Despite their popularity with motorists, SUV's have been less than a hit with many environmentalists.  But this may change, experts say, as new hybrid technology is helping improve the fuel efficiency of these much-maligned vehicles.  According to Newsday, hybrid powertrains, which combine gasoline engines with small electric motors, are now driving their way into the world of SUV's and trucks - with the major automakers set to unveil some 18 hybrid powered vehicles in American showrooms over the next four years.  The new Chevy Silverado, for example, will get 12 percent better fuel economy, while the Ford Escape will [...]

That the media sensationalizes news stories is probably news to no one.  But what may surprise many is the degree to which the  newspapers regularly hype, and mislead citizens, on environmental issues.  This, according to Ian Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who notes, for example, that in 1995 the New York Times ran a front-page story warning of how nuclear waste being stored in Nevada might explode, despite any credible scientists making such claims.  In 2004, the Tampa Tribune ran 119 articles suggesting a local phosphate plant was a health threat - even though Florida's independent scientific review [...]

Without a doubt, one of the more pressing environmental challenges deals with the issue of sewage treatment.  This is because, as noted by the National Center for Policy Analysis, sewage systems in some 770 cities are outdated, with many having been built more than a century ago.  Thus to meet new clean water standards, many communities - which have in the past simply dumped untreated waste into rivers during heavy rainfall - must now build new facilities or massive underground tanks to hold their sewage, and the costs for this are simply extravagant.  Since the federal government once subsidized [...]

Is the use of DDT hazardous to human health?  Well for many, the answer is positively "Yes".  But according to Dr. Keith Lockitch of the Ayn Rand Institute, the science doesn't support such alarmism.  Comments Lockitch: "The scientific case against DDT is nonexistent.  Almost 60 years have passed since the malaria spraying campaigns took place and scientific literature has not produced even one peer-reviewed study linking DDT with any adverse health outcomes.  With nearly a  million people dying from malaria each year, and DDT an effective means to combat the spread of this disease, the time has come to [...]

Modern advances from computer chips to medical biotech use something called nanotechnology that deals with materials at an infinitesimally small size. Now, researches in the food industry are looking to this technology to improve the products they sell to consumers. This, according to Science News, which reports how one use of nanotechnology might be tiny sensors in food packages that change color when milk or cheese go bad. Another use might be tiny capsules that store antioxidants, or flavorings, in the foods until they are eaten. Whatever their use, many are excited about the possibilities of producing safer, and [...]

Are some environmental policies becoming a new form of bigotry? Sadly yes, according to economist Thomas Sowell, who wrote a recent column titled "Green versus Black" that sharply criticizes what he terms "Green bigotry." In one example, he cites a wealthy group in San Francisco that has purchased 80,000 acres of land in Kenya to keep poor people from hunting for food there, even though half of Kenyans live below the poverty line. And closer to home, he points out how building restrictions in many areas are skyrocketing the value of existing homes, and forcing many people, like nurses, [...]

You can power your car on regular or high test, but how about the breath of tiny living organisms? Well it may sound strange, but research is fast continuing on biological energy production that can transform sunlight and sugar into usable fuel. According to Wired News, one research team in California is working on getting algae to produce more hydrogen gas during photosynthesis, which might one day lead to algae farms around the world producing enough hydrogen to power cars and heat homes. With another team in Pennsylvania getting bacteria to generate hydrogen when placed in simple waste water, [...]

Recently, the New Economics Foundation of Britain proposed a tax be placed on U.S. imports to Europe. And the reason: America's failure to sign onto the Kyoto treaty. Sterling Burnett of the National Center for Policy Analysis takes issue with this radical proposal: "Proposing trade sanctions over disagreements on global warming would be bad economic policy and bad environmental policy, well beyond the issue of global warming. This proposal would take scientific debate and a search for the truth hostage to international trade policy, opening the door to a Pandora's box of protectionist legislation implement under the guise of [...]

Artists doing strange things on stage as political statements is nothing new. But it did come as quite a surprise when a British artist recently exhibited his distaste for animal rights issues by publicly eating a fox in London. According to PlanetArk.com, performance artist Mark McGowan was upset over the massive attention being given to trying to ban the popular sport of fox hunting in England. "The housing estate where I live is full of crackheads," he said, "but no one is marching to help them." So McGowan downed a roasted fox onstage, which he said was quite tasty, [...]

Many environmental groups are upset over President Bush's environmental policies. But according to Robert Bidinotto of the Capital Research Center, one thing they shouldn't be upset over is the amount of taxpayer dollars they continue to receive from the Administration's budget. Comments Bidinotto: "Audits of nonprofit organizations reveal a surprise. Each year, the Bush Administration has awarded environmentalist groups far more in federal grants than did the Clinton Administration. For example, we found that in fiscal year 2003, green advocacy groups spent about 140 million taxpayer dollars – double what they spent in 1998 under President Clinton. Such payments, [...]

Carrot juice is said by many fitness experts to provide our bodies with good energy, but how about providing a boost for electric batteries?  Well, believe it or not, a team of researchers at the University of the West of England have claimed they are on the brink of garnering such power from organic substances like carrots - and this new eco-battery may one day help to power the lights in your home.  The fuel cell creates electricity when a colony of E. coli bacteria are deposited inside a Walkman-sized battery which then begins to break down carbohydrates and [...]

A few years ago a controversy erupted when some consumers claimed they developed allergic reactions from a genetically modified corn product found in Taco Bell tortillas. Now it appears a new study has taken a bite out of this claim.  According to the Journal of Allergy Immunology, one vocal critic of the gm corn - a man who was awarded $10,000 - was recently tested to see if in fact he was allergic to the product.  The test, which experts say is the gold standard of allergy testing, involved taking the GM corn, other corn, and a placebo on [...]

While an apple a day may keep the doctor away, scientists in India are now convinced a new breed of potato could do the same for their nation's poorest children.  This, according to the BBC, which recently reported that scientists at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi have created a protein-rich, genetically modified potato that could play an important role in the government's 15 year plan to improve health care.  The new potato is created by taking a gene from a South American amaranth plant and adding it to an ordinary potato. This enhances not only the protein [...]

Look, up in the sky ... it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a ... solar tower?   Well, believe it or not, if you happen to be strolling through the Australian outback in the near future, it may just be such a structure you see towering high in the sky.  The Australian power company "Enviromission" is seeking to create a 3,300 foot solar tower by the year 2006, and what a tower it will be.  Roughly the width of a football field, engineers hope to place a massive glass roof on it that will span a whopping 7 kilometers [...]

Incidences of shark attacks have made headline news in recent years, but what many don't know is there exists another alarming trend with respect to, believe it or not, attacks by lions. Yes, according to an article in the journal Nature, lion attacks have increased significantly over the past fifteen years, with some five hundred and sixty three Tanzanians killed and another three hundred injured from ferocious assaults. Experts believe the mounting confrontations are occurring because people are moving closer to lion habitat. And sadly, the retaliation by native Africans against the one hundred thousand Lions remaining in the [...]