| In This Issue of the Sierra Club Insider: New "I Want My MPG!" Calculator Good News from Congress, but Another Arctic Vote Looms National Forests at Risk The H1 Rides into the Sunset Mr. Green on Fluorescent Lighting Zoomer: Find Out Where to Recycle Near You New Cartoon: Rall on Fuel Conservation Tips EXPLORE: Grandparents and Grandkids week at Clair Tappaan Lodge ENJOY: An Inconvenient Truth Opens Tomorrow! PROTECT: Interview with Jane Goodall View an online version of this email at www.sierraclub.org/insider. Having trouble receiving the Insider? Try adding us (insider@sierraclub.org) to your Address Book. Find out how. |
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May 23, 2006
I Want My MPG! Wish you could do something to ease the pain at the gas pump this summer? Easy: Join all the cool kids and say, "I want my MPG!" Use our fuel calculator to see how much money you'd save if federal fuel-efficiency standards for your make and model of car were improved. Then, sign our petition to automobile executives around the world telling them to build better cars because you want to save money while saving the environment. Existing technology could save you a lot of money with practically no effort. Money for fixing something -- that's the way you do it.
Good News from Congress, but Another Arctic Vote Looms
National Forests...Going Once, Twice, Sold!
The H1 Rides into the Sunset  The original mass-produced, street-legal Hummer is being put to pasture by its manufacturer, General Motors. "It's one thing if it's carrying soldiers to and from a fight," Dan Becker, the Sierra Club's fuel-efficiency expert, told the New York Times. "It's another if it's hauling lattes home from Starbucks." The Times states, "With diesel fuel prices around $3 a gallon, it costs more than $150 to fill up the H1's two gas tanks, which together hold 51.5 gallons." And now they aren't selling like they used to. Hmm, we wonder why that is. Oh, yeah: consumers are saying, "I want my MPG!" Although one type of Hummer is disappearing, rumors of its extinction are greatly exaggerated, as two other models are still available, the H2 and H3. (Check out the Sierra Club's hummerdinger.com to learn more.)Mr. Green Trips the Light Fluorescent  Mr. Green is quite the lightning rod these days. Does his cheerleading for fluorescent lighting lead to increased mercury pollution? Can he come to grips with Ikea? Will he rescue a couple torn apart when the lights go out (or stay on)? And what's with that annoying fluorescent buzzing? The controversy is non-stop when it comes to Mr. Green and his mailbag.Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Knowing How to Let Go  Great, now you've got all these burnt-out fluorescent bulbs because of guys like Mr. Green. But if you just throw them away, they might leak mercury. And there's no Ikea around to take them. (You'll have to read Mr. Green to know why we mentioned Ikea.) What can you do? Find the answer on Zoomer, where you can click on "recycling" to find out where in your neighborhood to take those old bulbs and other household items that have worn out their welcome. Going Downhill
Want to figure out more ways to conserve fuel? Cartoonist Ted Rall has some suggestions that might come in handy.
View previous editions of the Sierra Club Insider at the Insider Archives. |
Generation Gap
 Leave mom and dad at home and join us for our ninth annual Just for Grandparents and Grandkids week at the Clair Tappaan Lodge. All grandpeople age six and up are welcome. Hike the Pacific Crest Trail, learn about frontier history at Donner Pass, and picnic, swim, kayak, and play to your heart's content. Dates: July 23-28 Price: $395 child/$495 adult For information on our other 350 trips, visit Sierra Club Outings. 
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An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore was hilarious in his recent appearance on Saturday Night Live, but there's nothing funny about his new documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, which opens in NYC and L.A. on May 24th. Advance tickets are available now. Pledge to see the film and find other cities where it's playing. Film critic Emanuel Levy writes, "Elaborate graphics, statistics, compelling imagery, and personal commentary make the film much more than a dull academic treatise." If you need one more reason to see the movie: Paramount has recently announced that it will donate five percent of all box office receipts for An Inconvenient Truth to the Alliance for Climate Protection.  |
PROTECT
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Roots and Shoots
Jane Goodall tells Sierra Magazine how she's preserving habitats, protecting animals, and educating people: "There are many animal-welfare groups that sometimes seem to forget that human beings are animals too, that we need to include them in our sphere of compassion."  |