BMW hybrid-electric Vision to begin production in 2013
Jan 29, 2010 Inside Line
LISBON, Portugal — As proof that car companies no longer make showcars just for giggles, a senior BMW authority out of Munich has assured Inside Line that the Vision EfficientDynamics plug-in pure hybrid 2+2 concept car rolled out in September at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show is earmarked for production. No ifs, ands or buts.
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American oil money is now pumping Global Warming denials world-wide
Climate Change Deniers Without Borders
American oil money is pumping up climate change skeptics abroad. Could they kneecap a post-Copenhagen accord?
By Josh Harkinson, Tue Dec. 22, 2009 3:59 AM PST
Writing two weeks ago in Poland’s most popular tabloid, the Super Express, an economic analyst named Tomasz Teluk [funded by ExxonMobil] claimed that a potential climate agreement in Copenhagen might double Poles’ electricity bills, hobble his coal-dependent country, and even lead to one-world government. “Fortunately,” he wrote, the “global warming scare” has been hugely overblown: “As each of us learned in elementary school, carbon dioxide is a gas essential to the development of life, not a poison, so you do not have to eliminate it at any price.”
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Copenhagen; Carbon trading crime is at 90%
charging VAT that is never paid
Carbon trading fraudsters may have accounted for up to 90% of all market activity in some European countries, with criminals pocketing billions, mainly in Britain, France, Spain, Denmark and Holland, according to Europol, the European law enforcement agency.
By Rowena Mason; 10:27AM GMT 10 Dec 2009; updated Dec. 21st 2009
The revelation caused embarrassment for European Union negotiators at the Copenhagen climate change summit yesterday, where they have been pushing for an expansion of their system across the globe to penalise heavy emitters of carbon dioxide. Rob Wainwright, the director of serious crime squad, said large-scale organised criminal activity had “endangered the credibility” of the current carbon trading system.
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“First Step”, Obama hails Copenhagen deal
“First Step” Obama hails Copenhagen deal as “unprecedented breakthrough”
The Los Angeles Times 12-19-2009
President Obama found Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in a room that surprisingly also included the leaders of Brazil, India and South Africa, some of whom the United States had believed to be headed for the airport in defeat. Together, the leaders found compromise on key issues, chiefly a system to subject developing nations to scrutiny of their pledges to limit emissions as a share of their economies. Under the system, nations would self-report their emission progress every two years, and other countries could ask to examine the data.
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White House Readying $5 Billion in Green Tax Credits
tax credits for renewable energy products
DECEMBER 16, 2009
WASHINGTON — The White House will announce plans Wednesday to provide another $5 billion in tax credits for manufacturers of wind, solar, electric vehicle and other renewable energy products, hoping to leverage at least $15 billion in private investment and create “tens of thousands” of jobs.
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Smith Ele. Vehicles Wins Battle on UK Tax Breaks for Electric Vans
Dec. 9th 2009
WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear, UK – Smith Electric Vehicles is celebrating, after leading a successful campaign to win UNITED KINGDOM tax breaks for electric vans.
The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, in his Pre-Budget Report, today announced a 100% capital allowance for companies purchasing electric vans. Britain’s car industry welcomed the UK government’s decision to extend the tax breaks for electric vehicles, already promised for private consumers, to commercial and fleet buyers. This means fleet operators can write down the entire cost of buying an electric van in the first year of ownership.
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IOM: Climate change to force 1 billion people to migrate
Wednesday, Dec 09, 2009; Copenhagen: International Organisation for Migration (IOM) report
Climate change and environmental degradation will force as many as one billion people to migrate over the next four decades to southeast Asia, central America and parts of west Africa, world’s leading migration agency has said.
Small island states have already disappeared under water forcing international migration. Elsewhere, large numbers of displaced people have moved to already-crowded cities, putting extra pressure on the poorer countries at highest risk from environmental stress and degradation associated with climatic shifts, it added.
“In 2008, 20 million people were made homeless by sudden-onset environmental disasters that are set to amplify as global warming increases,” the report released yesterday on the sidelines of climate change talks here said.
