Filed under: News

Whose narration would you rather listen to in "LIFE?" Is there some endangered whale meat embedded in your sushi roll? Is breast milk a sustainable culinary commodity? Today's Eco-Beat has the scoop on all the latest green news and tips.

Oprah Will Narrate Discovery's "LIFE" Some of you will be happy to know that the great Oprah Winfrey will be narrating the US version of Discovery's highly-anticipated sequel to "Planet Earth." The rest of us will seek out the UK version, narrated by voice of beloved naturalist David Attenborough.

"Cove" Filmmakers Expose Endangered Whale Sushi To celebrate their victory at the Oscars last Sunday, the crew headed to a swanky sushi restaurant called The Hump -- not to eat, mind you, but to launch a top-secret sting operation on the Santa Monica restaurant that has allegedly been serving illegal whale meat.

Putting Some Green in Your 401K True, most people don't want to look at or even think about their investment portfolio these days, but that's probably a strong indicator that you should reexamine your strategy. Umbra has a list of resources to help you research socially-conscious investing.

Canadian Parliament Dines on Seal Meat Standing in stark contrast to the work of Team "Cove," the restaurant that serves Canada's parliament is serving up seal sandwiches in protest of a EU ban on all seal products. Apparently, this is the parliament's version of "freedom fries."

Chef in NYC Experiments With Human Cheese When it comes to carbon food-prints: Cheese made from free-range livestock is eco-friendly, while cheese made from organic free-range breasts is as green as it gets (and fairly creepy). Chef Daniel Angerer of NYC's Chelsea restaurant is perfecting breast milk cheese.

Green in a Flash:

• BP has once again been ranked as the greenest oil company.
• A new unintended acceleration Prius incident is under investigation.
• What's it like to own an electric car? Now there's a guidebook.

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Filed under: Home, Kids and Parenting, Natural Body Care

My sister and my sister-in-law are both having babies this spring, so the baby shower activity is in high gear around here. Naturally, I want to keep it all as green as possible, without pushing too many of my eco-beliefs on the girls.

Who am I kidding? I totally preach the green gospel, but that's what big sisters are for!

From the shower to the gifts, there are lots of ways to help a new baby -- and a mom-to-be -- get off to a healthy, happy and earth-friendly start.

Continue reading Green Baby Shower and Gift Ideas

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Filed under: Hybrid, Solar, North America

Aside from word that the Nissan Leaf was headed for Mexico City and that Mexico was thinking about exempting hybrids from registration taxes, most of the green car news from our neighbor to the south has to do with biofuels. Today, though we have what are apparently the first sketches of two new concept cars from PRO-AMX also known as Proyectos Automotrices Mexicanos or Mexican Automotive Projects. Pictured above is the SGT-HC (Sport Grand Tourism - Hybrid Copper) and after the jump you can find PRO-AMX's Solar City vehicle.

Our Spanish is rudimentary at best, but reader Toto sent in a translation of this announcement that explains that PRO-AMX was started in 2008 to bring Mexico-developed vehicles to market. Last November, we saw drawings of PRO-AMX's first vehicle, the 4x4 Cimex Conin, released. The new renderings focus on style and efficiency, with the 2+2 seat SGT-HG using a 4-cylinder engine and electric motor, "which uses plates of copper integrated to the body (isolated externally by means of polycarbonate) to obtain a greater conductivity in the electrical system." The Solar City is a true urban vehicle that apparently get all of its energy from the sun. Maybe the next concept will include a Mr. Fusion? Thanks to Toto for the tip and translation!

[Source: Conceptogt]

Continue reading First sketches released of PRO-AMX sports hybrid, solar city concept cars

First sketches released of PRO-AMX sports hybrid, solar city concept cars originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, Transportation Alternatives, USA

There's no doubt that solar energy is one of the greenest sources of electricity and the idea of using it to power transportation is not new. We've seen solar-powered boats and solar-powered cars before, among other things, but we didn't know until now that a solar-powered high-speed train was on anyone's drawing board. Apparently, it is.

Conceived as a means of zero-carbon high-speed mass transit, the Solar Bullet would travel between Tucson and Phoenix, AZ at 220 miles per hour, cutting travel times from two and a half hours (in traffic) to just 30 minutes. Taking advantage of the high amount of solar irradiance in the American Southwest, the tracks would be covered by a huge solar array to provide it with the necessary power. The SolarBullet Campaign aims to increase awareness and support among Arizonians and build a team of university experts, engineers and transit specialists to move this project further down the line. Feel free to hit them up on Facebook or follow their Twitter feed to offer your own encouragement and keep track of the initiative.

[Source: SolarBullet Campaign]

SolarBullet Campaign shoots for high-speed solar train originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, Geneva Motor Show

Geneva Preview: NLV Quant returns with less Koenigsegg originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hydrogen, Solar, USA

Hydrogen vehicles hold out a future hope where our cars, trucks and motorcycles won't be emitting harmful toxins and carbon dioxide from their tailpipes (and yes, we know generating the hydrogen fuel will mean emissions from other sources). But before any of us can trade in our fossil fuel-burner for a new hydrogen car, we need someplace convenient to refuel them.

There's already a small hydrogen infrastructure out in California, along with several smaller locations scattered across the United States, but a large-scale roll-out of hydrogen fueling stations has never really materialized. Connecticut-based SunHydro is setting out to change all that, though, with a new hydrogen highway that would stretch from Portland, Maine all the way to southern Florida.

Further adding to the eco-friendly nature of the project, each of the $3 million (privately funded, for what it's worth) stations would be run from solar power - similar in principle to how Honda's new hydrogen stations function. Each station would reportedly be capable of refilling 10 to 15 hydrogen-powered vehicles per day, but those figures would surely grow if a demand were found.

[Source: Wired]

Report: SunHydro plans East Coast hydrogen highway originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2010 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Presenters

Related Artists

• Green Day
• Phish
• The Bee Gees
• Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band
• Wyclef Jean

Phish's Trey Anastasio, E Street Band guitarist 'Little' Steven Van Zandt will also honor this year's inductees.
By Ryan J. Downey

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong
Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong — one of the most commercially successful punk-rock bandleaders in history — will have a chance to honor one of his genre's pioneers when he pays tribute to the Stooges at this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, set for March 15.

Billie Joe will be joined by Phish's Trey Anastasio, who will welcome Genesis, according to Rolling Stone. The ceremony will take place at New York's Waldorf-Astoria. Wyclef Jean will be on hand to induct reggae icon Jimmy Cliff. E Street Band guitarist "Little" Steven Van Zandt, equally well known as Sil from "The Sopranos" and respected as a curator and connoisseur of garage rock, will lavish praise on the Hollies.

The Bee Gees' Barry and Robin Gibb will be there to talk about their '70s pop contemporaries in ABBA. Record executive David Geffen will be honored by Jackson Browne, whose debut album was also the first release for the impresario's Asylum Records. Carole King will induct this year's group of songwriters.

Former frontman-turned-solo artist Peter Gabriel will reportedly not take part in the Genesis induction. Last year, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea inducted Metallica, who invited former bass player Jason Newsted to perform with them. It was a decided effort to avoid the train wreck of the Van Halen induction, where only former members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony showed up for the ceremony.

Related Photos

• 2010 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Presenters

Related Artists

• Green Day
• Wyclef Jean

21 Guns

• Artist: Green Day
• Director: Bill Berg Hillinger, Doug Hamilton
• Album: 21 Guns (with the cast of American Idiot: The Musical)