With gas prices hitting new record highs every day, it seems like everybody is looking for a cheaper way to get around. Maybe you really care about the environment! Whatever the reasons, here are a few eco-friendly ways to travel.

Electric Scooter. One one battery charges, you can travel about 50 miles. This is perfect for running to the grocery store, the post office, and other local things you have to do. You won’t use hardly any gas, and you can find some shortcuts and back roads to get you there faster!

Electric Scooter. It might not sound as appealing as a scooter, but it might be a lot more convenient. You won’t be able to travel as far, but if you use it to get to a bus station, subway or light rail, you can travel long distances (thanks to public transportation) with this small gadget.

Electric Car. You’ve probably heard of electric cars by now. They’ve been very well developed the last few years, so even the lazier and less eco-caring among us can still benefit from an electric car. With gas prices this high, anybody can benefit.

Walk or Bike. You might think “that’s so last century”, but you would be dead wrong. Biking doesn’t take any gasoline and it’s very healthy for you. So is talking obviously, but it will take you longer to get where you’re going. If you do bike, make sure to invest in a bike lock so you don’t lost that bad boy.

Think outside the box. If you work close to somebody you work with, carpool. Even if it’s just one of two days a week you will both (or all) save money. If you live far away from work, offer to pickup people on your way if they chip in a little bit for your gas. Times are tough so anything with help

It’s summertime again, and for some people there’s no better way to kill an afternoon than to spend time in the garden. Flowers, plants, animals, sun, you’ve got it all! But when you’re in your garden, you should do your best to help keep it green. Here are some tips.

Water in the morning. “Like it or not, some of the water meant for your plants will evaporate before it reaches the soil. This is compounded on a hot day. Watering in (or setting your sprinkler timer for) the morning can save 50 gallons of water a week”.

Reuse your pots. “Plants die, but pots rarely do. Save the pot and soil if one of your plants expires. You can even create your own pots by drilling a hole in old butter containers or flipping over a drum. If a pot breaks, you can usually glue it back together with no loss of quality”.

You can get more great tips from Live Science by clicking the link below.

www.livescience.com

The Solar Energy Incentive Program is finally going to happen in San Francisco. They have been given the green light for 10 years, with an annual budget of $3 million dollars. The money will be used at tax incentives for companies and families that install solar panels. The SEIP could be active as soon as July 1st of this year.

Local solar installers also approved of this plan because it will continue to create jobs in the coming years, as well as cleaning up a smoggy city. The rebates and tax incentives will also be applicable to these local installers, allowing them to cut the cost of solar installation by 20%.

Families and individuals are granted between $3,000 and $6,000, and businesses will receive a $10,000 rebate. The city is estimating in the first 10 years, roughly 15,000 rooftops will be covered in solar panels. Currently there are less than 700 rooftops in San Francisco with solar panels.

San Francisco also passed a separate measure granting 1.5 million to helping low-income and non-profit corporations to get their rooftops filled with solar panels as well. This is fantastic news, but it’s no surprise a California city is out in front on this initiative. It’s not enough anymore to “let the hippies try it first” and if it works, let it spread to the rest of the nation. More local governments need to start providing incentives to people for using power. I know lots of people who aren’t against the idea, it’s just too expensive up-front to make that leap. We just need more progressive local (and federal) governments like San Francisco’s.

The average price of gasoline in the United States surpassed $4 a gallon this week, and it doesn’t look like there’s any relief in site. I’ve read a few estimates that by this time next year, the price of gas could be about double what it is now. Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to worry about gas prices anymore? Well if you convert your car to run on vegetable oil, the price of gas won’t bother you anymore.

I found a great article that details exactly how you can make the leap away from oil. And what the gas companies don’t want you to know is, this process is extremely easy.

These guys lay out the process in 8 easy steps. “This will not happen overnight. Nor will it work if you just want something for nothing. There are some up-front costs, but more importantly, it

If you’re a fan of jellyfish and don’t care about global warming, today we have some great news for you! While some species are being threatened from global warming, jellyfish are thriving from it. But for how long isn’t so clear.

