This is Part 2 of a three-part series on Vehicle Fuels and Technology.

1. Plug-in Cars: The Lowdown
2. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
3. Fossil Fuels and Biofuels

The author of today's post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles got a big boost when President Bush made them part of his 2003 State of the Union address:

Tonight I'm proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles… With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free.

That generated a lot of interest in hydrogen cars! So what are they, and can they become mainstream in the next 20 years?

Honda FCX fuel-cell car.

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The author of today's post, Lisa Moore, Ph.D., is a scientist in the Climate and Air program.

This past week there's been a lot of buzz about a small correction that NASA made to U.S. temperature data. Some have said, incorrectly, that the new data show that 1934 edges out 1998 as the warmest year on record, rather than 1998 as previously thought. Actually, 1934 edged out 1998 in the old U.S. record, too, although the difference was not statistically significant. My favorite quote on all this is from Tim Lambert, who said in his coverage of the issue that "1998 and 1934 went from being in a virtual tie, to being in a virtual tie".

Climate change deniers have been all over the NASA correction, saying it proves that global warming isn't happening. Of course, that's ridiculous. For one thing, U.S. temperature isn't global temperature. Globally, the warmest year on record is 2005, and the second warmest is 1998. But what should we make of those high U.S. temperatures in the 1930s?

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The author of today"s post, Lisa Moore, Ph.D., is a scientist in the Climate and Air Program.

Climate models are usually run far into the future, projecting temperature changes to the end of the century. Over the long term, the effects of greenhouse gases overwhelm all other factors. But climate can have substantial "short-term internal variability" - for example, temperature shifts due to El Niño and La Niña. Climate models have never been able to predict this internal variability - until now.

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The author of today's post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

If you had any doubts that the globe is warming and the Arctic is melting, this month's flag incident should put them to rest. A Russian submarine dove to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean to plant a flag in the seabed. Why? There's oil and gas in the Arctic seabed, which is now becoming accessible due to global warming.

Russia is not the only country vying for Arctic rights. Canada and Denmark are arguing about rights to the Northwest Passage, and the U.S. is getting into the act as well. But unfortunately, more than just oil and gas will be exposed as the Arctic melts.

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The author of today's post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

The cover story in the current issue of Newsweek is about the bizarre persistence of the global warming deniers, in the face of overwhelming evidence that global warming exists ("Global Warming Is A Hoax - Or so claim well-funded naysayers who still reject the overwhelming evidence of climate change").

Who is funding the doubt machine, and how should science-based organizations respond?

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The author of today's post, Lisa Moore, Ph.D., is a scientist in the Climate and Air Program.

If you're in or near a big city, you've probably heard your local news give ozone alerts. Those warnings mean that smog levels are high enough to affect your lungs. Even moderate pollution causes respiratory problems for kids with asthma. Really high levels of ozone make it dangerous for even the healthiest adult to be outdoors.

Now scientists are warning that smog could make global warming worse because of its effects on plants.

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The author of today's post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

I attended the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago last week, and what an amazing event it was! I expected to learn ways to blog more effectively, and to meet some of my fellow bloggers. All that happened. The sessions were great, and I met many people I'd previously known only by their writing.

But I didn't know when I signed up that I'd also get to interact with the Democratic presidential candidates.

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Today's post is by Mark MacLeod, Director of Special Projects for our national climate campaign.

Last month, I wrote about the significance of Senators Warner and Lieberman joining forces to craft global warming legislation. I noted Senator Warner's view that global warming is a question of national security.

Today, the senators outlined their plan (which Environmental Defense praised). But I also wanted to call out what I thought was the most interesting line in the Washington Post story. In relating the reasons that caused Senator Warner to become a leader in the Senate on climate change, the article states,

Warner said he was also prodded by retired Gen. James L. Jones and other former military officers who urged him to back a bill to slow global warming.

Those military leaders, like the business leaders in US-CAP, and leaders in the faith community, all show the strong and widespread momentum to deal with global warming.

The author of today's post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

They say knowledge is power. That's the idea behind an interesting innovation in the U.K. called "smart meters" which tell people in real time how much energy their appliances are using, and how much carbon is being emitted as a result. The goal is to change usage patterns by giving immediate feedback.

Energy usage feedback devices are starting to appear in the U.S., as well.

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