EcoTalk's Archives

We Won’t Be Fueled Again! Or, Teetering On Two Wheels Round a Sharp Corner

An open letter to GM, Ford and Chrysler (Mostly GM!)

Dear Big Three Automakers,

So there you are in Washington DC with your hands outstretched and your hats out, speaking truth to power. “We’re in trouble Mr. Treasury. Please bail us out Uncle Sam, Please don’t let us die Mother Earth, don’chya know we’re too big to fail?” Those were the plaintive cries heard echoing in the nation’s capitol chambers from the mouths of once powerful and almighty Titans of the SUV Age.

Mark Goodstein & The Automotive X Prize

Hey pinewood derby veterans: Can you build an affordable, attractive, and super-efficient car? If you can, Mark Goodstein and the Automotive X Prize will pay you 10 million bucks, and in doing so will spur innovation quickly, through competition. LISTEN (10 min)
Picture: Aptera

The Greenest Automakers

Vehicles Engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists, Don Mackenzie reveals the greenest of all automakers (and not any one model, but the company top to bottom) in a recent UCS study. Envelope please...and the winner is: Honda, in a squeaker over Toyota! OK, so perhaps that's not quite  "Shakespeare in Love" over "Saving Private Ryan", but it is an indication that competition is bringing out the best in Japanese automakers (as well as rapidly improving Korean brands). Where are the Americans? I'll let Don explain. LISTEN (7 min)

The BMW Hydrogen 7

This is a rerun of our January 23 segment.
BMW's Andreas Klugescheid stopped by EcoTalk's Green Street Studios and went for a ride with Betsy in the new BMW Hydrogen 7, answering all the pertinent questions about this new technology along the way. LISTEN (12 min)
On YouTube

Rebates for Cleaner Vehicles

Just when you think California has been as ambitious and unequivocal as it can be in the face of a looming energy crisis and climate change, the state steps on the gas: Dan Kalb, California Policy Analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, tells us about the latest bill in the California legislature, proposing a steep discount for fuel efficient vehicles, and a surcharge for gas guzzlers. LISTEN (12 min)

The BMW Hydrogen 7

BMW's Andreas Klugescheid stopped by EcoTalk's Green Street Studios and went for a ride with Betsy in the new BMW Hydrogen 7, answering all the pertinent questions about this new technology along the way. LISTEN (12 min)
On YouTube

Sherry Boschert: Plug-In Hybrids!

In Plug-In Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America Sherry Boschert chronicles the coming together of Americans of all political stripes, from "left greenies" like herself to neoconservative hawks like James Woolsey, to call for 100mpg (100mpg!) Plug-In Hybrids as a solution to our environmental, energy, national security, and pocketbook problems. Let's do it! LISTEN (12 min)

Hybrid Savings

NRDC's Daniel Hinerfeld  reports on a study that concludes that no matter what you may have heard, owning a hybrid does indeed save you a substantial amount of money-- perhaps as much as $13,000. Hear all about it, and new concepts like the Chevy Volt. LISTEN (6 min)

Picture The Hybrid Guy

Grist: Fill'er Up

Grist Magazine, the best eco-journalism on the web, just got done with a whopping two-week, 34-part series on Biofuels, and the editor of this groundbreaking piece of work, Tom Philpott, stops by to give us the highlights before he runs out of gas. LISTEN (12 min)

NRDC at the Alternative Car Expo

NRDC's Daniel Hinerfeld chats up Ed Begley, Jr. and others about all the fun and fuel-efficiency at the Alternative Car Expo in Los Angeles. No concepts, no promises for the future, this cavalry of inspired and intelligent cars is here today. LISTEN (7 min)