Green Options

Set your DVRs: The Science Channel’s “How It’s Made” covers Audi clean diesel technology. Debuting TODAY, September 18th, 2009 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, with an encore broadcast on the Discovery Channel on Thursday, September 24, 2009, 7:00 and 11:00 p.m. ET/PT.

“How It’s Made” is one of those head scratchers of a show for me. Take one part horrible muzak and one part kind-of-boring monotone narrator; mix it with some cool behind-the-scenes manufacturing footage of stuff that you normally take for granted; throw in some occasional history and you’ve got yourself… a winner? As much as the show bores my wife to tears, for some reason I love it. It’s so cheesy and cool at the same time.

So I was excited to hear that the show will be doing a segment on the building of an Audi V6 3.0 TDI clean diesel engine. Audi has recently started a push to bring their new clean diesels to the US and market them as a green alternative to gas cars and even electric cars. In fact, Johan de Nysschen, President of Audi America, recently got himself into a bit of hot water by extolling the virtues of diesel while insulting the people who would buy electric drive cars like the Chevy Volt.

*Sigh.* Sometimes I hear news that just makes me want to cry.

Today is one of those days. And the FDA, for once, has nothing to do with it.

Nielsen Company released a report this week that showed that American TV viewing is at an all-time high.

We are a nation of vidiots.

Yep, in the fourth quarter of last year, personal TV use was at 151 hours per month, up from 145 hours for each of the last three months in the previous year. That would be about 4 ½ hours per day per person.

American households watch, on average, 8 hours, 18 minutes of TV per day.  What the?! Oh my, why are Junior’s grades so awful? Why is he “heavy set”?