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Jon Stewart Lambastes 40 Years of Presidential Posturing on Oil
Jon Stewart fired one of his more brilliant salvos last night, synthesizing 40 years of political posturing around energy independence and America's addiction to foreign oil in just under eight minutes of satire. Drawing on this week's speech from President Obama, who urged a vague new energy future, Stewart skewered the latest White House rhetoric with clips from the past seven presidents, dating to Nixon, as they also pledged to get us off oil.
June 17, 2010
New York Drivers Among the Most Ignorant of Traffic Laws
With the summer "driving season" almost upon us, a startling new survey finds that about 20 percent of American motorists -- close to 38 million people -- don't know enough to pass a written driving test.
May 27, 2010
Cartoon Tuesday: Little Green Man and the Lizard Squeezins
Sometimes it takes an outsider's perspective to see things clearly. So what would an extra-terrestrial think of humankind's dependence on fossil fuels? In light of the devastation being unleashed off the shores of the Gulf states, cartoonist and recent Pulitzer recipient Mark Fiore files this brilliant summation of the absurdly self-destructive lengths we earthlings go to for our "lizard squeezins."
May 18, 2010
Is New York City the Car Culture Capital of America?
When you hear the words "car culture," what -- or where -- do you think of? The freeways of Los Angeles? The factories of Detroit? With its new show, "Cars, Culture and the City," the Museum of the City of New York attempts to retell the history of the automobile with New York City at the very center.
March 29, 2010
A Fresh Look at American Sprawl
American advocates for livable streets know that our addiction to the automobile is almost without peer. We know that we've given our land to driving lanes and parking lots and our air to exhaust fumes. Nevertheless, it can be hard to step outside of the car culture we've spent our lives marinating in and see the country with a new perspective.
March 8, 2010
Hummer Going the Way of the Dodo
The days are numbered for the military vehicle that carmakers turned into the bane of pedestrians, cyclists and planet Earth. GM has announced plans to wind down Hummer production after a deal to sell the brand to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart. According to the Times, the Chinese government wanted no part of Hummer because it is "trying to put a new emphasis on limiting China’s dependence on imported oil and protecting the environment."
February 24, 2010
U.S. DOT Offers Sample Distracted Driving Bill — With a Potential Loophole
The Obama administration today offered a one-page sample proposal to crack down on texting behind the wheel, aimed at helping guide states through the process of crafting their own distracted driving legislation.
February 22, 2010
The Netroots, Brought to You By the Auto Lobby
We've wrung hands before over the seeming disinterest of the "progressive" left in reducing automobile dependence. But it was still a shock to see Daily Kos enshrouded in advertising for Auto Innovation, a project of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
January 20, 2010
Drivers, Pols Just Fine With Traffic Cams That Don’t Enforce the Law
Judging from the amount of press it's getting, hysteria over traffic enforcement cameras is reaching a fever pitch. According to USA Today, at least seven states have banned automated enforcement, with other states and municipalities considering restrictions of their own.
January 19, 2010
BMW: World’s Mega-Cities Need a Mega-Fast Car
How perfect is this. The Granite concept car, the Chevy Aveo with a miniaturized SUV snout touted by GMC as a "tool for urban living," has taken top honors in its design category at the Detroit Auto Show.
January 15, 2010