A.M. Greenlist: Offsets get popular for Hummer owners

>> Buy offset, drive Hummer in carpool lane. California senator Jim Battin's proposed SB 1374 aims to do with offsets what skeptical environmentalists are afraid offsets might encourage: Assuage eco-guilt while delaying eco-action. Battin's gotten defensive -- piping in on an LAist post about his bill.

>> Governor Schwarzenegger made the Hummer popular -- and plans to offset his SUV-chauffered, private jetsetting habit instead of changing his habits.

>> BTW, L.A.'s transportation chief Jaime de la Vega drives a Hummer.

>> There was "no legal or technical justification" to turn down California's bid to set tougher standards for vehicle emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's staff. Earlier: The fight for California's tougher car emissions standards.

>> LAX pollution will get a closer look, since the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners agreed Monday to study the effect of airport pollution on communities around LAX: Westchester, El Segundo, Inglewood and Lennox.

>> 7+Fig Sidewalk gets a solar BigBelly trash compactor. Kind of cool, but what I'd really like to see is more recycling bins on city streets.

>> Downtown DASH nixes one shuttle, gets a new route. In three to four months, The City Hall Shuttle will be eliminated, but a new route will carry passengers to Little Tokyo, Central City East and the Flower Market.

>> California avocado farmers are hit with water restrictions. Some are "stumping" trees and blaming city residents who water grassy lawns. Others are smartly putting in low- and reduced-flow devices and installing moisture sensors. I'm left wondering why more farmers didn't do the latter, earlier; the farmers had ample warning from the Metropolitan Water District that the restrictions would be coming.

>> A laundry footprint quiz. Take Sierra Club's 10-question quiz to find out how green your laundry habit is.  I scored an 80 out of 100. You? (via Planet Green) Earlier: Green laundry detergent rankings and Green Cleaning week.

>> Wal-mart seeks your greening advice, via an online suggestion box inviting those with greening solutions to help with Wal-Mart's greening challenges. A company called Cleantech's helping Wal-Mart to "assess ideas and business plans."

Photo by Damian Dovarganes / AP

Comments

[Kate]

83 out of 100! And it should get better when we're in a position to buy our own machine. My apartment manager doesn't show any interest in fixing our dripping tap, much less the water efficiency of the washing machine.

(And no, we can't fix it ourselves. We have the knowledge, but the water shut-off is for the entire building, not for individual apartments.)