Today, off the coast of Alaska, jellyfish are about 40 times more abundant than they were in 1980. In the 1990’s, scientists and fishermen saw a huge increase in the number of jellyfish. They also saw jellyfish living in places they’ve never been able to live before. This is due to warming oceans.

In 2000 however, jellyfish levels began to even out and stop increasing. This is because ocean temperatures are still rising, and jellyfish can only thrive in certain temperatures. Warm is good, but too warm will kill them off, and that’s what has scientists worried. As temperatures near the equator rise, jellyfish will continue migrating north and south into cooler water, until there’s no more cool water left.

Mexico City is one of the most polluted cities in the world, but now they’re taking steps to start cleaning up. They are going to start planting grass and gardens on top of public buildings to help absorb carbon dioxide. They’re first round of rooftop gardens will be planted over 100,000 square feet around the city.

They are going to replace gas tanks, clothe lines and heat-reflecting asphalt with these gardens to combat global warming. The government is even offering tax breaks to businesses or individuals who plant gardens on top of their office buildings and / or apartments. Mayor Ebrard pledged over $5 billion over five years to help reduce greenhouse gases in Mexico City.

Mexico City is home to over 20 million people, and 4 million cars. Their plan will cut carbon emissions by 4.4 million tonnes per year. Mayor Ebrard also encouraged citizens to use bicycles, and even declared “car-free” roads on weekends.

Ever since 1990 the US government has been required to issue a scientific report on climate change every four years. This report is suppose to show the effects climate change is having on our economy, environment and public health. The 2004 deadline for this report was ignored by the Bush Administration, and as a result they were sued by “green groups” for its release. It took the Bush Administration four more years to release the report, but it’s finally out.

What was the result of this Bush Administration study? Most of the recent global warming is very likely due to human generated increases in greenhouse gas concentrations.

The climate science behind the report is not new, and neither is the White House spin. The “Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Change on the United States” report states: Finally, climate change is very likely to accentuate the disparities already evident in the American health care system. Many of the expected health effects are likely to fall disproportionately on the poor, the elderly, the disabled and the uninsured.

The Bush Administration still says these findings aren’t bad or negative, just different and changing. You know I feel like I’m the conservative compared to these guys. I know I can live in the environment the way it is now, so I’m going to be conservative and try to stop the environment from drastically changing. Is it me or is the Bush Administration’s stance on climate change very liberal?

For the last five years, it seems like ever summer is hotter than that last, and “summer” has been extending into Thanksgiving and Christmas! I personally went golfing twice last December in 75 degree weather, and that was the first time I actually didn’t resent global warming. But I wasn’t the only person that keeps noticing extreme weather “winter”. Here is some other crazy stuff that happened in our world last winter.

Starting in Wisconsin, this winter they had over 80 inches of snowfall, which is 14 inches more than has ever been recorded. They also had a few tornadoes in January. There was a storm up north that dumped a foot of rain in a 24 hour period, and had wind gusts of over 130 miles per hour.

It also snowed in Baghdad for the first time in 100 years, and temperatures dropped to below freezing in just as many. Here is a great pictures of some Iraqi kids playing in the snow.

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This year’s Chinese Ice Festival had no ice because it was too hot to keep it frozen. The Iditarod race in Alaska had to be moved even farther north so they could find snow. Some cities in the United States are making “ice skating ponds” because they don’t freeze. And there was a very rare tropical storm, Olga, in the middle of December. Tropical storms and hurricanes aren’t usually active until May or June. The wild-fires in California this year is been bigger than any other year, and they’ve been more frequent as well.

Now of course none of these things by themselves can be linked directly to global warming, but when you look at the frequency and severity of all these things, it can make anybody think something might be going on. And for all your nay-sayers out there, I leave you with a quote from Chip Giller: “So-called ‘global warming’ is just a ploy by wacko tree-huggers to make America energy independent, clean out our air and water, improve the fuel efficiency of our vehicles, kick-start 21-st century industries, and make our cities safer and more livable. Don’t let them get away with it”. So eve if you don’t believe in global warming, what’s wrong with wanting to live cleaner, better and safer?