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Will China Design The First Plug-In Hybrid?

BYD is China's largest battery maker. Chances are, if you have a cellphone or a mp3 player, you have one of their products. The company is getting into the auto world, a move that only a few years ago would have seemed illogical, but now that the future will probably go to plug-in hybrids and electric cars, being good with batteries has become a key expertise to have when making cars (we're sure GM would agree - it is mostly batteries that are holding back the Volt).

BYD's first plug-in hybrid for the Chinese market will be the F6DM mid-sized sedan in the second half of 2008. Top speed should be 100 mph (160 kph), with a range of 62 miles (100 km) in all-electric mode and 267 miles (430 km) total after the gas engine kicks in. A fully electric version called the F6E is planned for 2009.

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Read more at the Huffington Post Cars big news page.

More on Cars

[in The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]

New Solar Panel Loan Will Light Up The Neighborhood

There were limits to how green Bruce Letvin was willing to go. For years, the 53-year-old anatomy professor had wanted to install solar panels on his Manhattan Beach, Calif., home. But the up-front installation costs always outweighed the benefits for the environment and his conscience. This spring, however, he managed to work out green financing with the help of solar company SunPower. After determining that his electricity bills and roof exposure were large enough to make him a good candidate for its solar panels, the company, based in San Jose, Calif., helped him find a 15-year loan for the $64,500 system. Yes, his $550 loan payment is more than the $300 or so he used to spend each month on electricity bills--so far, he has generated enough solar power that he doesn't need to take any juice from the grid--but after he pays off the loan, his power will be free. And this year, he'll get a $16,000 rebate in the form of federal and state tax incentives for solar. "I really wouldn't have been able to do this without the financing," he says. "But with [the loan], it's a no-brainer."

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Read more at the Huffington Post Green Energy big news page

More on Green Living

[in The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]

Cindy McCain Hospitalized

WASHINGTON — Republican John McCain's wife was treated Wednesday for a "minor sprain" after someone at a campaign event in Michigan shook her hand firmly.

A campaign spokeswoman said Cindy McCain left the West Bloomfield, Mich., campaign event Wednesday for X-rays at a local hospital after an enthusiastic supporter squeezed too much. McCain's wife has had previous surgeries for carpal tunnel syndrome and the handshake exacerbated the condition.

Spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said Cindy McCain will return to the campaign trail later Wednesday.

More on John McCain

[in The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]

Apple Eclipses Google's Value

As Steve Jobs would say, "BOOM." Apple has eclipsed Google in market value. Apple's current market cap: $159.37 billion. Google's: $157.56 billion. Not that we didn't see this coming. Indeed, Valleywag predicted it back in November of 2007. "Apple knows how to design not just gadgets, but the businesses that go around them," the blog noted. "And as a result, we wouldn't be surprised if Apple is worth more than Google within two years."

Make that two years or less.

Read the full story here

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::The Huffington Post's Apple big news page
::The Huffington Post's Google big news page

More on Steve Jobs

[in The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]

Is The Jatropha Seed A Miracle Biodiesel Alternative?

The jatropha tree, a fruit-bearing plant native to South America, may offer the next big fuel alternative. The fruit's seeds produce oil, which can be used in standard diesel engines. Chrysler, Air New Zealand and Hindustan Petroleum have initiated jatropha biodiesel production. Air New Zealand will host a test flight run on jatropha biofuel in November.

Although each tree yields only one gallon of oil per year, scientists hope to increase the amount of fruit per tree and the percentage of oil from each seed. While China, Africa, Brazil and India have already planted millions of acres of jatropha trees, the United States is slowly investing in the plant.

Watch CNN's video on the jatropha fruit as a dream fuel.

::Read about the 5 things you didn't know were biofuels on the Huffington Post.
::Read more at the Huffington Post Green Energy big news page.

More on Green Living

[in The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]

Josh Silver: FCC Commissioner's Scare Tactics Reach New Low

Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell increasingly sounds like a man stranded on a desert island, willing to say anything to get a ride back to shore.

Yesterday, Commissioner McDowell stooped to a new low in a talk with bloggers at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. He was invited to discuss the FCC's recent decision to punish Comcast for blocking users from sharing legal content on the Internet.

Comcast was caught red-handed secretly discriminating against innovative technologies used for high-definition online TV, using the same censorship technology the Chinese government uses to block free speech. This discriminatory behavior represents a blatant and outrageous violation of free speech.

