, why is the vehicle offered only in a 6-cylinder engine? All that power is nice, but I just don't need it. I'd have been fine with a 4 cylinder that gets 30+ miles per gallon. In fact, given that I'm buying a hybrid because I want best best mileage I can get in this type of vehicle, I'd have much preferred a 4 cylinder!
  • Second, given that people who buy hybrids are interested in, let's think hard about it...MILEAGE, why is the vehicle in 4WD full time?! It would be much better if I could get 30+ miles per gallon by keeping the vehicle in 2WD the 75+% of the time that this would be fine.
  • Why do you literally need to learn how to drive a hybrid -- which takes time and experimentation -- to keep the car in electric mode? There's gotta be a better way to make a car like this. It's just ridiculous that it takes the foot sensitivity of a ballerina to keep the car in electric mode. Press on the gas just a little too much, and you're out of electric mode. Just a tad of an uphill, and the vehicle is out of electric mode. How many people are really going to take the time to actually learn the right way to drive a hybrid to take full advantage of the electric engine? I doubt very many.


2. The gear options stink - car is difficult to control going down steep hills



I'm used to driving stick and using the gears to keep the vehicle under control in bad weather, going downhill, etc. Even when driving automatic vehicles, most still have a few gears that help you keep the vehicle under control, for example, when driving down the steep, winding Interstate 80 out of the Sierras on a snowy evening.



Needless to say, I find the gear options of my Highlander Hybrid - either "D" (Drive) or "B" (Engine Breaking - barely more resistance than D) extremely unsatisfactory. Surely Toyota can either offer their hybrids in stick, or at least give us a few gear choices - maybe a 1, 2, and 3 like in the RAV4.



3. Why doesn't it have low-range?

Now I rarely need low range, but as an ecologist who does field work in remote locations, sometimes it comes in VERY handy. I sure wish a hybrid with low range was available!



Conclusion - My Next Car Will Be A...

Frankly, I just know Toyota can do better than this Highlander Hybrid that I'm just not very satisfied with. I know, for example, that their diesel 4WD vehicles can get 30+ miles per gallon, but are for some inane reason not available in the U.S. yet. If I could get my hands on, for example, a Hilux diesel that I could run on straight vegetable oil from my local sushi restaurant, I'd be happy as a kid in a candystore. Make that a hybrid diesel - now we're talkin 35-40+ miles per gallon! Upgrade that to a PLUG-IN HYBRID DIESEL Toyota Hilux? Now I'd buy that in less time than Joba Chamberlain's fastball takes to hit Jorge Posada's glove!



Come on Toyota - please give us the quality 4WD hybrid that we know you can! (I even put covers on all the seats in my Highlander so that as soon as something better comes out, I can trade it right in!)

Fri, February 8, 2008 - 12:27 AM permalink
Sustainability News Headlines - 2/7/2008
News of Sustainability Benefiting People Today

About CV Notes' Sustainability News Headlines
Thu, February 7, 2008 - 10:16 AM permalink
originally published at Conservation Value Notes
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A Few Thoughts

Could global warming be about to cause a sudden and dramatic global cooling? (with dramatic economic and quality of life impacts?)
***Click here for more detailed information from the esteemed Woods Hole Oceanagraphic Institution, including links to scientific and popular press articles on this subject: www.whoi.edu/institutes/...tclimate.htm

Also here: www.fortune.com/fortune/pr...4%2C00.html

And a June 2005 update here: www.timesonline.co.uk/article...,00.html

Note: This is a story that I first heard in the biogeochemistry class of es... read more
Wed, June 22, 2005 - 1:46 AM permalink - 1 comment
 
The environmental threat of religious fanatacism in the face of global warming - can business and the mainstream public save America from disaster? (I say yes!)
You have these people running our government now who really think that "The Rapture" is coming any time, so why care about the environment. I'm not kidding, its VERY scary, and somewhat sad:

www.energybulletin.net/3009.html

www.informationclearinghouse.info/a...tm

www.grist.org/news/maindi...r-christian/

Phew! Is it 2005 or the Dark Ages?!? (reminds me of Medieval Doctor from Saturday Night Live, with Steve Martin--Feeling sick? H... read more
Wed, June 22, 2005 - 1:29 AM permalink - 0 comments
 
Accuracy of the Media on Global Warming
A little food for thought on the accuracy of what you hear from the media about global warming

A study in the scientific journal, Global Environmental Change, in September 2004 examined 636 articles on climate change in 4 major U.S. newspapers between 1988 and 2002. It found 52.7 percent presented the story as a matter of conflicting viewpoints, with just one-third emphasizing the role of humans. This is in sharp contrast to the conclusions of a late 2004 article published in the esteemed ... read more
Wed, June 22, 2005 - 1:19 AM permalink - 0 comments
 
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My Recent Activity

Green Vending and Marketing Opportunities at Major SF-Area Concerts and Festivals ( events » live music ) Green Vending and Marketing Opportunities at Major SF-Area Concerts and Festivals

Greetings -

Conservation Value Institute is currently inviting green businesses to contact us regarding their interest in reserving a booth space at one of sev... read more
event starts Wednesday, September 9, 2009 - 12:00 PM
Tea Leaf Green Earth Day Weekend Two-Night Fillmore Party Welcomes S.F. ‘Green’ Community ( events » live music ) And I was lookin’ up
at them tall redwood trees,
like looking up the skirt
of my destiny.
- Tea Leaf Green, “Zoom Zoom”

San Francisco, CA (April 8, 2009) -- On Friday and Saturday April 17-18, San Francisco’s Tea Leaf Green returns to th... read more
event starts Friday, April 17, 2009 - 8:00 PM
Health and Transformation Summit (medicinal plants and more - see you there!) ( events » community ) Hey folks -
Helping a friend of mine spread the word about this amazing health and wellness event (see below) - perfect way to start the New Year off in a healthy way!

Please feel free to forward around.

See you there!

Cheers,

JLG

... read more
event starts Saturday, January 17, 2009 - 9:00 PM
10/18: 2008 GOLDEN GATE PARK BAND SHELL MUSIC SUMMIT - CALL FOR GREEN VENDORS ( events » live music ) 2008 BAND SHELL MUSIC SUMMIT - MOS DEF WITH A 30-PIECE JAZZ ORCHESTRA
CALL FOR GREEN VENDORS & NON-PROFITS
DOWNLOAD THE VENDOR APPLICATION HERE: www.conservationvalue.org/Meado...08.doc
Presented by Meadowlands En... read more
event starts Saturday, October 18, 2008 - 11:00 AM
10/18: 2008 GG PARK BAND SHELL MUSIC SUMMIT - CALL FOR GREEN VENDORS ( events » live music ) 2008 BAND SHELL MUSIC SUMMIT
CALL FOR GREEN VENDORS & NON-PROFITS
Presented by Meadowlands Entertainment Group & Conservation Value Institute
Band Shell Music Concourse, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA
Saturday, October 18, 2008, 11AM - 8P... read more
event starts Saturday, October 18, 2008 - 11:00 AM
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