AP - A judge says the government must keep Yellowstone-area grizzly bears on the list of threatened and endangered species, denying an attempt by federal officials to reverse an earlier court ruling.

AFP - Energy industry leaders on Thursday called for an international deal on climate change to tackle financial uncertainty and prevent potentially catastrophic global warming.

I’m thinking about starting a movement to decriminalize drunk driving, reinstate smoking in all public places, and repeal laws that require parents to use child safety seats for their toddlers in the car.

After all, if it’s still legal in most states to operate a motor vehicle while talking on a cell phone, shouldn’t we have a “fair is fair” policy when it comes to allowing people to do stupid things that endanger the health and well-being of others? Maybe we could have a cap and trade system for jackass behavior. For example, if you don’t talk on the phone while you drive, then you’d have the choice of either driving drunk or smoking in hospitals, day care centers, and other public spaces.

With all of the public concern and ongoing scientific debate over the possibly harmful effects of cell phone radiation, why isn’t there more public outrage over the documented public safety hazard of cell use while driving? Even here at The Daily Green, I’ve counted at least a dozen recent articles about the yet-to-be-proven harmful effects of cell phone radiation, but not a single article (up until now) about the more than 2,500 deaths and 330,000+ injuries every year in the U.S. attributed to the use of cell phones will driving (according to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis).

Could it be that it’s easier for people to get up in arms about forcing cell phone companies to take responsibility for producing radiation-free devices than it is for us to take responsibility for our own actions and hang up the *&#@^ cell phone when we drive?

Numerous studies have shown that cell phone use (including hands-free phones) seriously impede our ability to drive safely. Several studies, including a 2006 study by the University of Utah, show that use of both hand held and hands free cell phones while driving is considerably more dangerous than driving while intoxicated, making it roughly four times more likely that we’ll be involved in a crash. It’s also widely accepted that the role cell phones play in causing auto accidents is grossly under reported. Up until just recently, police in most states were not even required to ask about or investigate cell phone usage in connection with auto accidents.

And yet, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, only six states totally prohibit the use of cell phones while driving, and that’s only for hand-held phones (no state currently prohibits the use of hands-free phones). Ironically, six other states have “preemption laws,” prohibiting local jurisdictions from enacting their own restrictions limiting cell phone use by drivers. Man, my cap and trade system for jackasses is looking more reasonable all the time.

My disdain for cell phones and the negative impact they have on the quality of our lives is a matter of public record, and I am rapidly becoming the last American to live cell-phone free (and very happily and successfully so, I might add). No, I don’t expect others to join my boycott of the cellulite lifestyle, but I hope that we’ll pull our heads out of the sand and pass laws to prohibit all cell phone use while driving. The nonprofit National Safety Council is fighting to do just that, and I hope you’ll support their efforts.

Jeff Yeager is the author of the book The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches. His website is www.UltimateCheapskate.com. Also check out Jeff Yeager at AARP.

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More from The Daily Green

• 30+ Easy Ways to Save Money
• How to Winterize Your Home (and Save Energy)
• Tis the Season for Ugly Christmas Sweaters!
• Great Gifts Outside the Box, So You Don’t Have to Give “Stuff”
• Great Green Gifts for Everyone on Your List

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

Saving energy saves money. And with Americans using a million dollars worth of energy every minute of every day of the year,¹ there are a lot ways to save money through simple, smart and more efficient choices.

These decisions can also help cut down on the 40,000 pounds of CO2 that is emitted to create all this energy.

By following just a few of these tips, you can make a significant dent in your energy bill and help cut thousands of pounds of CO2 emissions.

1. Better refrigeration

Refrigerators are the largest users of electricity among household appliances, so consider the following when using or purchasing your fridge.

• Avoid setting refrigerator temperatures colder than necessary. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that refrigerators be set at 37 degrees F and freezers at 3 degrees F.
• Make sure the energy saver switch is turned on and check gaskets around the doors to make sure they are clean.
• Test tightness of the door seal on refrigerators and freezers. If the seal doesn’t hold a dollar bill tightly when the door is closed, it’s time to adjust or replace the gasket.
• Water dispensers and icemakers help to maintain a more constant temperature; however they can increase energy use by up to 20 percent.

