Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Getting Hosed on a Hybrid

By Tanya Snyder | | 18 Comments
Hybrid drivers: Nice try, but your wheels aren’t really saving the planet. Consumer Reports announced Thursday that the mileage ratings on Ford’s hybrid models were inflated. Instead of getting “47 city/47 highway/47 combined mpg” as advertised, the Fusion sedan gets 35/41/39 and the new C-Max wagon gets 35/38/37. That’s a pretty big difference — far bigger than […]

Study: Electric Cars Not So Green Unless Powered by Renewables

By Angie Schmitt | | 16 Comments
A study by the government of the Australian state of Victoria highlights the limits of electric cars, in isolation, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Victorian government’s ongoing “electric vehicle trial” [PDF] found that electric cars powered by coal may actually produce more carbon emissions than petroleum-fueled cars over the lifetime of the vehicle, from manufacturing […]

Yes, We Have No Carbon Tax

By Tanya Snyder | | 20 Comments
About 12 hours after President Obama won re-election, Bloomberg News ran this tantalizing headline: “Obama May Levy Carbon Tax to Cut U.S. Deficit, HSBC Says.” The article suggested that a $20-per-ton tax on carbon emissions, rising gradually over time, could help reduce the deficit by half within a decade. Within the same story was the […]

Study: 10% More Smart Growth = 20% Less Driving

By Angie Schmitt | | 12 Comments
A professor at San Francisco State University recently developed an econometric model to study how smart growth affects travel behavior. His finding: quite a bit. Dr. Sudip Chattopadhyay measured the impact of certain smart growth indicators on 18 metro areas across the U.S. He found that a 10 percent increase in smart growth amenities — […]
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