A new feature this year at the International Auto Show held in January
in Detroit was the scavenger hunt sponsored by the Sierra Club and the Michigan
Environmental Council. The game deputized children who attended to find the hidden
treasures of clean cars amid the many gas-guzzlers.
Kids like cool stuff, and hybrids are the coolest, cleanest cars around.
And it looks like kids are gonna be the ones who have to figure out how to deal
with global warming, enthused Lana Pollack of the Michigan Environmental
Council.
To check the game out for yourself, visit www.sierraclub.org/freedom and join
Wyatt Earp in the posse seeking hybrids.
Sierra Club is urging auto makers to adopt the Freedom Option Package
which uses fuel-saving technologies such as the integrated starter generator,
the variable valve control engine, and more for light trucks and SUVs. Currently
these options are available only on selected passenger sedans. Having these options
available to consumers could save money at the gas pump and cut global warming
pollution.
Global Warning Speakers
Local member Nancy Macy reports that her sister Martha Booz is a volunteer speaker
for The Green House Network, an Oregon group that gives free presentations about
global warming. To learn more and find the name of a local speaker call (502)
236-7221 or visit www.greenhousenet.org.
Classy transit
Yellowstone National Park is bringing back its fleet of 1930s buses, retrofitted
to run on alternative fuel. The buses were phased out and sold in the 60s but
the park is buying them back as part of their plan to reduce traffic and pollution.
Drugs in corn flakes?
Care for prescription drugs or industrial chemicals in your corn flakes? If the
USDA continues to allow biopharm food crops to be planted in open fields, this
may happen.
Production of drugs in genetically-engineered plants is called biopharming. To
date, 300 open-air field trials have been conducted in secret locations across
the country. Many are concerned that such open-air trials can allow the spread
of biopharm traits to conventional fields. For more information contact Laurel
Hopwood, Sierra Club Genetic Engineering Committee via email: lhopwood@earthlink.net.