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Schwarzenegger on U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Ruling
12/07/2009 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final ruling that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are a public health threat:
“For years California has taken the lead in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions and taken action against the threat they pose to the health and safety of our communities. Climate change is real and it is welcome news to see that the U.S. EPA is taking its head out of the sand and moving towards addressing this threat at the national level.”
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Greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health and welfare
Washington (CNN)
Greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health and welfare, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Monday. “The overwhelming amount of scientific studies show that the threat is real,”
The announcement stems from a Supreme Court ruling which ordered the agency to determine the impact of carbon emissions not only on the environment, but on public health.
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LA 2009: US-Spec Ford Fiesta Gets “near” 40 MPG(?)
Thu, Dec 3, 2009 – Auto Show Coverage, LA 2009
The ECOnetic Fiesta diesel in Europe gets 65mpg.
Tiny economy cars are, by nature, not all that exciting. The challenge is creating one that’s both good at being a cheap economy car, as well as being a car people actually want to own. Whether it’s related to how expensive gas has gotten lately, or the fact that it’s just an attractive car, it would seem Ford already has a home run with the Fiesta even though it hasn’t hit dealers yet based on the press hype around the car.
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Toyota Begins Plug-In Prius Production for Test Program
December 2, 2009
Global Demonstration Program Starts this Month in Japan
Assembly Line Production of 500 Lithium-ion Batteries Begun
Beginning later this month, a total of 350 vehicles will begin delivery in Japan and Europe in support of model programs with business and government partners aimed at raising societal awareness of, and preparedness for, this important new technology. Beginning early next year, 2010, 150 vehicles will start arriving in the U.S., where they will be placed in regional clusters with select partners for market/consumer analysis and technical demonstration. In addition to California, Toyota has already announced that Boulder, CO is going to be the first community to get some of these plug-in hybrids – a surefire way for Toyota to see how cold temps affect battery performance.
Chevrolet Volt To Sell in California First
Published Dec 2, 2009
California will be the “lead market” for the Chevy Volt when the electrically driven car is available at the end of next year, General Motors said Wednesday.
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Bluefin tuna will be ‘wiped out in three years’
From correspondents in Madrid, Spain; April 14, 2009 10:35am
OVERFISHING will wipe out the breeding population of Atlantic bluefin tuna, one of the ocean’s largest and fastest predators, in three years unless catches are dramatically reduced, conservation group WWF said. As European fishing fleets prepare for the two-month Mediterranean fishing season which opens tomorrow, WWF said its analysis showed the bluefin tuna that spawn – those aged four years and older – will have disappeared by 2012 at current rates.
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First Solar City in the Sunshine State
A multi-million eco-project stands to transform Florida into the Silicon Valley of solar energy
By Jack Fairweather : Apr 21, 2009
Solar power has been, ironically, slow to catch on in the sunshine state. But developers of a new city aim to catapult Florida to the forefront of solar innovation. Babcock Ranch, a new housing and commercial development on a swath of rich swampland outside Fort Myers promises to be the world’s first city to be powered only by solar energy. Residents will rely for power on a 75 megawatt, $300 million solar-powered generator.
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Chevrolet at The Los Angeles Auto Show; Dec.4 2009
21 November 2009 – The Los Angeles International Auto Show, coming Dec.4th 2009
Chevrolet affirms its commitment to fuel solutions and building refined, eco-friendly vehicles with the debut of the U.S. production version of the Cruze sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show, on Dec. 2. The Cruze, along with the much-anticipated Volt electric vehicle, will give visitors to the L.A. show a close-up view of Chevrolet’s expanding lineup of gas-friendly to gas-free products.
“With expected highway fuel economy up to 40 miles per gallon, the Cruze will be extremely gas friendly while the Volt electric vehicle can be operated gas-free,” said Brent Dewar, vice president, Chevrolet. “Chevrolet’s focus is on forward-looking technologies to the benefit of our customers, such as the highly efficient, small-displacement turbocharged engine in the Cruze or the Volt electric vehicle with extended range.” The Cruze has already launched to high acclaim in Europe and Asia and has undergone refinement for America. The Cruze goes on sale in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2010 but has already logged more than 4 million miles in quality and durability testing worldwide, making it one of the most globally tested Chevrolet products prior to a U.S. launch.
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