As you may or may not know, yesterday was Earth Day and falls on April 22nd every year.  Here are a couple environmental news stories that made headlines on the big day.

• The U.S. has proposed an ambitious new schedule for improving automobile fuel efficiency.  The new plan calls for bigger emissions reductions than previous plans submitted by President Bush and Congress.  The new proposal will save nearly 55 billion gallons of fuel and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions estimated at 521 million metric tonnes.
• Another fuel efficiency headline - this time from Boeing and Airbus.  The two aircraft manufacturers will work with U.S. and European governments to move towards a modern air traffic management system.  The goals are to reduce the environmental impact of air transportation, reduce gas emissions, increase fuel efficiency, and improve air routes.

I heard about this story last week and the numbers blew me away!  Here is the premise: Last year UPS changed all of their driving routes, so that drivers make virtually no left hand turns.  This eliminates idling time, saves fuel, and reduces risk from driving through oncoming traffic.

Here are a few of the stats:

• Last year UPS saved 3 million gallons of gas
• The company also reduced CO2 emissions by 32,000 metric tons (the equivalent of taking 5,300 passenger cars off the road for a year)

Pretty impressive changes for one company.

From Yahoo News:

President Bush called for a halt Wednesday in the growth of greenhouse gases by 2025, acknowledging the need to head off serious climate change.
 
The plan came under fire immediately from environmentalists and congressional Democrats who favor mandatory emission cuts, a position also held by all three presidential contenders.

Bush in a Rose Garden address for the first time set a specific target date for U.S. climate pollution reductions and said he was ready to commit to a binding international agreement on long-term reductions as long as other countries such as China do the same.

"There is a wrong way and a right way to approach reducing greenhouse gas emissions," Bush said, making clear that he opposes a Senate measure that would impose mandatory limits on greenhouse gases beginning in five years, followed by annual reductions.

"Bad legislation would impose tremendous costs on our economy and American families without accomplishing the important climate change goals we share," the president said.

He said he envisions a "comprehensive blend of market incentives and regulations" that would encourage clean and efficient energy technologies. And he singled out the electric utility industry, saying power plants need to stabilize carbon dioxide pollution within 15 years and reduce them after that.

While characterized by the White House as a fresh strategy to attack climate change, the president gave no new proposals for achieving these pollution reductions.

He cited, instead, measures already enacted such as a 40 percent increase in auto fuel economy, a requirement for a huge increase in use of ethanol and other biofuels, and some efficiency standards, as well as a push for developing clean energy technologies.

Environmentalists said the Energy Department's own forecasts have shown that even with those advances — encompassed in energy legislation approved last year — U.S. carbon dioxide emissions are expected to increase by about 10 percent by 2025.