2. Smarter cooking

There are a lot of ways to cook the same dish, so before you buy new appliances, use what you have more effectively.  Think about the following when you’re in the kitchen,

• Use the oven when you can instead of the cook top. Surface units heat continuously, but as a rule insulated ovens heat about one-third of the time it is in use.
• Avoid opening the oven door to peek; oven temperatures can drop as much as 50 degrees every time the oven door is opened.
• Only use the self-cleaning oven cycle for big cleaning jobs and it is a good idea to start the cycle while the oven is still hot from baking.
• Use small appliances, such as toaster ovens, microwaves, electric frying pans and crock-pots in place of the oven to save time and energy.

3. Friendlier appliances

When you’re in the market for new appliances, the first best step is to look for the Energy Star Label.² An Energy Star refrigerator, clothes dryer, dishwasher or water heater will save thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the product while conserving resources.

Other new appliance considerations,

• Appliances account for about 20 percent of household energy use. Determine your household needs before purchasing a refrigerator or freezer. One that is too large wastes energy.
• Top and bottom freezer units are more energy efficient than side-by-side models. Bottom freezer models use about 16 percent less energy and top freezer models use about 13 percent less energy.

4. Lighter lighting

We’re all sick of hearing the same tip – “Avoid standard incandescent bulbs”.  We keep hearing about it for good reason. If every U.S. household replaced one standard light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, we could save the same amount of energy as a large nuclear power plant produces in one year.³

Other lighting considerations,

• Use one high-watt bulb instead of several low-watt bulbs and use dimmer controls, high-low switches or three-way bulbs to adjust the level of light.
• For maximum use of natural daylight consider skylights and solar tubes when remodeling or designing new construction.

5. Get the most from your heating and cooling

Regardless if you are hesitant to lower the temperature in your house this winter, you should be getting the most of the heat you are pumping into it.  The first best and easiest step is to make sure that your air vents, radiators and baseboard registers are unobstructed by furniture, carpeting or window treatments. If air vents are adjustable, set them in the open position in the winter and closed in the summer.

Other heating/cooling considerations,

• Schedule annual tune-ups for the furnace or heat pump. Maintenance checks can help keep the apparatus running smoothly and efficiently.
• Shade room air conditioners from the sun to reduce workload and either clean or change the filters regularly.

Marie Oser is a best-selling author, writer/producer and host of VegTV. Follow Marie on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vegtv

Sources:

1. http://powerscorecard.org/scorecard.cfm Pace University, White Plains, NY
2. Special offers and rebates for Energy Star consumers.
3. http://powerscorecard.org/scorecard.cfm Pace University, White Plains, NY

More from ecomii:

• Live large in 65 square feet
• Catch energy vampires
• Breaking down the five big energy hogs in your home
• Save money by going solar
• What is your carbon footprint?
• Choose Energy Star appliances for your home

The Jaguar XT5 computer, housed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, Tenn., and owned by the Department of Energy was just named the fastest computer in the world by the TOP500 list.  It has a performance speed of 1.759 petaflops or quadrillions of calculations per second and that power is being focused on solving the issues of climate change.

The Jaguar is an open science machine for performing peer-reviewed research.  It is being used to create models and simulations for predicting regional climate change, studying enzymes for developing better ethanol and writing algorithms for fast nuclear reactors that would produce less waste.  A billion hours of processor time have been scheduled for 2010 by users like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Argonne National Laboratory and the National Science Foundation.

If you’re thinking that the fastest computer in the world should be used for other problems too, don’t worry, the Jaguar along with the other supercomputers on the list are also being used for things like nuclear security, developing better medicines and examining the origins of the universe, among other things.

Oak Ridge hosts four of the supercomputers on the list, including Kraken which was number three in the world with a speed of 831 teraflops.  Where the human brain’s processing performance ends, these supercomputers pick up, allowing tons of information to be sorted, processed and analyzed.  With all of the challenges facing us in tackling climate change, it’s nice to have them on our side.

via AP

(Photo: Getty Images)

One of the best
parts of the holiday season is connecting with friends and family. But
traveling during the holidays can be a real hassle.

Whether you’re taking an afternoon drive or flying across the country,
there are plenty of ways to make the trip less stressful.

Many of these tips
will also save you money and are easier on the planet.

• Pack
  light so you don’t have to pay for or deal with the hassle of checked luggage. You
  won’t have to arrive at the airport as early, wait around after your flight
  gets in, or worry about lost bags.

  It also cuts
  down on fuel use because the more weight a plane, train, car, or bus
  carries, the more fuel it uses. So if you’re driving, that translates into
  spending less time and money at the gas pump. OneBag
  offers many creative tips for lightening your load.

