By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Just like you hunt for that Energy Star tag when examining a fridge or washer, people in California can now duck under the hood of any new 2009 model car to get an at-a-glance emissions rating.

The Environmental Performance sticker, mandated to begin on Jan. 1 for all new model cars, will include two scores, one rating the car’s smog emissions and the other its greenhouse gas output. The air pollutants for the latter include carbon dioxide emissions, which make up the greatest volume of greenhouse gases. Gas engine cars emit nitrous oxides, methane gases, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and other emissions.

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By Clint Williams
Green Right Now

An expectation met is rare enough. An expectation surpassed is a culturally appropriate winter solstice celebration miracle.

So imagine my surprise and delight when reading the miles per gallon readout on the trip computer of the 2009 Jetta TDI during a recent holiday drive over the river and through the woods. The display reads: 43.7 mpg. That’s significantly above the Environmental Protection Agency estimate of 40 mpg in highway driving.

And we weren’t doing any of that 55 mph, coast-down-hills, hyper-miler sort of driving. We were zipping along at 70 mph or so, singing loudly along with the Christmas tunes provided by the satellite radio.

That sort of fuel economy apparently isn’t a fluke. Volkswagen hired a third party, automotive evaluation company AMCI, to test the real-world fuel economy of the Jetta TDI and found it performed 24 percent better than EPA estimates, getting 38 mpg in the city and 44 mpg on the highway.

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By Heather Ishimaru
KGO-San Francisco

The nation is working to move away from fossil fuels and toward plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. But, are we trading one limited natural resource for another? Lithium-ion batteries are now considered the best option for the next generation of cars. But where will all that lithium come from?
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By Clint Williams
Green Right Now

The MINI Cooper S proves fighting global warming can be fun.

This distinctive, diminutive cult car is fuel efficient, getting an EPA estimated 34 miles per gallon in highway driving.

But people considering a MINI Cooper - especially the turbocharged S edition - aren’t primarily interested in mpg. They’re more concerned with gpg - grins per gallon. The Cooper S offers plenty.

The turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine roars with 172 horsepower. Coupled with a clickity crisp six-speed stick shift, the tiny car is quick, quick, quick. The spec sheet says the 0-60 mph is 6.7 seconds, but it feels much faster because of the scale - just as 25 mph in a go-cart seems so much faster than the same speed in the family minivan.

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By John DeFore

When last we mentioned electric-car entrepreneur Shai Agassi, the former software wunderkind’s grand plans had attracted commitments from the government of Israel but had no traction in the States.

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By Clint Williams
Green Right Now

Some people buy a car looking for thrills. Others want a little prestige under the hood. A lot of folks, though, just want something to get them to work and to the grocery store as cheaply as possible.

The 2009 Chevrolet Aveo5 Hatchback is a car for those people.

The Aveo5, and its sedan counterpart, get an EPA estimated 34 miles per gallon in highway driving and you can expect darn close to 30 mpg in your typical mix of run-around-the-suburbs driving. Aveo meets the ULEV II emissions standard.

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By John DeFore

Last week in Poland, attendees at the United Nations’ climate conference were greeted by an impressive creature — a car that, powered by nothing but the sun, had made a trip around the globe to meet them.

The car’s owner, a Swiss schoolteacher named Louis Palmer, intends to hang around the conference until its close on Friday, treating his vehicle like a “solar taxi” and offering free rides to the event’s “delegates, ministers and the press”; he even let UN Climate official Yvo de Boer hop in for the last few meters of his historic voyage.

For its record-breaking trek, the car traveled over 33,000 miles through 38 countries (one assumes a boat ride or two were involved as well); the trip took a year and a half.

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By Clint Williams
Green Right Now

Heated and cooled leather seats? Of course.

Touch-screen navigation system? Natch.

Killer Bose sound system? Satellite radio? Blind spot alert?

Check, check and check.

The 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid offers all this and another luxury: a clear conscience.

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By John DeFore

While this past weekend’s Los Angeles Auto Show had autophiles lusting after tomorrow’s hot wheels, a very different California event just celebrated a company working to make yesterday’s cars a lot greener.

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By Clint Williams

With highway fuel economy of 30 mpg, the Suzuki SX4 certainly conserves gasoline. And, more importantly these days, this compact sedan conserves cash. A comfortably well-equipped SX4 - complete with standard touch-screen navigation system - rolls off the dealer lot for less than $16,000. That makes it financially competitive in its class, and as economical as most cars featured in our “30(cars) Over 30(mpg)” gallery.

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The Escalade Hybrid is billed by Cadillac as the world’s first large luxury SUV hybrid.

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By Clint Williams

Don’t be fooled. Gasoline prices won’t be bumping around $2 a gallon for long. Driving a car with good fuel economy still makes sense. Higher mpg means lower operating costs for the household budget and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Happily, car shoppers today have a myriad of options among fuel frugal 2009 cars. You can find something getting 30 mpg or better on the highway at nearly every dealer lot. In some cases, you’ll have to settle for a trim line with a smaller engine and manual transmission to hit the 30 mpg mark.

Here are 30 with 30 mpg:

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