No more clear air in small towns either. It's not only cities like the state capital that are congested and polluted but even smaller towns, and the culprit is that motorbike you take to office, to drop kids to school, or for an evening out. [News Source]

Energy Star program expands its reach. The federal Energy Star program - recognized by 68 percent of consumers - saved $14 billion in energy costs in 2006, Lani MacRae, head of marketing for Energy Star, told the ACI New Jersey Home Performance Conference this week. [News Source]

Alternative-fuel vehicles scarce in Arkansas . While Congress considers an energy bill that calls for 85 percent of American-made vehicles to run on alternative fuels by 2020, Arkansas' public schools are phasing out the handful of non-gasoline powered school buses now on the roads. [News Source]

Farmers must monitor, reduce water use. Drought, population growth, global warming, a collapsing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta environment - it's no secret that California's water challenges are only going to get more challenging in the near future. [News Source]

Think globally, power up locally. The "locavore" movement is big, especially in California. With the bounty of food found locally in the Bay Area, living off the land - and sea - is not only possible, but also a delicious exercise. But there's another, less obvious, revolution brewing here in the Bay Area: the "locavolt" movement. [News Source]

More drilling shouldn’t be part of rational energy policy. As Congress debates solutions to the energy crisis, it is instructive to step back and look at what got us into this mess and what realistically will get us out of it. [News Source]

Questioning the White House’s motives. Have Bush and his crew been doing the wrong things for the right reasons? [News Source]

Fire and climate change. The Yellowstone fires of 1988 were the harbinger of climate change in the West. Those blazes signaled that future wildfires would be massive and the norm during fire season. [News Source]

Don’t get too comfortable. The summer of 2008 has overall been mild, without the prolonged stifling, sultry spells that mainstream climate scientists warn are likely to be a fixture of future summers as Earth swelters under the blanket of carbon dioxide emissions. [News Source]

Business and the environment: run-up to the warm. What's spurring regulatory action? Studies such as a July report claiming Nevada could suffer serious economic losses from global warming, for one. But climate change may create chances for business and profit, observers say. [News Source]

Racing against time, crews try to reach those feared stranded in Hurricane Ike’s floodwaters. Rescue crews canvassed neighborhoods inundated by Ike's storm surge early Sunday morning, racing against time to save those who spent a second harrowing night trapped amid flattened houses, strewn debris and downed power lines. [News Source]