• Take
  public
  transportation to the airport. It’s less expensive than taking a car
  service or paying for parking. Airport parking lots can fill up quickly during
  peak holiday travel times, and it can be a real nightmare to deal with full lots.
• Bring
  your own healthy snacks. You’ll avoid waiting on long lines or paying top
  dollar for sub-par food at the airport.
• Carry
  your own water bottle. If the airport has water fountains, it will save you the
  cost of having to buy overpriced bottled water, which can quickly add up,
  especially if you’re travelling with a family of four. If you can’t find those fountains, you can still ask the
  flight attendant to fill up your bottle so you don’t have to keep asking for
  water.
• Carpool with friends or family members who are
  going to the same destination. It’s more fun than travelling alone and having
  company will help alleviate stress when you hit the inevitable holiday traffic.
  Planning
  your trip ahead of time and taking the shortest route possible will also
  help save you time, money, and the hassle of getting lost.
• Stay home and use free or inexpensive technology, such as Skype, to connect to far-flung relatives.

Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green’s users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com.

Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.

(Photo: Trystan L. Bass)

You don’t have to be a millionaire to
serve your holiday meal on crystal and silver. Just hit the thrift stores asap
before you need to carve that turkey or pour cocktails. Or call friends or Freecycle.
Plenty of lightly used fine china is out there just waiting to be invited to a
festive occasion.

Don’t worry about mismatched dishes — there are a few ways
around the issue to make it all look pretty. First, aim for plain, solid colors
when possible. White plates go with everything, no matter the style. Clear
glass and shiny silver are lovely and sparkle when they’re cleaned up.

Then decorate to tie the look together. Use lots of greenery
around the table. Dim the overhead bulbs and light candles, which is always
flattering. Pass the wine and toast a celebration that looks beautiful, didn’t
cost a lot, and reuses goods instead of creating waste.

Free stuff

People are always clearing out their closets on Freecycle and
other reuse groups. Someone received two identical silver trays as a wedding
gift and was too late to return one. Or empty-nesters realize they don’t need
place settings for 20 people anymore.

Find
a reuse group in your neighborhood, and see what people are giving away. Look
in the “free” listings under the “for sale” category of Craigslist. Not only might you find
servingware, you could find extra tables and chairs.

And after the holidays, if you receive an extra turkey
platter as an unwanted gift, pass it along on Freecycle to someone who can use
it.

Borrowed stuff

If extended family and friends are already coming over for
the big meal, ask them to bring another set of dishes, some silverware, extra
glassware, or a few spare bowls or platters. They’re not cooking, so they
aren’t using these things. It’s a no-brainer!

New to town or looking for something your family doesn’t
have? Try NeighBorrow, an new online
match-making service that connects people in a community to lend things to each
other. If you need a punch bowl in Quincy,
Illinois, you’re in luck.

(Photo: Trystan L. Bass)

Second-hand stuff

Thrift stores across the U.S. are brimming with gently used housewares
at incredibly low prices. At Goodwill,
Salvation Army, and similar charity
shops, you will find perfectly good wine glasses for maybe 50 cents each and dinner
plates for around a dollar.

It’s hard to find sturdy paper and plastic stuff that costs so little (or looks so good!), and when you buy the real deal
second-hand, you’re not adding to landfill trash or excess
manufacturing waste.

In just the quickest search, you’ll usually find stacks of
silver (and faux silver) trays big enough for the largest turkey or ham. If you
need a cake plate or pie server, huge bowls to serve salad, petite dishes for
sides, just pick through the shelves.

Don’t forget about the linens. Thrift stores are often chock
full of tablecloths and napkins, even complete matched sets. From cutesy
holiday themes to designer labels like Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, great table linens are
ripe for the picking. Just give ‘em a wash and press, and you can set the
table (or multiple tables) for far less than what new cloths would cost.

Shopping at charity stores is affordable for you, it helps people in your community, and you’re keeping usable goods in circulation. Plus, if you decide after the holidays that you don’t need those extra wine glasses in your kitchen, you can donate them back to the charity. You’ll get a little tax break, and the charity can resell the goods again. Win-win!

Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.

(Photo: Jim Motavalli)

LOS ANGELES–Driving Nissan’s new Leaf electric car around Dodgers’ Stadium in Los Angeles last week was not as glamorous as it sounds. There were a lot of journalists in line under a hot sun. But there were compensations, including a touch of Hollywood – actress Alexandra Paul, ex-Baywatch and a former General Motors EV-1 driver, was there.

This was the kickoff of a 22-city national tour for the Leaf, and it may be coming soon to a metro area near you. Go to this site, enter your ZIP code, and it will point you to the nearest stop. Or check the full list here. The tour ends in New York City, February 14.

