nytimes.com -- It is now possible to imagine the beginning of the end of a ruinous form of mining called “mountaintop removal.” Local opposition is growing, and the Environmental Protection Agency is tightening rules and threatening to veto one of the largest projects ever proposed.

Enormous harm has already been inflicted on Appalachia’s environment, most acutely in West Virginia. Mountaintop mining involves blasting the tops off mountains to expose subsurface coal seams. The coal is trucked away, but the debris is dumped over the side into the valleys, forests and streams below. As many as 2,000 miles of clear-running streams have been poisoned or buried ..

The dumping is a clear violation of the Clean Water Act. Regulators during the administration of President George W. Bush willfully looked th  (read more)

ROAD&TRACK -- Blame the economy, or better engineering. The fact is, more and more people are looking to save money by holding onto their vehicles for a longer period of time. Thankfully, this doesn’t mean you have to drive around in the automotive equivalent of a beehive hairdo or bell-bottom jeans just to save a buck.
Some cars are simply graced with timeless good looks. Put one in your garage, and you might start getting calls from Hollywood celebs seeking the latest anti-aging advice. Sound engineering and clever styling are not mutually exclusive, no matter your budget.
There are plenty of choices out there for car buyers not afraid of long-term commitment. Here are our top picks for cars guaranteed to grow old gracefully.  (read more)

MSN Money -- You too can wring much more out of every gallon of gas, even if you don't go to the crazy lengths of 'hypermilers.' Here are basic steps to take to increase gas mileage.  (read more)

WSJ -- Some states that participated in the Obama administration's plans for building high-speed rail networks are now balking at those projects, halting or scaling back development because the federal government won't foot the entire bill.

The latest round of federal funding for high-speed rail carries a requirement that states chip in 20% of a project's costs. States say that is forcing them to choose between putting money toward what they see as more pressing short-term needs and devoting funds to projects that will take years to complete.

The Obama administration and Congress set aside $8 billion in the economic-recovery act last year to build 13 regional, high-speed rail networks...  (read more)

Zero Hedge -- The fears of all those who had long believed that the administration, either in collboration with BP or otherwise, had been flagrantly lying about the true situation in the GOM, have been confirmed by The Guardian (via BNO). "A senior U.S. government scientist on Thursday admitted that three-quarters of the oil that was released into the Gulf of Mexico after BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill was still there, contradicting his earlier claim that the worst of the spill had passed, the Guardian reported. Bill Lehr, senior scientist at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), presented a radically different picture than the one the White House had presented to the public earlier this month...  (read more)

npr.org -- Right below your feet is enough potential clean energy to keep the whole country humming with electricity for 30,000 years, according to Department of Energy calculations...

But there is a catch: We have to get to it.

...two hours north of San Francisco, atop a ridge crisscrossed with pipes, is the world's biggest field for producing geothermal energy: The Geysers. Wandering around at The Geysers is.. like hiking across the top of a tea kettle — pipelines hiss with steam pressure tapped from far below the surface, and the steam drives turbines to generate electricity.

In California, geothermal energy plants like this one provide more than twice as much renewable energy as wind and solar combined.

"The pot of gold, if you will, is that we have a huge renewable energy resource th  (read more)

ClarkHoward.com -- Last month, Clark took a call on the show from a man who worked at a gas station. The man alleged that there are certain standard keys that open numerous gas pumps across brands. At the time, Clark just filed the info in the back of his brain and didn't know what to think of it...until he saw an article about a gas pump skimmer scam that was recently busted.  (read more)

Sacramento Bee --
Sacramento Valley law enforcement agencies issued nearly 600 citations for cell-phone use to drivers on Wednesday.

Dozens of agencies participated in the second zero tolerance day this month for cell-phone use and texting while driving.

-----------------------------------
Janice Dickinson Remembers Dr. Frank Ryan./Video

http://www.accesshollywood.com/access-exclusive-janice-dickinson-remembers-dr-frank-ryan_video_1245125

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GasBuddy Blog -- If you're in an accident, the last thing you want to happen is to hear the other driver was uninsured or underinsured, thus the importance for this type of coverage (UM/UIM). You'll likely be covered under these scenarios with UM/UIM coverage.

You ask why you need this type of coverage if your state requires insurance... the answer is that some people carry the bare minimum level of insurance that covers very little and has low dollar amounts of coverage. Thus the importance for this coverage to protect yourself against other people's poor decisions to carry a bare minimum or no insurance at all.

Here are the differences between uninsured and under-insured motorists:
An uninsured driver is someone who had no insurance...  (read more)

Santa Cruz Sentinel -- With new plug-in electric cars scheduled to arrive in Santa Cruz County soon, so too should a means to juice them.

