McLEAN, Va. — John Kraus has a new Toyota Prius V hybrid wagon that he’s very fond of. He’s also got a new Virginia tax on it that he’s none too happy about. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, signed a new law last month that lowers the gas tax for everyone, but slaps a […]

America’s closets are turning green.   The same environmental sensibilities that have swept the foodie world (farm-to-table, organic produce) are making inroads in the fashion universe as the environmental movement continues its rise and new technology produces refined synthetic and recycled materials. For example: • Last month, Saks and Neiman Marcus settled a lawsuit charging […]

TRENTON, N.J. — Drivers who buy an electric car to beat the price of gasoline won’t beat the tax man if one New Jersey lawmaker has his way. The state senator wants to tax electric cars by the mile to pay for road maintenance. But the proposal has a catch: As it’s written, electric car owners would […]

Tesla Motors says that if the battery pack fails in your sexy Model S electric sedan for any reason except deliberate abuse, you can have a replacement, free, for eight years. That warranty length matches mainstream automaker’s pledges about their electric-car batteries. But Tesla goes a bit further. The Model S’ bigger 85 kwh battery […]

Public transportation is going green. People who want to celebrate Earth Day week by commuting in a vehicle powered by a cleaner-burning fuel should hop on the bus. More than a third of the nation’s city transit buses are now powered by fuels other than diesel. That’s up from fewer than 10% a decade ago, […]

The ad was meant to be humorous: the victim finds out he is in a zero-emission car (Photo: Hyundai) STORY HIGHLIGHTS Hyundai pulls a suicide-themed ad The campaign ran online A blogger said it reminded her of her father’s suicide Hyundai has yanked an ad meant to poke humor at attempts to commit suicide in […]

USA TODAY’s Green Tech series explores how green-tech innovations are changing everything from vacations to war-making. (Photo: Brian Garfinkel) STORY HIGHLIGHTS Home of the Philadelphia Eagles has 11,000 solar panels Of 126 pro teams in the five major sports, 38 use renewable energy Home of the Minnesota Twins uses rainwater to wash down seating area […]

How you ask the question skews the results when it comes to public opinion on global warming, finds an analysis of hundreds of polls. The public mostly agrees on global warming’s reality, it says. (Photo: NOAA) STORY HIGHLIGHTS U.S. majorities have agreed on global warming being real for three decades, poll analysis says Poll question […]

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Americans account for about 25,000 obesity-related deaths blamed on over-consumption of sweetened beverages. (Photo: Spencer Platt, Getty Images) STORY HIGHLIGHTS Too many sweet drinks to blame for 1 in 100 deaths of obese people globally Mexico leads the 35 largest nations in deaths tied to surgary drinks; USA is 3rd 78% of these deaths were […]