World's cheapest car means bad news for the environment

This week, India's Tata Motors unveiled the world's cheapest car- the Nano.

The bubble-like vehicle will only cost $2,500.

Some facts about what has been nicknamed the "People's car:"

* Length: 3.1 meters

* Height: 1.6 meters

* Width: 1.5 meters

* Engine: Rear-wheel drive, 2-cylinder, 623 cc, multi-point fuel-injection petrol engine. Engine is rear mounted. Tata said it was the first time a 2-cylinder gasoline engine was being used in a car with single balancer shaft.

But what about its fuel efficiency?

According to its manufacturer, it's 20km/ liter . Tata Motors assures that its emission performance exceeds current regulatory requirements, adding that it produces lower overall pollution level than two-wheelers made in India.

Initially, the idea of being able to buy what seems to be a fuel-efficient car for only $2,500 sounds like great news. For the people who, up until now, have had to rely on less practical forms of transportation because they could not afford a car, the possibility of buying a Nano means mobility.

But when you think about it, the fact that more people will be able to have a car means that there will be more cars on the road. It is scary to think that thousands, possibly millions of cars could be added to our already crowded highways, which would, in turn, create higher levels of exhaust emissions, all of which can only mean one thing: more pollution.

According to an IBN (India Broadcasting Network, a CNN partner) article, "there are already over one million cars being added on Indian roads every year and this is expected to triple by 2015. Tata's has made no bones about the fact that the Nano targets 1st time users, 2 wheeler owners, and people in rural areas, which accounts to almost 60 million users."

Sixty million users!= Sixty million cars!

All of which makes me wonder- if they're able to come up with such such a cheap and tiny car, why don't automobile manufacturers invest their technology and resources in meeting the demand for greener cars? What we need, what the planet needs, are good, economic, stylish cars that run on hydrogen or some other sort of environmentally-friendly fuel.

I'm glad to find out that others share this point of view.

In Indians hit the Road Among Elephants, an article that appeared in The New York Times, Rajendra K. Pachauri, economist, environmental scientist and chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is said to have "sharply criticized the small car boom, questioning Tata Motors in particular for devoting itself to building cheap cars rather than efficient mass transportation."

Meanwhile, Rata Tata, president of the Tata Group, answers the following question in the company's own website:

"About the criticism that the car will add to India's pollution problems, why are the Tatas being singled out?"

To which he basically draws a parallel to Swatch watches.

I'm sorry, Mr. Tata, but cars aren't watches. Watches don't produce toxic fumes that pollute the environment, cars do.

Quote of the Day: John Muir and Nature

In every walk with nature one receives
far more than he seeks.

-John Muir (1838-1914), writer, conservationist and founder of the Sierra Club.

Boca Raton conservationist saves turtles in Costa Rica

Dr. Kirt Rusenko is something of a celebrity among marine life lovers, not only in Boca Raton but in South Florida. But now, his popularity, might extend all the way to Costa Rica, especially among sea turtles.

He's the leading marine conservationist and researcher at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Complex in Boca Raton, a marine life research center that also provides a home to many endangered sea turtles.

According to yesterday's Palm Beach Post article, Turtle wizard is guiding light in Costa Rica, Rusenko was recently invited to Playa Grande, Costa Rica, to address the country's sea turtle nesting decline. Playa Grande, a 3.5-mile white sand beach that lies on the country's North Pacific Coast, supports a major nesting colony of leatherback turtles, a species that is endangered worldwide.

Pressure from real/estate developers to build oceanview condominiums may jeopardize the survival of the leatherback turtle in that area. According to the article, as it is, the beach is already seeing fewer turtle nests. There were 13,000 female leatherbacks nesting on Playa Grande in 1989. In 2006, there were only 56., the article states.

Because of this, the Costa Rican government invited Dr. Rusenko to evaluate the present situation and develop ideas for the implementation of more protection laws to preserve this turtle species.

Dr. Rusenko is also working on improvements to the Gumbo Limbo Center to accomodate even more sea turtles. To read more about it, read the article by Palm Beach Post reporter Gretel Sarmiento here.

New Year welcomed by Times Square's "green" ball drop

Once again, more than a billion people from all over the world ushered in the new year as they watched Times Square's ball drop.

Following tradition, the 1,415-pound crystal ball slid down the flagpole high atop the New York City building.

Breaking with tradition, the brightly illuminated ball's 672 crystals were lit, for the first time ever, by more than 9,500 energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LED's).

According to The Times Square Alliance, the not-for-profit organization in charge of Times Square's development, when the Times Square new year's ball tradition began a century ago, the ball weighed 700 pounds, was made of wood and iron, and was lit with 100 25-watt incandescent bulbs.

For its 100th birthday, the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball was more than twice as bright as the 2000-2007 ball (which used crystal light bulbs and strobe lights), with enhanced color capabilities and state-of-the-art LED lighting effects. This lighting technology substantially increased the brightness and color capabilities of the Ball.

The exclusive use of LEDs also improved the Ball's energy eficiency. Event officials explained to CNN that the Ball used only about the same amount of electricity as 10 toasters.

CNN also mentioned that over the past week, visitors from across the country wrote their messages on a Times Square "Wishing Wall."

"I want to turn the world green and the water clean," one person wrote.

Definitely a great resolution to work on this year.

Here's to a better, greener, healthier planet...

Happy 2008!