Based on this clear-cut case against Comcast, a bipartisan majority of the FCC issued a guilty verdict. Commissioner McDowell, however, dissented, using almost every inaccurate argument made by Comcast to defend his decision.

Yesterday, the increasingly isolated McDowell decided once again to put the facts aside.

Law and Order

In both his speech and the interview that followed McDowell tried to tie the FCC's Comcast decision to the Fairness Doctrine (which at one time regulated equal airtime for diverse perspectives in broadcast media).

He suggested that any FCC decision that supports Net Neutrality -- the idea that the Internet must be free and open -- is somehow tantamount to government regulation of content.

But contrary to these misleading assertions, Net Neutrality has nothing to do with empowering the FCC to regulate content. Net Neutrality is the First Amendment of the Internet, and has been part of the Net since its inception. It says that no one -- government agency or corporate giant -- should be able to tell consumers what legal content they can access and share online.

It is absurd to equate Net Neutrality -- a principle that promotes and protects free speech on the Internet -- with any effort to regulate speech.

In reality, the FCC's decision is not about regulation; it's about law and order. If someone is caught red-handed committing a crime, their punishment is not regulation. It's justice. Comcast was caught illegally blocking free speech and the free market on the Internet and now they are being punished for their crime. Punished not with a fine, but with a reasonable request. The FCC simply told Comcast to stop.

The Grass is Always Bluer

Unsurprisingly, this dishonest effort to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt comes precisely at a time when bipartisan support for this important protection is growing.

Americans of all political stripes are tired of politicians saying the grass is blue and the sky is green. McDowell's blatant attempt to portray Net Neutrality as the exact opposite of what it is may go over well at industry-funded think tanks and in meetings with Comcast lobbyists, but everyday conservatives, liberals and independents can see through this fear mongering.

The bloggers over at TechRepublican said it best: "Without meaningful competition, consumers can't push for better service. I can get my high-speed Internet from Comcast, with all its attendant issues, or I can use dial-up. The FCC made the right decision [...] mandated content neutrality protects the customer without hurting competition."

It is disappointing that McDowell is responding to the genuine concerns of a nation about our digital future with threats that have no basis in reality. As American people across the political spectrum fight for a robust Internet system that connects all people to a safe, secure, and neutral Internet, the only way McDowell can oppose this movement is by twisting the facts.

co-authored by Josh Stearns

[in The Huffington Post | Raw Feed]

BMW Recalling 200,000 Vehicles

WASHINGTON — BMW AG said Wednesday it was recalling 200,000 vehicles over concerns that the front passenger air bag may not deploy in a crash.

The German automaker said the recall involves the 2006 3 Series, the 2004-2006 5 Series, and the 2004-2006 X3 compact sport utility vehicles in the United States.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a posting on its Web site that small cracks could develop in a seat detection mat and deactivate the front passenger air bags.

NHTSA said the air bag warning lamp and the passenger air bag "on-off" light would remain on. The head protection system, however, would not be affected, the government said.

BMW spokesman Tom Plucinsky said there were no injuries or accidents reported.

If the seat detection mat fails to sense that a person is sitting in the passenger seat, it deactivates the air bag. Plucinsky said customers alerted the company when they noticed that the air bag light indicated a deactivated air bag even when a passenger sat in the seat.

NHTSA opened an investigation into the issue in September 2007 and upgraded its probe in January. In addition to the vehicles under Wednesday's recall, the ongoing investigation also includes the 2004-2006 Z4, 2006 X5, 2006 6 Series and some 2004-2006 7 Series vehicles.

BMW had received 23,739 warranty claims over the air bag system issue by early January, NHTSA said. Plucinsky could not immediately address why the additional vehicles under NHTSA's investigation were not part of the recall.

To respond to the problem, BMW said it would extend the warranty to 10 years without any mileage limit for the following vehicles: 2006 6 Series, 2006 3 Series with standard seat, 2004-2005 Z4, 2004-2006 7 Series, 2006 X5, and 2004-2006 5 Series with comfort seats.

BMW said under the extended warranty program, the detection mat in a vehicle with the air bag system problems would be replaced at no charge to the customer.

Owners can contact BMW at (800) 525-7417.

