USA TODAY’s Robert Bianco handicaps the fall season based on brief looks at the new series on broadcast TV. (Photo: Justin Lubin, ABC) STORY HIGHLIGHTS ABC has the most new shows, with eight CBS’ ‘The Millers’ may be one of the best shows of the season NBC welcomes Michael J. Fox back to series TV […]

USA TODAY’s Green Tech series explores how green-tech innovations are changing everything from vacations to war-making. (Photo: Ryan Mayes, AP) STORY HIGHLIGHTS Every $1 increase in the price of oil per barrel costs the Navy $30 million In development: portable combat outposts powered by fuel-efficient generators and solar panels Since Vietnam, there has been a […]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (AP) — A solar-powered airplane left California and is on the first leg of a planned journey to several U.S. cities. The Solar Impulse left Moffett Field in Mountain View just after dawn on Friday. It plans to stop at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Texas, Lambert-St. Louis […]

Conservative US shoppers turned off by eco-friendly lightbulbs, study finds Consumer research finds conservative shoppers avoid purchasing an item associated with protecting the environment In 2011 Republicans in Congress fought hard to repeal a law phasing out incandescent bulbs. Photograph: Ruben Sprich/Reuters Eco-friendly labels on energy-saving bulbs are a turn-off for conservative shoppers, a new study […]

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, […]