Green Options

Van Jones is the founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a non-profit organization working to find solutions to "America’s two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction."The Ella Baker Center's Reclaim the Future campaign focuses on ensuring that jobs and job training are available for the poor and for people of color in the emerging green economy.I spoke with Van at his office in Oakland on [...]

Photo: Utah Biodiesel SupplyEven with the retail price of biodiesel hovering close to the price of regular diesel ("dino-diesel" to us bio-enthusiasts) in many areas, a growing group of DIYers are making the fuel from scratch in their own garages and back yards.Homebrewing biodiesel has many advantages: it usually costs well under $1 a gallon to produce, it eliminates trips to the gas station, and it makes a hell [...]

Novazone is a Livermore, California-based company that provides clean technology solutions, most notably ozone disinfection and sanitization systems, for purification of food and water. They have about 300 customers, including Safeway, Arrowhead, CocaCola, and Proctor & Gamble, in 16 countries around the world.Ozone is simply three oxygen molecules bonded together (O3). Because ozone is an unstable substance, Novazone's solutions create ozone on site from the oxygen in the air. When used as [...]

Thanks to the promise that it offers of bringing an efficient diesel sedan back into the North American market, the Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC was awarded the 2007 World Green Car honors last week at the New York International Auto Show.Mercedes is billing the E320 BLUETEC as the "cleanest diesel vehicle in the world." Engineers incorporated a modular design concept which uses a series of components, such as an oxidation catalytic converter and [...]

In 1996, the X PRIZE Foundation was troubled by what it saw as 40 years of stagnation in spacecraft innovation, so they "sought to bring about a radical breakthrough in the advancement of human spaceflight." Eight years later, the foundation sparked headlines around the world when they awarded their $10 million prize to aerospace designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft's Paul Rubin for successfully launching a personal spacecraft into the earth's orbit twice in two [...]

Many of us are doing our best to decrease our gasoline and fossil fuel consumption. While we recognize that it is an honorable personal virtue to do so, most of us also realize that it isn't very realistic, and is often more trouble than it's really worth, to incorporate over-hyped and performance-reducing alternatives into our hectic lives.

It Can Be Greener!For me, a big part of living green is eating a plant-based diet. My wife decided to go vegan almost 4 years ago, and after I did my fair share of whining and nay-saying, I finally joined her a few months later. We've never looked back.Well, okay, almost never. Giving up the meat was far easier than I ever expected. Eggs? Never liked those much [...]

New D.C. Ballpark. Courtesy of WashingtonNationals.comEditor's note: Red, Green and Blue will take a break this week, but that doesn't mean Ryan and Jimmy are! RG&B will return, though, in a new format that we really think you'll like… That's right, sports fans. After a long, cold winter, the 2007 baseball season is just around the corner!While many of you this time of year are [...]

St. Matthew Island. Photo: Dave KleinWelcome to another edition of Uncle Ryan's story time…Editor's note: Red, Green and Blue is Green Options' weekly take on politics and the environment from both sides of the aisle. Ryan Thibodaux represents the progressive position. Jimmy Hogan's conservative take on this issue is available here.Once upon a time, there was a beautiful uninhabited Alaskan paradise called St. [...]

I am a liberal, and I have a confession to make: I don't like it when the government throws my money away, either. It's hard to admit, but it's just another one of those inconvenient truths. It's also exactly what I think is happening with the at least $5 billion in ethanol subsidies the federal government will hand out this year.Now don't get me wrong: it's not farm subsidies and certainly not alternative [...]