A.M. Greenlist: Pay $4+ a gallon or go Metro for free concerts

>> California's average gas price tops $4 a gallon; the national average is above $3.83 a gallon.

>> Metro riders can rock out for free at the Viper Room on Mondays. A $5 Metro Day Pass, or weekly and monthly Metro passes will grant you free admission to the weekly 103.1 Check One... Two.

>> Metro adopts a $3.4 billion budget for the coming fiscal year. Good news: No fare increases! "Up 7.3% from current budget, the increase is largely due to increased transportation subsidies for municipal bus operators, paratransit service, Metrolink, the County of Los Angeles and cities, preparation to start new Metro Gold Line service to East Los Angeles later in 2009, and rehabilitation of older Metro Rail cars."

>> Alaska plans to sue against polar bears' new status as a threatened species. "Alaska elected officials fear a listing will cripple oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off the state's northern and northwestern coasts." (via grist) Earlier: Politics and polar bears.

>> Why more companies are siding with environmentalists to push for government regulation. Writes Gregory Dicum in the Economist: "Alliances between companies and activists are not as strange as they might seem. For bosses planning long-term capital investments, says Michael Lenox, an expert on corporate sustainability at Duke University, 'uncertainty is more damaging than regulation.' This puts bosses in the same boat as activists: both want regulators to hurry up and set the rules."

>> The problem with nuclear power: Debates about costs and benefits aside, nuclear power requires bullying people into accepting radioactive wastes. The latest: Washington State got sued by the Bush admin for refusing radioactive waste, and the courts ruled against the state. Meanwhile, Italy plans to build nuclear power plants again, after a 20-year break.

Photo by Gregg Moscoe