50% by 2050 is Not Good Enough

G-8 leaders at a summit in Toyako on Tuesday pledged to reduce emissions 50% by 2050. While this is the first time that world leaders embraced a goal to cut emissions, their ambitions fall short of their intended efforts to combat global warming.

The effects of global climate change are apparent now. The consequences require immediate action, not a leisurely attempt in the hopes of having the problem disappear in 42 years.

The goal also did not specify a base year for the proposed cuts, which could lead to unstable and uncertain environmental effects.

The target is weak, slow, and insufficient in mitigating the already present results of our addiction to fossil fuels and our readiness to release harmful toxins into the atmosphere.

Who's Resurrecting the Electric Car?

Big Oil and manufacturing interests may have killed the electric car in the early 1990s, but one major automaker promises to revive the idea -- and produce a fully electric car -- within a decade.

Reuters reports that Audi, the luxury unit of Volkswagen, sees great opportunities in electric cars and will offer automobiles with no exhaust emissions. Developing fuel-saving technology tops the agenda of Germany's car industry in an effort to fulfill stricter emission regulations and conserve fuel.

The race to build a reliable electric automobile is on: BMW has said it would decide this year whether to build an electric vehicle, while U.S. carmaker General Motors plans to roll out its Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric car in 2010.

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