This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

Yesterday we sent an email to our action network asking how people were coping with high oil prices. The response on our sister blog, the Green Room, was enthusiastic – over 600 comments! Here are some of our favorites, organized by topic:

Strategies to Increase Gas Mileage

From Ann:

I've been driving 60 mph on the highway and have seen a dramatic improvement in my gas mileage. I'm getting 38-40 mpg in my Toyota Camry on the highway! Drive 60 when you go.

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This post is by Michael Replogle, Transportation Director at Environmental Defense Fund.

Think back to your last all-you-can eat buffet. Did you eat more than you would have ordering à la carte? The same applies to driving and car insurance. With insurance policies giving almost no consideration to miles driven, if you drive an average amount or less compared to other drivers in your neighborhood, you pay much more per mile for car insurance than high-mileage drivers, which are in the minority. Yet accident risks are clearly linked to miles driven.

Shouldn't your insurance premium correspond to your risk, saving you money if you drive less? That's the idea behind Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) Insurance – drive less, pay less. Pricing insurance by the mile not reduces premiums for the majority of drivers, but if universally available, would cut traffic by 8 percent, with corresponding reductions in greenhouse gases, air pollution, congestion, and oil imports.

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This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

People tend to do things the way they've always done unless something forces them to change – even if the new way is better and cheaper. So Hawaii has taken action to spur people along. From an article in the L.A. Times:

California last year passed legislation offering homeowners and businesses $250 million in incentives to install 200,000 solar water systems over the next 10 years.

But Hawaii Thursday took far bolder action, becoming the first state in the nation to require all new homes built after January 1, 2010 to be equipped with solar or other energy-efficient hot water systems.

The article goes on to say that Hawaii's switch to solar hot water will save homeowners money, and prevent the emission of more than 10,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year.

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

Are you thinking about climate-related New Year's resolutions? In addition to this list of ideas from our Web site, here are some articles we've posted on green living that can give you some ideas.

Your Home:

• Personal Impact: Does It Really Matter What You Do? (easy-to-do tips)
• Making the Invisible Visible (energy usage feedback devices)
• The Next Big (Light bulb) Idea (LEDs)
• Why Switch to Compact Fluorescents?
• Heating with Lightbulbs: A Bad Idea
• Food Miles: Is Local Always Better?
• Energy-Efficient Mortgages: It Pays to Go Green

Your Car:

• Turn Off Your Engine!  
• Tips for Cleaner Driving
• To Drive Less, Live Closer to Work

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

If you need some last minute gift inspiration, check out our annual round-up of earth-friendly ideas.

We'll be off for a few days, so we won't be posting again until next Thursday. Have a great holiday.

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

When we think about climate change and the burning of fossil fuels, the discussion often centers around alternative sources of energy. But another key element is energy efficiency – simply using less power. A recent report published titled "The Twin Pillars of Sustainable Energy" says the two should be considered together.

When public policy takes both energy efficiency and renewable energy into account, there can be significant synergies. The report is over 50 pages long with many detailed case studies, but you can find a good summary of the findings on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Web site.

Today's Guest Blogger, Lisa Moore, is a scientist in the Climate and Air Program.

There's a new site on Yahoo! that can calculate how much your carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions go down when you try their energy saving tips. It's fun to use, and I especially appreciate the snazzy interactive features because I know how hard people worked to build it. My colleagues and I provided the Yahoo! design team with the data they use in their calculations.

I hope you'll visit the site to see how simple changes in your house and car can save energy and lower emissions. But first, let me take you behind the scenes to the complicated world of carbon calculation.

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You hear a lot of talk these days about "carbon footprints". But what is a carbon footprint, anyway?

Carbon dioxide (CO₂), while not the only greenhouse gas, is the most abundant. CO₂ is emitted into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels, and most of the energy in this country comes from burning fossil fuels. Thus, anything that requires energy to manufacture, transport, or operate causes the emission of CO₂ (see my previous post, The Carbon Footprint of… Everything).

A "carbon footprint" is the amount of CO₂ released by an activity or entity. So what's your carbon footprint?

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Andy Darrell, today's guest, is director of Environmental Defense's Living Cities program, and a member of the advisory board that helped the mayor develop the plan.

For the past eight months I've been honored to be a part of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's advisory council to develop a city plan for sustainability. The team has been meeting to hammer out ideas for making New York a world model of a "green" megacity.

Frankly, when I joined the Advisory Board, I didn't know where it would end up. With my colleagues at Environmental Defense, I put forward big ideas for healthy air, less traffic, green buildings and energy efficiency, more trees and parks and cleaned-up waterways. In December 2006, the mayor announced 10 bold goals, including achieving the cleanest air of any big city in the country, cutting greenhouse gases 30 percent from today's levels by 2030 and making sure that every New Yorker can walk to a park within ten minutes.

Great goals — but could they be made real?

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How do you know that concern about climate change has reached the mainstream? When a product's carbon footprint is a factor in every buying decision.

And how do you know the carbon footprint of a product? Through eco-labeling – a label disclosing the amount of energy used to produce the product, or the amount of CO₂ that producing the product released into the atmosphere. The idea is similar to nutrition labeling – give consumers the knowledge they need to make informed choices.

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