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12 Greenest Cars of 2010: Do You Consider the Environment?

This article was written by Flexo in Consumer. 17 comments.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently released an updated list of the twelve greenest cars of 2010. The council rates each car with a score, with higher scores going to those cars produce less pollution and are more fuel efficient, resulting in lower energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Here are the top twelve greenest cars of 2010.

Honda Civic GX automatic transmission, compressed natural gas
Toyota Prius automatic transmission
Honda Civic Hybrid automatic transmission
Smart Fortwo Convertible/Coupe manual transmission
Honda Insight manual transmission
Ford Fusion Hybrid / Mercury Milan Hybrid automatic transmission
Toyota Yaris manual transmission
Nissan Altima Hybrid automatic transmission
Mini Cooper manual transmission
Chevrolet Cobalt XFE / Pontiac G5 XFE manual transmission
Hyundai Accent Blue manual transmission
Honda Fit automatic transmission

When shopping for a car, do you consider your effect to the environment? Most personal finance advice will guide someone to the best car for the available money or the car that is the least expensive to own. New, cleaner technology is often more expensive. Is being green a “luxury?”

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, January 19, 2010
Photo credit: Daquella manera

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France Introduces Carbon Tax of $25 Per Metric Ton

This article was written by Flexo in Taxes. 10 comments.

President Nicolas Sarcozy of France revealed his plans for working to reduce his country’s carbon dioxide emissions. For each taxpayer’s metric ton of carbon dioxide emission due to use of oil, gas, or coal, the government will charge that taxpayer a fee of €17 (roughly $25). This rate would rise over time. Other energy use, like electricity which comes mostly from nuclear plans, and alternative fuels, will not be taxed in order to encourage cleaner energy habits.

The President has also called for the taxes collected through this plan to be returned to taxpayers. To help those who don’t have the means to explore alternative energy, are poor, or live in rural areas without access to public transportation may actually see an overall refund due to the plan. From the sound of this, there appears to be a level of redistribution of wealth; those paying the most in this new tax may be subsidizing those who pay the least.

pollution According to the most recent statistics I could find, France produces about 6 metric tons of carbon dioxide emission per person, amounting to a yearly tax of about $150. If the United States implemented such a plan, which it might if this plan proves to be successful, a tax at the same rate would amount to about $475 per person.

This is an interesting plan, but is the tax strong enough to truly change people’s behavior? It seems like it would be a nuisance that people will eventually live with rather than work hard to seek alternatives and to avoid paying the tax. I’m not convinced that it will have a large enough effect on carbon emissions, and consequently, no great effect on climate change or on the dependence on oil-based economies. For other countries to adopt a similar practice, they might look to France’s level of success.

What do you think of President Sarcozy’s plan to tax carbon emissions? Would this plan work in the United States?

Photo credit: *~Dawn~*
France set to impose carbon tax, BBC News, December 10, 2009

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Obama’s New Job Boosting Ideas

This article was written by Smithee in Economy. 8 comments.

President Obama gave a “major speech” today (out of curiosity, can anyone tell what makes a speech major?) outlining several new proposals for boosting job creation and ensuring job stability. More than 90% of all economic indicators point to a recovery already in progress, but unemployment, even though it went down in a dramatic way for the first time last month, is still painfully high. And understandably, this is the single most important economic indicator for most people.

So, to help spur growth, the White House is hoping to implement the following ideas.

Small Business Tax Cuts

Small businesses (usually defined as those with less than 250 employees) would be encouraged to resume hiring with a new tax incentive for each new employee added to the roster.

Obama also proposed a temporary suspension of Capital Gains taxes for small business investment “along with an extension of write-offs to encourage small businesses to expand in the coming year”.

Because small businesses are still having trouble getting the loans they need, the White House is proposing to waive fees for, and increase the guarantees for, SBA-backed loans.

Infrastructure

The text of Obama’s speech was especially vague on this point, only saying that there were more than enough qualified infrastructure plans bid on for dollars from the original stimulus plan, and that they’d like to revisit some of them. These include improvements to “roads, bridges, water systems, Superfund sites, broadband networks, and clean energy projects”.

Reuters adds:

A senior administration official said around $50 billion of fresh money would be earmarked for spending on roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure, and the money would be spent over the course of a year.

Energy Efficiency

Obama asked for Congress to “consider a new program to provide incentives for consumers who retrofit their homes to become more energy efficient, which we know creates jobs, saves money for families, and reduces the pollution that threatens our environment”, as well as expand certain proven Recovery Act programs in the same arena.

Seniors, Veterans, Public Service Jobs

From the Wall Street Journal:

The White House wants to provide additional $250 payments to senior and veterans and act on measures that could help local governments keep teachers and police officers employed.

Continued Unemployment Help

Also from the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Obama said he also wants to extend fiscal stimulus programs that would provide unemployment insurance for out-of-work Americans and help laid-off workers keep their health insurance.

There are some numbers missing, and how will this be paid for?

Nobody knows that, yet. Obama did say that they were looking into making use of the “leftover” funds from the TARP program, which is being paid back more quickly than expected and has a cost estimate much lower than it was earlier this year. But the TARP program is apparently very well-written, and can only be used to rescue banks, or pay down the deficit. Administration officials are currently challenging this notion.

Full speech on CBSnews.com.

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The Four-Day Work Week: Is it a Good Idea?

This article was written by Flexo in Career and Work. 28 comments.

I’ve noticed a few public employers, like Howard County, Maryland, the Hobart, Indiana Police Department, the State of Oklahoma, and the Winston-Salem Housing Authority, are implementing or discussing the idea of moving to a four-day work week.

The most popular options seem to be replacing five eight-hour days with four ten-hour days and replacing ten eight-hour days with eight nine-hour days and one eight-hour day.

By shutting down non-essential services for one day every week or one day every two weeks, employees can save money on transportation, taking into account the rising cost of gasoline. This seems to be the biggest driver of these discussions and changes. The organizations that implement these changes also stand to reduce energy costs.

There are a number of additional benefits as well. Less time commuting means less pollution. A variety of commutation hours, or more flexibility in business hours, could reduce congestion. Less driving could decrease the frequency of road repairs. And of course, less time in vehicles lowers the demand for gasoline and the country’s reliance on oil, foreign or otherwise.

More time away from the office allows us to spend more time with family. But if a work week consisting of 40 hours is still the standard regardless of the number of days, employees will be spending longer days in the office. That could cause some problems with child care, whether the employee leaves the house earlier, returns later, or both.

Speaking for myself, when I work four-day weeks, I seem less stressed and fatigued by the end of the week. That might increase my productivity. But when I do so, I’m usually working only eight or so hours a day (usually a bit more), not ten, and taking a “vacation day.”

So far, it doesn’t appear that employer are trying to pay their employees 20% less for working four days each week rather than five. Might employers look to reducing salaries, even if the total number of hours worked is the same?

What are your thoughts on a four-day work week?

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My Electric Bill: Why I Pay More

by Sasha

I asked a few weeks back whether any of you had changed your spending behaviors based on our current recession. Some of you had cut back, while others underscored the importance of always living frugally, so no recession-time cutbacks are necessary. I, too, choose to live frugally. But sometimes, I also choose to pay more. ... Continue reading this article…

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You Will Go To The Moon

by Flexo

Stephen Hawking, author of A Brief History of Time, says that humans should consider colonizing the moon, Mars, and eventually another star system, in order to ensure our species’ survival. Here on earth, our risk of being wiped out by a natural or man-made disaster is increasing. The scientist cites “sudden global warming, nuclear war, ... Continue reading this article…

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