That's why a coalition of public and private stakeholders has secured tens of thousands of dollars to begin laying out a network of vehicle charging stations across the Monterey Bay area.

Unlike the popular Toyota Prius, which has a backup gasoline engine, many of the forthcoming plug-ins, such as the Nissan Leaf, rely entirely on battery power and require a periodic recharge to keep going. The Monterey Bay Electric Vehicle Alliance, started last year, plans to finance at least 20 charging stations this year and help retrofit the handful that already exist.
 (read more)

WOWT -- "A customer came and parked at the pump. He got a couple of gallons of gasoline. He somehow managed to rig the pump to continue to give gas to others and just continuously had car after car come in and basically got free gasoline from us.”

Lisa Neighbors is a spokesperson for a gas company that had an unusual theft this week.
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"I don't think we've ever even heard of something like this happening before. It's very unusual this person went to an extreme,” said Neighbors.

The gas station doesn’t want to be identified because they don’t want to be seen as a target . The crime has exposed an unusual vulnerability in gas pumps. The vulnerability is that it took the culprit under a minute to rig the pump.  (read more)

New York TImes -- Most research on renewable energy has focused on replacing the electricity that now comes from burning coal and natural gas. But the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the reliance on Middle East imports and the threat of global warming are reminders that oil is also a pressing worry. A lot of problems could be solved with a renewable replacement for oil-based gasoline and diesel in the fuel tank — either a new liquid fuel or a much better battery.

Yet, success in this field is so hard to reliably predict that research has been limited, and even venture capitalists tread lightly. Now the federal government is plunging in, in what the energy secretary, Steven Chu, calls the hunt for miracles.  (read more)

GasBuddy Blog -- Maybe you didn't notice, but I said Part 2 would be posted yesterday. Well, today's the day.

Part 2: Medical payments, no-fault, and personal injury protection

The medical coverage of your auto insurance pays for medical expenses that you incur after an accident. Keep in mind that you're also covered if you are driving a friend's vehicle- or anyone's for that matter (as long as you have their permission) or if another car hits your vehicle. Medical payments will cover you no matter who caused the accident in most cases, but if someone else is at fault, your insurance may sue them to recover damages. This process will likely not involve you.

Personal injury protection (PIP) covers medical expenses and in some...  (read more)

By JUSTIN GILLIS and JOHN COLLINS RUDOLF, NY Times -- New scientific research confirms the existence of a huge plume of dispersed oil in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and suggests that it has not broken down rapidly, raising the possibility that it might pose a continuing threat to wildlife for months or even years.

The study, the most ambitious scientific paper to emerge so far from the Deepwater Horizon spill, casts some doubt on recent statements by the government that oil in the gulf appears to be dissipating at a brisk clip.  (read more)

The Economic Times -- NEW YORK: Hot summer weather across America has utilities buying up more coal to meet demand for electricity, but some will likely switch to lower-priced natural gas to fire power plants once temperatures start to drop, analysts and industry experts say.

"Despite the euphoria of coal price increases, the fact natural gas has not responded (similarly) has to be a troubling sign for the Fall," said Jim Thompson, editor of the industry newsletter Coal & Energy Price Report.

"Probably $4.50 is a good gauge for when natgas becomes a problem for coal," he told Reuters on Tuesday from his office in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Last year, there was a big switch over to natural gas as demand for electricity fell in the recession and natural gas prices hit lows of around $2 per million British  (read more)

NPR -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set an ambitious plan that requires a third of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020. But a fight over where to build large clean-energy projects is slowing the green revolution.

Michael Peterson, CEO of Solargen Energy, was drawn to this slice of Central Valley ranchland because it gets almost as much sun as the scorching Mojave Desert. This valley seemed less controversial than the Mojave, which has become a nightmare for many solar entrepreneurs because of its protected national monuments and desert tortoises. For Peterson, the Panoche Valley seems perfect for large solar projects.
 (read more)

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/08/delasalle-school-electric-car/ -- A team of high school students has developed what it claims is the most energy-efficient car in the world, an electric vehicle that reportedly gets the equivalent of 300 mpg. The school hopes to have it recognized by the Guinness Book of Records.

As you might have guessed, the students at DeLaSalle Education Center in Kansas City, Missouri school didn’t develop the vehicle on their own. They had help from Bridgestone America, both at the company’s technical center in Ohio and its test track in Texas. The car reportedly achieved the equivalent of 300 mpg during testing there.