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On the Net:

BMW of North America: http://www.bmwusa.com

[in The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]

Frances Beinecke: Distraction, Misleading Energy Claims, and the Washington Post

The Washington Post just ran an editorial highlighting an ad the NRDC Action Fund printed in the paper. The ad, which featured a drawing of President Bush holding a bottle of elixir, said the claim that offshore drilling will drive down gas prices is "100% Snake Oil."

The Post agreed with the NRDC Action Fund that more offshore drilling will not impact the price of gasoline today because it will take years to get to the pump. But, the editorial continued, "There are three 'truths' masquerading as fact among drilling opponents that need to be challenged."

We need to keep the energy debate grounded in fact, not fiction, so I appreciate the paper's effort to examine these assertions. Still, I stand by the ad's figures and explain why below.

Before I do, I want to say that there is one critical area where the Post and NRDC agree wholeheartedly. The editorial says, "The strongest argument against drilling is that it could distract the country from a pursuit of alternative sources of energy."

I couldn't have said it better myself. The argument that drilling is a distraction is not just theorizing; it is real. All of the attention on drilling has:

Distracted Congress from even CONSIDERING a bipartisan tax incentive for home retrofits that could produce more oil sooner than offshore drilling and that would reduce energy costs to consumers.

Diverted Congress from extending the clean energy tax incentives for both efficiency and renewables that could produce more than 10 timesas much energy as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge just in the form of gas savings from efficiency in buildings.

Prompted representatives engaged in the pro-drilling political theater now occurring in the closed House chamber to vote against clean energy 93 percent of the time during this Congress.

This is actually what is happening as a result of the politics of drilling.

Now, on to why I think the Post's facts aren't quite right.

1. Even with More Barrels, We Will Never Have a Big Piece of the Pie
The Post says it is erroneous to claim that America has only 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, because new technology estimates there could be more barrels of oil under the sea than previously thought. I don't dispute that. But:

Even if we add twenty or thirty billion more barrels into the mix, we will only increase our share by a few percentage points, so maybe our total share would be 4 percent, maybe 5 percent. That still doesn't make us a player in the global oil market.

China and India's rising demand will quickly dwarf any significance our tiny percentage increase may garner.

We can have a much bigger impact on the global market by reducing our demand through efficiency. Just look at the past few weeks. Oil prices have dropped because our nation has been conserving.

2. You Can't Argue with Numbers: 7,740 Active Leases, Only 1,655 in Production
The Post disagrees with the assertion that oil companies are failing to develop a large portion of the leases they already have. The paper cites as an example five Shell leases that are not classified as active, but where the company has been in fact laying the ground work for drilling.

But can the paper verify the same is true for the rest? There are 7,740 active leases on the Outer Continental Shelf, and only 1,655 of them are in production.

And what if we turn the question around? A full 80 percent of all offshore drilling areas are open to development. Why don't companies exhaust those before asking for the remaining 20 percent?

Instead of favoring exploration, the so-called Big Five oil companies-- BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips Company, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell--have spent 56 percentof their soaring operating cash flows on share repurchases and dividends. Despite declining production rates, these stock buy backs roughly exceed $200 billion over the past five years.

3. The Cleanest Form of Energy Is the One You Don't Use
The Post reminds us that the technology for preventing oil spills has improved over the past decade. I agree, but large oil spills still occur.

From 1985 to 2005, there were 187 large oil spills on the Outer Continental Shelf, each one emitting more than 2,100 gallons into the Gulf of Mexico.

Katrina and Rita alone dumped an amazing 685,000 gallons of oil, contrary to misleading industry claims.

The paper also says that no form of energy is perfect or without trade-offs. But that doesn't mean the trade-offs are of equal weight.

Which would you choose: seeing offshore wind farms on the horizon from your canoe or being unable to canoe because a recent oil spill fouled the waters?

There is a pollution-free alternative: efficiency. Analysis by the Department of Transportation shows that new vehicles could be averaging 40 percent higher fuel economy by 2015 using off-the-shelf, cost-effective technologies.

This post originally appeared on Switchboard.

More on Oil

[in The Huffington Post | Raw Feed]

McCain's Reed Fundraiser Revives Scrutiny Of His Abramoff Investigation

The political world, and the Democratic Party in particular, is in a buzz over news that John McCain will attend a fundraiser hosted by Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition who fell from grace during the Jack Abramoff scandal.

