We've been craving hybrid minivans for a while now. It seems counterintuitive that the vehicle that seemingly epitomizes the suburban American lifestyle has been so long shunned from the ranks of green engineering. What more deserving vehicle than the ubiquitous minivan for better gas mileage, hybrid technology, or even a diesel option?

Finally, it appears that an answer may be on the horizon, as Honda's head of automobile research and development lets drop this bright nugget of news: we may be looking at a hybrid Honda minivan within the next three years.

Honda had been looking at so-called clean diesel technology for the Odyssey minivan and the hulking Pilot SUV. It abandoned that direction in 2008, turning to a gas-electric hybrid system suitable for larger vehicles. "We've left the research stage and entered the field of development," Tomohiko Kawanabe, chief operating officer of automobile R&D at Japan's No.2 automaker, told Reuters in an interview.

Honda has lagged behind other manufacturers (notably Toyota, now being dogged by quality problems) in the hybrid market. A hybrid minivan and SUV would bring Honda back into the running, if not the forefront, of the growing hybrid market.

(Photo credit:Honda)

Pop star Miley Cyrus may have outgrown her Toyota Prius, but she's savvy enough to have stuck with a hybrid. "Hey guys! Yesterday I got photographed in my new car and I want everyone to know I still haven’t given up hybrids!" she wrote in a recent blog post. "Mercedes came out with a new hybrid suv and I love it! Its blueish/blackish/purplish. Haha! I got a new dog named Mate who’s a German Shepard so like I said in a previous blog he is kinda out growing my prius! Anyways I love yall! Xox"

The Mercedes ML 450 may not be the greenest hybrid on the roads today, but we're glad to see another high-profile celebrity whose heart's in the right place. The new Mercedes gets 21 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway—not much next to the 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid's 34 city/31 highway, but a distinct improvement over the standard gasoline-powered ML350's best-scenario performance of 15 city/20 highway. (Ouch!)

Like the hybrid Escalade, the new Mercedes hybrid is less about being green than greenER. You won't be seeing too many of them on the street, anyway. Mercedes cites a "limited supply of batteries" as the reason the vehicle's only available via a whopping $659 or $549 monthly lease. We doubt Miley was much fazed by the price, anyway—and we can only wait to see what she'll get when her German Shepherd outgrows the ML 450.

(Photo credit:Mercedes Benz)

Seriously? Donald Trump wants Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize to be revoked, claiming that record-breaking U.S. snowstorms prove Gore goofed on climate change and that strategies aimed at curbing carbon emissions have threatened the American economy. "With the coldest winter ever recorded, with snow setting record levels up and down the coast, the Nobel committee should take the Nobel Prize back from Al Gore," the billionaire trumpeted to an audience of 500 at his Trump National Golf Club in Westchester, N.Y.

Trump continued, "Gore wants us to clean up our factories and plants in order to protect us from global warming, when China and other countries couldn't care less. It would make us totally non-competitive in the manufacturing world, and China, Japan and India are laughing at America's stupidity."

We can only hope Trump was joshing his well-to-do cohorts in order to make a point. Despite snowy conditions here at home, other parts of the world are (naturally enough) experiencing variations of their own, such as Vancouver's painful lack of snow just in time for the Winter Olympics. Local and regional weather patterns do not negate the larger picture of climate change. In fact, scientists often predict that snowfall will increase in areas affected by global warming, since when all other things are equal, warmer air holds more moisture and the potential for greater amounts of precipitation.

(Photo credit:Wikipedia)

How did climate change become such an issue? Who's responsible? In a fresh message to the world, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden points the finger squarely at the United States and other developed nations for not taking steps to control climate change. His proposed solution: boycotting American goods and the American dollar. Reports The New York Times:

"In the message broadcast on Friday, Mr. bin Laden veered away from his traditional vows to inflict death and destruction on the United States, and instead discussed climate change, globalization and monetary policy in a message that he said was directed to 'the whole world.'

He called for a worldwide boycott of American goods and the dollar. He faulted the United States for failing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, which sought to curb global warming by restricting greenhouse gas emissions. And he offered a word of praise for Noam Chomsky, the American linguist and liberal political activist. 'Noam Chomsky was correct when he compared the U.S. policies to those of the Mafia,' Al Jazeera quoted Mr. bin Laden as saying. 'They are the true terrorists and therefore we should refrain from dealing in the U.S. dollar and should try to get rid of this currency as early as possible.'"

