published June 4, 2009 and has No Comments
United Streetcar model, targeting the “Buy America” market. Image credit:Oregon Iron Works. For most of a century, 'Government Motors' (a.k.a. "GM") focused on street cars of the free-roaming, gasoline powered sort, to the exclusion of the mass-transit variety: the real "streetcar." It was a strategic marketing choice. Turnabout time: streetcars are a growth market opportunity. But, which manufacturers will ...
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published June 3, 2009 and has No Comments
Snake River salmon. Image credit:American Rivers The lower Snake River has landed on our America’s Most Endangered Rivers list seven times because of the threat posed by four outdated dams. Now, things are looking up for the river, its communities, and its endangered salmon. A federal judge recently told NOAA Fisheries that its plan for operating dams on the ...
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published June 2, 2009 and has No Comments
Nationmaster Ryan Avent shows us an interesting table, showing that the USA has way more cars per person than anyone else in the world. It makes some sense, it is a big country without good public transport or rail system. But Canada is even bigger, and the rail and transit isn't much better. What could account for such a ...
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published June 1, 2009 and has No Comments
Pig tail curl. Image credit: MatronOfHusbandry blog , "You got a good scald on that." Iowa State University researchers are reported to be planning experimental insertion of 'swine flu vaccines' into the genetic makeup of corn. The idea is to allow pigs and humans to get a flu vaccination " simply by eating corn or corn products ." So ...
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published May 30, 2009 and has No Comments
Canned Heat, Boogie 2000. Image credit: AudioDesignStudio I find it doubtful that many US 'suburban survivalists' can afford to spend thousands of dollars on dried beans and various other emergency supplies. Yet, the Texas Statesman cites examples of people who are doing just that: Economic crisis spurs spike in 'suburban survivalists. ' The movement , if we can call ...
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published May 29, 2009 and has No Comments
A lot of us commute by bicycle and feel strongly about using two-wheeled transportation instead of the car whenever we can. But bikes are for fun, too, and in that spirit Sierra Club Books just published the second edition of Bike Touring, by Raymond Bride. The original edition, published in 1979, introduced tens of thousands of riders to the ...
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published May 29, 2009 and has No Comments
The Smith Newton Electric Truck. Image credit:Kansas-City Star As reported in The Kansas City Star , " Smith Electric Vehicles US is on track to begin building electric trucks in July at a plant near Kansas City International Airport. The company is betting that it will find sufficient demand because the delivery market is ideal for electric trucks." The ...
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published May 28, 2009 and has No Comments
CO2 per Household From Household Auto Use . Image credit: CNT. Philadelphia Metro Area Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), recently looked at emissions of carbon dioxide stemming from household vehicle travel in 55 metropolitan areas across the U.S. When measured on a per household basis, it found that the transportation-related emissions of people li...
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City Living 70% ...
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published May 28, 2009 and has No Comments
Unrelated photo of Chinese-made children's furniture. Image credit: MadeInChina.com Like the lead bearing toy issue, the problem of made-in-China clothing and furniture containing unacceptable levels of formaldehyde has been in and out of the news for several years. As indicated in the WSJ China Journal blog , the Chinese government looks to be taking product safety more seriously, having ...
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published May 28, 2009 and has No Comments
Hydraulic Fracturing Pumping Unit . Image credit: Producers Service Corporation Congress is looking at undoing a recent and unique oil and gas industry exemption from the Clean Water Act of 1974, created at the urging of former Vice President Cheney. Long story short: drillers are exempt from even telling State or Federal environmental officials what chemical brew they are ...
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