Nissan is the only automaker (through the Renault-Nissan Alliance) to actually build charging stations. In LA, it announced its 33rd alliance, this time with Reliant, a subsidiary of giant Texas-based utility NRG Energy. Like most utility executives these days, NRG CEO David Crane talked about the virtues of the smart grid and charging electric cars off-peak during evening hours. He said the current U.S. grid could easily handle up to 10 million additional EVs. “We don’t get into trouble until we’re talking about 50 to 100 million cars,” he said.

The Leaf, which has a 100-mile range on lithium-ion batteries and will be out next year, was revealed in sky blue. It was a little bigger than I thought it would be, with excellent seat layout and some of the same eco-verities as the Toyota Prius. Not to confuse you, but the Leaf we saw was actually a styling model and not drivable. The “Leaf” we drove was in the body of the Nissan Versa, with the Leaf’s drivetrain. This is what they call a “mule,” and it gives a very good indication of what the production car will be like. Here’s what it was like from the back seat:

Since there were so many people waiting, we were allowed a short drive around a cone course in the parking lot, with an anxious Nissan guy riding shotgun (there are only two of these “mules” in the world). I wasn’t trying to make a spectacle of myself, but I’m a notorious doofus around cone courses and that led me to a serious braking test — they worked great, and I left such dramatic rubber that everybody rushed over to see if I’d crashed the car. No, just reduced the lifespan of its low-rolling-resistance tires.

The car is much improved since I drove it last in Bear Mountain, New York. At that time, it was in the body of the then-new Nissan Cube. Previous flat spots on the Leaf’s acceleration at around 50 mph appear to have been straightened out and the car now accelerates dramatically well up to at least 60 mph (people were diving out of the way) and handles well, with only minor body lean. The actual Leaf may differ, of course, but probably not all that much.

Just after the Leaf event in Los Angeles, Nissan’s executives, including CEO Carlos Ghosn (who’s impressive in person) flew to Washington, where they announced the company’s participation in the Electrification Coalition. It’s a big tent of mostly CEOs (from automakers, including Bright Automotive and Coda Automotive, to utilities, including NRG Energy, and charging companies, including Coulomb). Their plan is to fast-track EVs, so that there would be 50,000 to 100,000 of them in each of six to eight U.S. cities/metro areas by 2013 (a total of 700,000 vehicles). And that would ramp up with 20 to 25 more cities by 2018. That would put seven million green cars on the road. The plan projects that by 2040, as much as 75% of the miles traveled on U.S. roads would be in either plug-in hybrids or battery electrics.

To help get this off the ground, the coalition calls for rapidly expanding the range of tax breaks and subsidies available to consumers who buy cars and businesses that build electric infrastructure. Great.

I note the following response, however, to a related story I did about this at the New York Times: “Lots of things need ‘jump starting,’” wrote a reader. “But the hard truth is we just don’t have the money anymore. Groups like this that want something jump-started will just have to figure out how to be entrepreneurial and do it themselves — sort of like Henry Ford and William Durant did back in the 1910s and 20s.”

See how Better Place’s robotic battery swap stations work.

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• 30+ Easy Ways to Save Money
• Spectacular Wildlife Photos
• 21 Green Gifts Under $21
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Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

(Photo: Getty Images)

Consider shopping online instead of
making a trip to the mall this holiday season.

You’ll save time (on driving,
parking, and waiting in line) and money (it’s easier to comparison shop online).

It’s a lot less
stressful since you don’t have to deal with crowded stores.

Purchasing something on the Internet is more efficient than a dedicated car ride to the store, so shopping online is good for the environment too.

One downside to online shopping is that
shipping costs can add up quickly. Luckily, several mainstream retailers, such as Apple, Kmart, and Nike, are offering sweet shipping deals this year.

Most of the free
shipping offers are based on ground shipping, a plus for the planet as well as your wallet since sending a package by plane emits eight
times more carbon dioxide than sending by truck.

