Environmental News Network

Environmental Protection Agency Proposes Rules for Hybrids in Car Pool Lanes
The government proposed new criteria Thursday for certifying vehicles as clean and energy efficient -- standards for states that let hybrid drivers travel without passengers in the special lanes to avoid rush-hour traffic. >> Read the Full Article
Toyota Banking on Hybrids Despite Expected Arrival of Ecological Rivals
Toyota's commitment to hybrid automobiles was on full display Thursday when it unveiled its most expensive gasoline-electric vehicle yet -- the 15 million yen ($124,000) luxury sedan Lexus LS. >> Read the Full Article
Indonesia Counts Its Islands Before It Is Too Late
Indonesia has so many islands it has not been able to count them all and is having a hard time finding names for them. Officially there are about 17,000 islands, but that number may drop as one minister fears hundreds of islands might vanish because of rising sea levels from global warming. >> Read the Full Article
Australian Water Crisis Could Be Worse Than Thought
Water shortages facing Australia's drought-hit prime agricultural area might be worse than expected, the government was told on Wednesday, as river towns braced for unprecedented restrictions on water use. >> Read the Full Article
Clean Energy Spending Can Curb Climate Change, WWF Says
The world can avoid the worst effects of climate change with investments in clean energy so long as the wholesale shift from fossil fuels starts within five years, the environmental group WWF said on Tuesday. >> Read the Full Article
Scientists Urge Half of Canada Forest Be Protected
Canada's vast forests should be protected much more than they are now to preserve wildlife and water and to fight global warming, a group of 1,500 scientists from around the world said Monday. >> Read the Full Article
Washington Utility to Build Solar Project
Washington state's oldest utility plans to start building the largest solar project in the region next month, and a municipal utility in a small city known most for its rodeo is enlisting residents' help to expand its energy generation through the sun. >> Read the Full Article
Democratic Presidential Candidates Prod Automakers on Fuel Efficiency
Democratic-controlled Washington stepped in to help save Chrysler nearly 30 years ago when the automaker was on the verge of bankruptcy due to lackluster sales of its fuel-thirsty vehicles. >> Read the Full Article
Climate Change Threatens California Water Supply
California's tallest mountain range, the Sierra Nevada, may lose nearly all its snowpack by the end of the century, threatening a water crisis in the nation's most populous state, a leading scientist and Nobel laureate said. >> Read the Full Article
Worldwide Shift to Compact Fluorescents Could Close 270 Coal-Fired Power Plants: A Guest Commentary
Switching light bulbs is an easy way of realizing large immediate gains in energy efficiency. A study for the U.S. government calculated that the gasoline equivalent of the energy saved over the lifetime of one 24 watt compact fluorescent bulb is sufficient to drive a Prius from New York to San Francisco. >> Read the Full Article