'The Senator has come full circle,' goes the most common refrain -- a reference to both McCain's claim to scorn Washington's seedy lobbyists culture and the fact that his investigation into Abramoff effectively derailed Reed's political ambitions.

But there is, in fact, a far more curious and potentially damaging tie that connects the Arizona Republican and the religious right figure.

One of the projects on which Reed aided Abramoff was an effort financed by the Mississippi Choctaws to shut down other casino games in Alabama. The issue lingered well into 2002. And Abramoff's reach extended all the way into the state's gubernatorial election, when he wrote an aide about the legislative favors the Choctaws wanted in return for their support of then-candidate Bob Riley.

The latter revelation McCain covered up. That email, which the Senator had access to during his investigation, never made it into his Abramoff report. McCain claimed it was not his prerogative as chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to "involve" himself "in the ethics process [of members of Congress]." And others felt the same way. The report passed the committee by a bipartisan 13-0 vote.

But the implications of McCain's decision were far reaching. Riley was able to beat the incumbent in that election -- a governor by the name of Don Siegleman, who was weighed down by seemingly politically-motivated leaks that federal prosecutors were looking into corruption charges -- by a mere 3,000 votes.

To be sure, while McCain may have protected Riley from the scrutiny of his investigation, Reed himself was not spared. As detailed in the 373-page investigation, Reed was asked to organize grassroots efforts for the Choctaws starting in 1999. The tribe was fighting a bill that had passed Alabama's House of Representatives authorizing dog tracks in the state to install video poker and other casino-style games.

The work would continue for years and the price for the Choctaws was steep. As the report detailed: "In 2001, the Choctaw paid money into American International Center ("AIC"), which Abramoff described as a vehicle for passing money through to Reed. By the Committee's accounting, the Tribe paid AIC $1,485,656 in 2001, and $1,170,000 in 2002."

Around 2001, Michael Scanlon, a former aide to Majority Leader Tom Delay and Riley, was brought on board to coordinate efforts and money with Reed. According to the good-government group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, the group's focus on the 2002 Alabama elections was intense.

"Gambling was a major issue that year in Alabama and nationally. Then-Gov. Don Siegelman was campaigning, again, on bringing a lottery to Alabama. The Alabama Legislature was considering proposals to operate video gambling machines at the state's dog tracks. The Poarch Creek Indians were expanding their gaming operations in Alabama. And Congress was debating ways to crack down on Internet gambling."

Riley was the group's preferred governor. In 2002, Scanlon gave $100,000 to his former boss' campaign. And in December 2002, Abramoff sent an email to Scanlon explaining that in exchange for their support, the Choctaws "definitely want Riley to shut down the Poarch Creek operation... including his announcing that anyone caught gambling there can't qualify for a state contract or something like that."

This was the email McCain knew about and kept out of his report.

A spokesman for Riley explained for an earlier Huffington Post story that the governor had "consistently [opposed gambling] before he decided to run... and [as such] anyone who would suggest his long-standing opposition to gambling is tied to anything other than personal conviction would be mistaken." And, indeed, in the late 1990s Riley had signed a fundraising letter criticizing the building of a casino within the state, though that too was another Abramoff objective. "We need your help today," the letter read, "to prevent the Poarch Creek Indians from building casinos in Alabama."

But implications that Abramoff was coordinating efforts with Riley were certainly significant. And when McCain investigated the matter some four years later his decision to exclude Riley's name -- in addition to other elected officials -- struck the nerve of those hoping for something more complete and comprehensive. That the Senator is now benefiting from the individuals he once exposed (he has, additionally, received Riley's support) serves only as a further irritant.

"We already knew Reed was a hypocrite -- claiming to be anti-gambling while working on behalf of tribal casinos -- so it shouldn't be such a surprise that he is willing to hold a fundraiser for the man he blames for his loss in the Georgia lieutenant governor's race," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW. "More surprising is that "straight talker" John McCain -- after campaigning on his role in bringing down Abramoff -- would suddenly cozy up to a man integrally involved in the Abramoff scandal. Maybe Reed and McCain are not so different after all."

[in The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]

Stephanie Miller: Right Wing World from The Stephanie Miller Show

Today's "Right Wing World" from The Stephanie Miller Show brings us Rush Limbaugh sinks lower than usual. Plus Terry Jeffries and Charles Krauthammer.

[in The Huffington Post | Raw Feed]