These deals will get you
started:

• Adidas: Offers $5 flat-rate shipping on every order. You’ll get
  free shipping when you spend
  $49 or more through December 16.
• Amazon: Free super-saver shipping on orders $25 and over.
• Apple: Free shipping on
  all orders over $50.
• Blue Fly: $7.95
  flat-rate shipping for all orders.
• Crocs: Free shipping through December 31. Use
  this coupon code at checkout, CHOOSESHIP.
• Gap Inc. stores: Athleta,
  Banana
  Republic, Gap,
  and Old
  Navy all offer $7 flat-rate shipping on every order. You’ll get free
  shipping when you spend $50
  or more through December 15.
• Gaiam: $0.99 shipping on any size order
  through December 8. Use this code to redeem, WSSH99.
• Flip Video: Free shipping on all orders.
• Home Depot: Offers free
  shipping on most orders over $49 through December 2.
• Kate Spade: Free shipping on all orders.
• Kiehl’s: Free shipping on orders of $50 or more. Enter this code at checkout, KIEHL.
• Kmart: Free shipping on
  toy orders of $49 or more through December 17.
• Nike: Free shipping on
  all orders through December 22. 
Enter promo code, GIFT, at checkout
• Steve Madden:
  Offers free
  shipping when you enter this code, SMFREESHIP.
• Zales: Offers free FedEx
  shipping when you spend $149 or more.

Looking for more
deals? The offers above are just the tip of the iceberg.

Check out FreeShipping.org, FreeShippingDeals.com, and CouponClock to find additional deals and coupons. Keep in mind that many retailers offer one day only or limited time deals so it’s worth checking back.

Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green’s users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com.

Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.

(Photo: Peter Dazeley / Getty Images)

What if that brand new Prius is worse for the environment than a 1995 Chevy Suburban, despite getting 38 more miles to the gallon?

What if that sirloin, shipped to the steakhouse from a newly deforested pasture in the Amazon, means less to the global climate than a hill of individually wrapped jellybeans?

What if using that old avocado-green clothes washer turned out to be better for the environment than the brand new Energy Star model?

These are the types of thoughts one thinks after reading two recent reports by Joshuah Stolaroff, who could do far more to turn “going green” on its head than your average faceless bureaucrat.

Stolaroff was at a low enough level at the Environmental Protection Agency when he wrote Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Materials and Land Management Practices that he can’t even “speak for the agency” when discussing it. The Product Policy Institute, which published is next paper, Products, Packaging and Greenhouse Gas Emissions encouraged him to talk, but the only reporters who sat in on his recent press call were writing for publications serving readers in the solid waste industry. (The second paper was like the first, but included a key addition: Consideration of the greenhouse gas emissions embodied in imported goods, not just domestically produced items.)

The reports have the same conclusion: The stuff we buy and the packaging that comes with the stuff we buy represents our biggest contribution to global warming — far more so than the amount of electricity our stuff uses or the amount of fuel our stuff burns on the highway.

As a nation, the products we buy, and the plastic and paper those products are packaged in, account for 44% of our greenhouse gas emissions — dwarfing all other sources of pollution. It’s all about stuff. Good stuff, bad stuff, fuel-efficient stuff, organic stuff: The problem is too much stuff.

Powering every AC unit, boiler, and hot water heater in the United States adds up to less than half the impact of our stuff — just 21%. Driving our cars, or — why not? — Hummers, as the case may be, accounts for just 13%, and food just 12%.

Even all our guilt-ridden, globe-trotting vacations and every one of those celebrity private jet trips — “non-local passenger transport” in the parlance of these reports — accounts for just 9% of all global warming pollution produced by the United States.

And, in a note that makes you want to gouge out both eyes with an electric fork, the electricity used to run all our appliances amounts to just 7% of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The papers are written for policy wonks, encouraging such practices as lifecycling responsibility for manufacturers, so that the cell phone you buy today is dismantled and remade by the same company that manufactured it. “There’s enough evidence here that we should institute policies around products or materials to control greenhouse gas emissions,” Stolaroff said.

Good advice. But what about us?

Even as an expert on the topic, Stolaroff was surprised by the way the report affected him. “In the process of the report I became convinced that recycling is much more important than I thought it really was,” he said. “Particularly appliances, cars, electronics, and construction and demolition debris — those turn out to be pretty important. I never really thought about that. We hear a lot about recycling containers, but we’re much less advanced in terms of recycling durable goods, like building debris and furniture. There’s lots of potential to prevent greenhouse gas emissions.”

Which isn’t to say that energy efficiency doesn’t matter (or that other studies don’t contradict some of these findings) … but Stolaroff’s studies suggest that the types of products we buy and how much stuff we buy in the first place matter most.

Choosing to buy products made from recycled materials, that can be repaired or recycled — or choosing to rent what we don’t need to buy … these amount to some of the most important choices we make for the environment.

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• 15 Ways to Give, Without Giving “Stuff”
• How Green Are You? Take the Quiz
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• 10 Idiot-Proof Eco Tips

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

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