NYC Hybrid Taxi Mandate Shot Down by Federal Appeals Court

nyc hybrid taxi photo Slightly more than a quarter the existing taxi fleet is made up of hybrid vehicles already. Photo: Brian Snelson via flickr. A quick (and hopefully not final) update in the ongoing legal saga around New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to convert the city's taxi fleet over to hybrid vehicles. As the New York Times reports, ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

More Highways Becoming Pedestrian Deathtraps (Video)

highway-deathtrap.png There are plenty of reasons that America's transportation infrastructure needs retooling -- one of them is that highways are increasingly seeing a wide range of problems, from congestion to falling into disrepair. But there are even more blunt problems with highways -- they're killing pedestrians, often at higher rates than ever before. This great video details how Atlanta's Buford highway has become more and more deadly as more of the surrounding residents have increasingly relied on walking as a form of transportation. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

How Safe Is Your Beach? NRDC’s Latest Report Reveals Marine Health

estuary alameda photo Photo by clogozm Every year, the Natural Resources Defense Council runs a survey of our beaches and marine habitats to find out which are safe and which need help to recover from abuse. Earlier in the month, the organization put out a map specifically of beaches closed by the Gulf oil disaster. But now, its 2010 report for all the beaches in th... Read the full story on TreeHugger