*** News Flash *** #1

Here are some news bits I've been saving up for a long weekend. I hope you have/had a nice 4th of July/Canada Day. I know I will/did.

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I was listening to NPR's Science Friday this Friday, and they had two interesting bits on the future of the auto industry.

The first concerned a recent Supreme Court decision that agrees to hear a case about whether or not the EPA must regulate CO2 emissions. It's a great move, much needed, but the decision won't come out for about a yaer.

The SF guy interviewed a representative from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian "Thank you for Smoking" type of DC thinktank. My favorite of his quotes was when he said, referring to the decision, "This is just the front porch of the regulatory edifice that they want to construct.”

While this is good news, actual progress depends on the court case that won't be decided for another year.

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The other story on Science Friday concerned the new documentary opening in NY and LA this week, Who Killed the Electric Car? It sounds like an excellent film about the forgotten potential of an all-electric car that was actually being produced by GM back in the mid-90s.

The director was interviewed, and he said that the story highlites the dependency of the entire auto industry (manufacturers, oil compaines, and repair/distribution) on the internal combustion model. I guess Detroit manufacturers are not yet willing to abandon the oil or repair/distribution companies just because it makes environmental (and ethical) sense.

Spoiler Alert: Some sort of California lawsuit killed the electric car when it rescinded/delayed implementation of the statutory Zero Emission Vehicle requirements.

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And I have two bits to pass along about ethanol.

The first is a report I got from a friend of mine on whether or not ethanol is environmentally friendly. Apparently it all depends on the details, which is irksome for those of us who want fast, easy answers.

Then, there's an opinion piece in the European centrist paper, The Financial Times, on why we need to target results rather than methodology in the fight against global warming. It's nice to get a fresh perspective from over the pond.

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And, for those of you who haven't been following Cape Cod NIMBYism, here's an update on the Cape Wind situation off the Massachusetts coast.

Cape Wind is a proposed wind farm that's been quite contentious amongst so-called Massachusetts liberals.

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And in local news, Ed Felien, editor of the sometimes-readable Pulse of the Twin Cities, doesn't like Light Rail.

But the Met Council kinda likes it . . . and Congreswoman Betty McCollum really likes it.

And, last but not least, a reporter for the Whittier Globe doesn't like Segways.

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In Minneapolis there's a debate over where city-owned security cameras should be placed . . .

. . . and the Strib had an article on whether or not downtown Minneapolis is "a theater of the obnoxious." My opinion? Sometimes, it can be. But it's heavenly compared to Cleveland.