General Motors exec takes Chevy Volt to Capitol Hill today. Plug-in hybrids will be on center stage in Washington today as the Chevy Volt makes an appearance on Capitol Hill as part of General Motors Corp.'s effort to convince Congress to pass a more palatable fuel efficiency increase. [News Source]

The future of biofuels is not in corn. The future of biofuels is not in corn, says a new report released today by Food and Water Watch, the Network for New Energy Choices, and the Vermont Law School Institute for Energy and the Environment. [News Source]

Hearing brings out critics and supporters of coal-fired power. With population continuing to swell across the West, supporters of a controversial coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation say the thirst for electricity is becoming too much for existing plants. [News Source]

Power plant seen as ‘boon.’ A new power plant in Wiscasset, Maine would use the latest gasification process to turn wood and coal into electricity and create clean diesel fuel. [News Source]

Bay ecosystem threatened, report says. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation says the agricultural community is on the front lines of the fight against global warming and needs to do more. [News Source]

Carrier’s Infinity(TM) Air Purifier Wins Connecticut Quality Improvement Award (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) Carrier Corp., a business unit of United Technologies Corp. , is a 2007 Gold Winner of the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnerships' Innovation Prize for its Infinity Air Purifier. [News Source]

China town goes from model to mess (AFP via Yahoo! News) A Chinese town that has won more than 30 awards for its clean environment over the past decade has become a heavily polluted cesspool with abnormally high cancer rates, state media said Thursday. [News Source]

Study Demonstrates Environmental Benefits of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) A comprehensive study conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute and the Natural Resources Defense Council shows that widespread use of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles can decrease both air pollution and greenhouse gasses. [News Source]

Scripps takes on cleaner fuel challenge.

The newest scientist at Scripps Florida is raving about how to develop cleaner fuels and lower the planet’s carbon load.

[News Source]

New ice-based cooling system reduces air conditioning bill. As the summer swelters on, skyscrapers and apartments around the city will be cranking up the air conditioning and pushing the city's power grid to the limit. [News Source]

Bedouin home goes solar. Mohammad Al Mansouri, a retired military officer, got tired of having his mobile phone ruined by the fluctuating current of his generator. He found a company in China that sold solar-powered phone chargers. Unbeknown to him, that purchase would start an attempt to convert the entire Al Mansouri retreat in the Empty Quarter to solar power. [News Source]