Green Options

The financial woes at General Motors could finally be catching up with its fuel cell vehicle development program.

In a Web-based interview with the media Tuesday, CEO Fritz Henderson said the company may take a close look at what it spends on fuel cell development. When asked by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle’s Matt Daneman about fuel cells, Henderson said “while we need to be more efficient in this area, we are confident we can maintain the capabilities necessary to win in the market going forward.” Th giant automaker declared bankruptcy this month and is selling off subsidiaries.

The San Francisco start-up, Virgance, is teaming up with groSolar and GOOD to throw a party where entrepreneurs, activists, technocrats, public figures, and press can get together and learn a bit more about this amazing company.

So what is Virgance? They really sum it up best themselves:

Virgance is a company that seeks to create another moment of seasonal change. As the world has turned, some organizations have tilted

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GM’s Equinox Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Makes a stop at the International Trade Center, and I get a first hand look. The car costs approximately 1.5 million dollars to produce, and by General Motors estimates, wouldn’t be available for sale for another 10 to 15 years.

Editor’s Note: This post is a guest contribution by Adam Shake.

It was an overcast Friday morning in Washington D.C., and stepping off the Metro at the Federal Triangle stop in Washington D.C., I had been thinking about how Global Warming was contributing to the strength of Hurricane Hannah.  Hurricane Ike was right on her coat tails, and looked to be like one of the largest Hurricanes on record.

Rounding the corner of the International Trade Center to enter the building from Pennsylvania Avenue, I saw an S.U.V. parked on the plaza with a small shelter positioned near it.  Inside the shelter were stacks of brochures and four people standing beneath it, staying out of the impending rain.

Intrigued, I stepped over to the vehicle to have a closer look.  The doors were open, showing a spacious interior and well designed dash board.  The vehicle was running, and idling quietly as I stuck my head into the front seat, inhaling that new car smell.

Testing the New Equinox Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle

GM’s new Equinox hydrogen fuel cell electric cars are on the road. Well, one hundred of them are, and you can apply to become a test driver for three months.

The Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell has been honored with the Green Car Journal’s Green Car Vision Award, the first time the magazine has recognized a limited-production vehicle for its forward-thinking technologies. “Project Driveway” is the first large-scale market test of fuel cell vehicles with real drivers.

About two weeks ago, I noticed that the soundscape here in the Northeast is changing. My ears seemed to be calling my eyes liars.

The crocus and hyacinth have not pushed through the still frozen ground. No migratory birds were bouncing around my still-brown lawn. Spring has not shown her face. So I asked Greg Budney, curator of the Macaulay Library at Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology, if I was crazy. Was something really different?

He alerted me to the fact that many year-round residential birds were now going into a song-mode of reclaiming territory. For example, the female cardinals will now be doing their version of the male’s song. (To hear this, click here and type 49063 into the “advanced search” box) He also pointed out that this is exactly why so many birds sing…you don’t have to see ‘em to know they’re there!

Happy (Equinoctial) Earth Day, everyone! This "original" Earth Day was set to coincide with the vernal equinox. It was later that year, 1970, that April 22 became an Environmental Teach In, or what we know today as Earth Day.