My Environmental Rant

Recently the environment has been getting a lot of press. Cyclones are becoming ever more frequent, dispersing more and more heat to earth's poles and the bottom of the oceans. Drinking water is losing the battle against bottled water as more and more fresh water is contaminated by local sewage and pollutants.

In Wuxi city, Jiangsu province, China residents are being forced to hoard bottled water, because the lake that normally supplies their tape water is contaminated. Residents say that the water is too dirty to bath in and emits an overpowering stench.
The water has been polluted for years, as factories move in to the area, but it is due to the recent lack of rainfall that has caused the water level to decrease, allowing for dangerous algee to grow at a hazardous pace.
Scientists say that the "draught" will last for at least 4 more months. With the ever increasing prices of water, due to a high demand and low supply, this could cause major problems for the city, and China.

Short of moving the local chemical industry out, and doing a rain dance there isn't much that can be done for that area at the present time. However, scientist are making improvements elsewhere to reduce the amount of pollutants and hopefully save the environment.

Engineer Guy Nègre has recently developed a car that will run entirely on compressed air. The car will not use gasoline, thus will use less fossil fuels than any other car on the market, and will not have a battery, which will, later, not be put in a landfill.
Sound like a win win situation right! Not quite. It is highly doubted that the car will pass US safety tests, and thus may never make it into the largest auto market in the world. However, it will be sold in India, Germany and South Africa. A decent start.
The car is built for city driving, maxing out at 68 mph. So, it probably won't make it out on those European highways, but when do you need to go over 68 mph in a city?
For all of you who want to get the most out of your buck this car may be your ticket. It costs only $2.00 to fill up, that's the whole tank not just a gallon with costs over $3. Those $2.00 will take you 125 miles. Not bad.

For those of us who may not have access to the AirCar here is a list of the top 30 environmentally friendly cars on the market.
Acura RSX
Chevrolet Aveo
Chevrolet Cobalt
Ford Escape Hybrid
Ford Focus
Ford Focus Wagon
Honda Accord
Honda Accord Hybrid
Honda Civic
Honda Civic Hybrid
Honda Insight
Hyundai Accent
Hyundai Elantra
Kia Rio
Kia Spectra
Lexus RX400h
Mazda Mazda3
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Mercury Mariner Hybrid
Nissan Sentra
Saturn Ion
Scion xA
Suzuki Reno
Toyota Camry
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Toyota Prius
Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Jetta
Volkswagen New Beetle

If you think all hybrid cars are boxy and/or slow check out the Mazda MX-5 Miata. It's a sporty hybrid that is cute and will take you anywhere you want at top speed (if you can't tell it's my favorite).

Well that's enough of me talking up a cause.

"Touch the earth, love the earth, honour the earth, her plains, her valleys, her hills, and her seas; rest your spirit in her solitary places."
Henry Beston