The car is built on the chassis of a 2000 Lola Indy, an open-wheeled racer. It has been extensively modified with an ultra-lightweight frame and clear plastic bodywork. The Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 tires increase  (read more)

Gas 2.0 -- How far can you get on a tank of gas? 200 miles? 300? Maybe even as much as 500 miles in a single tank (and if so, you either have a very light right foot, or a very big gas tank!) 500 miles seems to be the “golden ticket,” as it were, when it comes to electric vehicles and their batteries. There is even a government-sponsored contest that will award a large sum of money to the first individual or company to make a battery that can propel a car 500 miles. That is a long time coming though… right?

Not according to Martin Eberhard, a former Tesla employee who is now developing a battery system Volkswagen. In an interview with AutoCar, Eberhard says that within 10 years, electric vehicles will have a range of 500 miles or more. Do you believe him?
You may have heard of Eberhard before. He wa  (read more)

GasBuddy Blog -- The Department of Energy released its weekly report on the condition of petroleum inventories in the United States today.

Here are some highlights:

Crude oil inventories decreased by 0.8 million barrels to a total of 354.2 million barrels. At 354.2 million barrels, inventories are 10.5 million barrels above last year (3.1%) and remain above average. Supply at NYMEX delivery point, Cushing, Oklahoma decreased some 700,000 barrels to 37.0 million barrels this week. Supplies at Cushing have decreased for the just the second time in a month but remain above healthy levels.

Gasoline inventories decreased 0.1 million barrels to 223.3 million barrels. At 223.3 million barrels, inventories are now 13.6 million barrels...  (read more)

NPR -- Every day the United States goes through another 20 million barrels of oil. Finding enough crude to supply the country's oil habit is difficult because much of the oil that's easy to get to is gone. Now companies are extracting oil in places that are expensive to drill and raise concerns about safety and the environment. BP's disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the most obvious example.

Out on the rolling prairies of North Dakota — and just about everywhere else — oil doesn't bubble up out of the ground anymore. You have to go in and force it out.

North Dakota Oil Boom

Jim Brown knows the difficulties of modern-day drilling; he's senior vice president of Denver-based Whiting Petroleum. His company plans to drill more than 383 wells as part of the surge in oil drilling  (read more)

GasBuddy Blog -- Part 1 in highlighting car insurance: the liability aspect of car insurance.

Liability coverage (covering the amount of damage you do to others) is written as a set of three numbers, such as 25/50/20. These numbers represent the amount of money the insurance company will cover in the case of an accident. The first number (25) is generally bodily injury coverage per person, while the second number (50) is the amount of bodily injury protection per accident, and the third number (20) is the amount of property damage coverage.

The numbers in these example represent real levels of insurance coverage. While my opinion is that you'd definitely want to carry more insurance coverage, for some it is all they can afford. It is important...  (read more)

London Free Press -- Renewable energy: Western engineers find cost-cutting ways to use solar technology at night to control wind generators.
It may sound like the punchline to a joke, but electrical engineers at the University of Western Ontario have found a way to harness solar technology at night.

London Hydro is so powered up by the idea, it plans to install the technology on two solar sites within months.

“Everybody wants to become green the world over,” says Rajiv Varma, a UWO professor of electrical engineering.  (read more)

The Wall Street Journal -- SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures settled at a five-week low Monday as lingering concerns about the global economy rendered efforts to post gains futile.

Crude for September delivery lost 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $75.25 a barrel, the lowest for a most-active contract since mid-July.

A weaker dollar and higher equities provided some support, and oil at times traded in positive territory. But, unlike other markets going through corrections and sell-offs, "we're just not seeing people coming around and buying," said Matt Smith, an analyst at Summit Energy in Louisville, Ky.

Investors looked to Tuesday's industrial production numbers and a trade group's estimates on inventories to provide some direction.

Gasoline futures closed at an eleven-week low, with the September contract  (read more)

University of South Florida's web site and evening news -- University of South Florida marine scientists conducting experiments in an area of the Gulf of Mexico where clouds of oil from the BP spill were found now have discovered what appears to be oil in sediments of a vital underwater canyon and observed evidence that the oil has become toxic to critical marine organisms. These results indicate that a further, coordinated, comprehensive study and survey is needed to determine how extensive the contamination.  (read more)

The Wall Street Journal -- By JOSH MITCHELL And PAUL KIERNAN
Mexico plans to impose tariffs on an expanded array of American products, from pork to pistachios, escalating a trade dispute over a U.S. ban on Mexican truckers operating north of the border.

Mexico's Economy Ministry said Monday it would add 26 U.S. products to its tariff list while removing 16 others. The tariffs involve a relatively small slice of U.S. exports. But by targeting products such as pork, apples and California oranges, Mexico appeared to be trying to engage powerful lobbies—and influential lawmakers—to increase pressure on the Obama administration to resolve the long-running spat.

By adjusting the list of goods, Mexico hopes to add an element of uncertainty that might prompt U.S. exporters not directly affected by the tariffs to be  (read more)