Two fresh signs of hope

Ok, so the focus veers off there at the end ... But the Al Qaeda leader is right about one thing: we haven't done enough—yet. And while going cold on the dollar isn't quite the solution the world is searching for, getting hot under the collar about policy still has a chance to prevent a boilover. It's not too late. Two new studies out this week indicate that the planet's boiling point may be farther off than we fear. One study notes that oceans and other sources of carbon dioxide will be slower to release CO2 than previously anticipated. The other discusses the effects of atmospheric water vapor on rising global temperatures. The time is there ... Now all we need are the support and leadership to make solutions happen.

(Photo credit:xymonau, SXC)

Blue books are so last-millenium ... Get up to date with ACEEE's Green Book. With ratings covering model years 2000 through 2010, not only can you find out what the straight-up greenest choices are, but you can narrow things down to the greenest gasoline-powered vehicles, too.

Here's how they do it:

We analyze automakers' test results for fuel economy and emissions as reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, along with other specifications reported by automakers. We estimate pollution from vehicle manufacturing, from the production and distribution of fuel and from vehicle tailpipes. We count air pollution, such as fine particles, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and other pollutants according to the health problems caused by each pollutant. We then factor in greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide) and combine the emissions estimates into a Green Score that runs on a scale from 0 to 100. The top vehicles this year score a 57, the average is 32 and the worst gas-guzzlers score around 16.

So what are the top five gasoline-powered vehicles for 2010?

1. Toyota Prius (51/48mpg city/highway, Green Score 52)
2. Honda Civic Hybrid (40/45mpg city/highway, Green Score 51)
3. Toyota Yaris (29/35mpg city/highway, Green Score 46)
4. Honda Fit (28/35mpg city/highway, Green Score 45)
5. Ford Escape Hybrid (34/31mpg city/highway, Green Score 42)

And for the hardcore among you, the very greenest choices for 2010:

1. Honda Civic GX (24/36mpg city/highway, Green Score 57)
2. Toyota Prius (51/48mpg city/highway, Green Score 52)
3. Honda Civic Hybrid (40/45mpg city/highway, Green Score 51)
4. Smart for Two Convertible/Coupe (33/41mpg city/highway, Green Score 50)
5. Honda Insight (40/43mpg city/highway, Green Score 50)

And to be totally balanced, the meanest vehicles for the environment in 2010 (for shame, people ... for shame):

1. Lamborghini Murcielago/Murcielago Roadster (8/13mpg city/highway, Green Score 18)
2. Bugatti Veyron (8/14mpg city/highway, Green Score 18)
3. Bentley Azure/Brooklands (9/15mpg city/highway, Green Score 18)
4. Maybach 57S (10/16mpg city/highway, Green Score 19)
5. Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab (Class 2B) (12/17mpg city/highway, Green Score 20)

(Photo credit:Motor Trend)

Nothing like a little extra time when you need to get out of a tight situation. Citizens of the planet Earth now have one more minute to work with, thanks to the first reset of the virtual Doomsday Clock that serves as a graphic representation of imminent nuclear or environmental catastrophe. On Thursday, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set the clock back one whole minute. The clock now reads six minutes before midnight, the proverbial witching hour portending planetary doom.

The reset heralds encouraging progress in two worldwide threats, nuclear weapons and climate change. “For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material,” the BAM panel announced. “For the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable. These unprecedented steps are signs of a growing political will to tackle the two gravest threats to civilization—the terror of nuclear weapons and runaway climate change."

The Doomsday Clock has been reset only 18 times since its inception in 1947. The last reset occurred in January 2007.

So what are we going to do with this extra minute? While a move of the Doomsday Clock hands farther away from midnight is an encouraging sign of progress, the small amount of movement reinforces the danger of the remaining threats posed by nuclear weapons and climate change. Time to get to work, indeed.

(Photo credit:spekulator, SXC)

From the Department of Oh, Really?: In case you didn't already have suspicions of your own, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that greenhouse gases are harmful to your health and to the environment. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson laid down the law in a press conference yesterday: "This administration will not ignore science or the law any longer, nor will we avoid the responsibility we owe to our children and grandchildren. Today, I’m proud to announce that EPA has finalized its endangerment finding on greenhouse gas pollution, and is now authorized and obligated to take reasonable efforts to reduce greenhouse pollutants under the Clean Air Act."

We kinda dig Jackson. With the blessing of the Obama administration, she's not-so-quietly changing the face of the EPA from obstructor to facilitator. And this dog has teeth. Jackson and the EPA appear ready to chomp into growing an economy based on clean energy and shaking loose from our dependence on foreign oil.

