AM Greenlist: GM sticker shock, Windex greenwash

>> GM says new fuel efficiency standards will add $6,000 to each vehicle, on average. Easy way to avoid those jacked-up car prices? Buy cars from other companies. Earlier: Chevy -- The new fuel savings leader?

>> What do the presidential candidates drive? "Mike Huckabee drives a Chevrolet Silverado truck while his family’s main car is a 2007 Chevy Tahoe. Just FYI, those two SUV’s are also the biggest SUV’s on the planet."

>> In green clean news: Windex tries to enter the green market -- by just slapping its self-created green logo on its ungreen products. Environmentalists note nothing has changed about Windex -- which contains up to 1% of the toxic ethylene glycol -- except the sticker.

>> The new detergent: Gold nanoparticles plus palladium atoms! The combination breaks down trichloroethene, or TCE, a carcinogen that has become a ubiquitous pollutant in our environment. (via 3qd)

>> Owens River -- which L.A. had pretty much sucked dry -- has been restored from "a sandy, rocky bed" to "a gentle current of water." Plants, animals and birds now abound.

>> The nitty gritty behind listing polar bears on the endangered species list. Holly Doremus of Slate looks at the details and concludes, "The arguments against listing the polar bear don't stand up either legally or as a matter of policy."

Photo by Siel

Comments

[sheila]

hmmm. the owens valley story doesn't mention the 30 years of intentional stalling on restoring the water that was literall stolen by LADWP, when they constructed a second, unpermitted water line, or how the director boasted about how he kept cheating on the settlement and how much water they got and money they saved by his corrupt tactics. it also sounds like the mayor is the one who decided to be the good guy and generously give them their water back, but actually, there was a court order.

now, the LADWP is up to the same thing in the Joshua Tree Area - trying to dynamite those world-famous rock formations, bulldoze over joshua trees, tortoise habitats, migration corridors and destroy the only flat-topped buttes in CA by covering them with wind and solar plants, meanwhile seriously, seriously cheaping out on rooftop PV and refusing to institute any conservation programs like steeply tiered utility pricing. if you are an LADWP customer, you should be seriously pissed off right now at how they are planning to spend your money to strengthen their chokehold on you, kill thousands of acres of wilderness, raise your rates, and prevent you from getting paid for totally green power you could generate at home.

same story, different year. make them stop by contacting your city council rep and demanding they stop the "green path" and give you the kinds of power buy-backs, financing and grant options, and refunds hundreds of other areas enjoy from germany to florida to wisconsin, colorado, san francisco and beyond.

more info at www.stopgreenpath.com

[Siel]

Thanks for the link, sheila -- I'll check it out.