On a recent visit to San Francisco I was amazed at the number of Toyota Priuses on the road. I don’t think at any one time I could look in any direction on the highway or on city streets and not see one. It’s no wonder that the American auto market has been eclipsed by foreign auto makers, not the least of which is Toyota, riding the success wave of their gas-electric hybrid, the Prius.
The reality of the situation is that crude oil is a fossil fuel, something that cannot be recreated or regenerated, and the world is rapidly running out of this so-called precious resource. Even the Middle East (Saudi Arabia), stockpiling some of the largest crude oil reserves in the world, will eventually run out. Because of its deep integration in our society, businesses and individuals depend on oil. Carmakers, airplane manufacturers, and various manufacturing and processing facilities thrive on the profits generated by oil-based equipment. What these companies are failing to realize is that there’s not much left. United States oil production peaked in the early 1970’s, and we are now completely out of crude oil, depending on other nations for our oil imports. Because of its limited availability, crude oil is bound to run out everywhere sooner or later. And that time is closer than we think…
If anyone is still asking “Is global warming causing wildfires in California?”, they may need to face the facts. With all of these freaky questions swirling around, the time is now to start the dialogue. Do you think there is a connection between our changing world landscape of natural disaster and extended summer weather? How much have we done to create this and further how will we and our children continue to pay to keep our planet safe? More importantly, what are we doing to fix it?
When it comes to hybrid cars, one of the most important, if not the most important metric, are the mpg’s (miles per gallon). So how many miles per gallon does your Prius hybrid get? When I accompanied my fiance to buy one last year, we were greeted with an EPA mpg on the sticker touting a city mpg of 60, and a highway mpg of 50.
Hybrid cars use a combination of fuel and stored electrical power (in a battery) to optimize fuel consumption and help reduce emissions. They can be seen as a stepping stone between fuel-based cars and electric automobiles. What many consumers, as well as owners of hybrid automobiles don’t realize, is that it’s possible to purchase a kit that will turn your hybrid into a plug-in hybrid automobile. In other words, into an electric vehicle. The problem with these kits is that they currently are only available on the black market, and as such they will invalidate your warranty if you install them. They are also better suited to certain hybrid automobile models than to others…
Ashton Hayes, in the United Kingdom, is trying to become the first town to be a carbon-neutral town. Ashton Hayes began just like any other small, affluent town (it has only 1000 residents), but last year turned into a grassroots effort to fight climate change. What do residents do to maintain the town’s carbon-neutral status?
Are Americans ignorant when it comes to environmental issues? Many stereotypes exist that show that U.S. citizens are not only some of the world’s worst polluters, but that we are quite ignorant when it comes to environmental issues and reform…