As for climate change, Jackson has words about that as well. "But the overwhelming amounts of scientific study show that the threat is real – as does the evidence before our very eyes," she notes. "... After decades of this mounting evidence, climate change has now become a household issue. Parents across the United States and around the world are concerned for their children and grandchildren. Governments are investing billions in adaptation strategies. Businesses are investing billions in efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Military planners are projecting new hotspots of instability and conflict. They know that if we do not act to reduce greenhouse gases, the planet we leave to the next generation will be a very different place than the one we know today."

Onward!

(Photo credit:xymonau, SXC)

Stuff—the downfall of Western civilization? You know we like to get dramatic in order to make a point (cough, cough), but this statement isn't that far of a stretch, really. In fact, stuff—and the manufacturing and packaging that goes along with it—accounts for nearly half of our greenhouse gas emissions. The Daily Green has published a piece on two recent reports from the Environmental Protection Agency's Joshuah Stolaroff that shines a harsh light on efforts to green our lifestyles. It appears that all our Energy Star appliances, hybrid cars and Hundred Mile Diet aren't the saving graces we thought they were. In fact, we're focusing on all the wrong areas.

From The Daily Green:

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–account 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.

(Photo credit:Product Policy Institute)

Are you guilty of writing off your travel guilt by purchasing carbon offsets—without changing your travel habits in the least? One of the first travel companies to offer travelers the option to purchase carbon offsets along with their tickets thinks the move might not be so responsible after all. Responsible Travel is siding with the doubters, canceling its offset program and claiming that not only do offsets not impact global emissions levels but that by promoting a false sense of virtuosity, they may actually encourage additional air travel. “The carbon offset has become this magic pill, a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card,” Responsible Travel's Justin Francis told The New York Times. "It's seductive to the consumer who says, ‘It’s $4 and I’m carbon-neutral, so I can fly all I want.’ ”

Responsible Travel ends its seven-year relationship with offsets as other companies are still climbing on board. United Airlines became the latest American airline to add an offset program this summer. Other organizations, from Yahoo to the United States House of Representatives, recently ditched carbon offset trials, saying the money was better spent improving their energy efficiency in other ways.

Now wait just a minute—what are you supposed to do about that holiday trip you have planned? Go ahead and buy a carbon offset. It'll ease your conscience, and every little bit helps, after all. That's not a bad thing. But Responsible Travel has a point: if offsets are actually encouraging frequent flyers to fly even more frequently (because, well, why not?), then the net result is not very eco-friendly at all. All semblance of personal responsibility and personal carbon budgets gets thrown out the window. And that's where Responsible Travel and responsible travelers alike think it's time to clip the wings of offset programs.

(Photo credit:jimmyharris, flickr)

The big news this weekend: With no time left to corral a worldwide agreement on trimming greenhouse gas emissions at next month's climate change summit in Copenhagen, politicians and environmentalists alike are scrambling to salvage what they can from the situation. U.S. President Obama is now throwing his support behind a Danish plan to view Copenhagen as the first in a series of commitments, rather than an opportunity to forge a landmark global climate protocol.

So what's the holdup? Embarrassingly enough, it's the U.S. Senate. Lack of progress in the U.S. legislature has thrown the entire world into a holding pattern. As Grist notes, "the Senate, already unrepresentative thanks to the disproportionate influence of rural, low-population states, has become, thanks to the routine use of filibusters and holds, grotesquely undemocratic."

And so the world waits. And waits. Reports Grist: “Clearly, the U.S. has been slowing things down,” said Artur Runge-Metzger, the European Union’s chief climate negotiator. Alicia Montalbo, chief negotiator for Spain (the next country to hold the rotating European Union presidency), echoed Kaiser’s sentiments more indirectly, saying: “There’s a certain level of frustration in seeing that not all countries share (the) vision.” More of the same came from Denmark’s climate minister, Connie Hedegaard: “We can’t imagine having an agreement without the United States, they have to be a part of it,” she told Agence France-Presse.

Speaking of being a part of it—you are, in a most literal sense. There's never been a better time to make your voice heard. The way your own representatives conduct themselves on Capitol Hill is literally shaping the world as we know it. If your reps are among those playing with stall tactics, let them know their behavior is unacceptable. It's time to turn the heat up on efforts to chill climate change progress.

Onward.

(Photo credit:woodman2, SXC)