Who would’ve thunk it. Prime Minister Tony Blair and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, meeting in Long Beach, Ca., announced this week that they’ve forged an agreement to work collaboratively against global warming. While the import of the agreement is not fully clear—and while some critics derided it as a “symbolic gesture”—it nevertheless adds momentum to a movement already underway.

At last, it starts to make sense.

I simultaneously understand 1) why there are so few American-made hybrid cars; and 2) why General Motors is suffering major losses.

Up for a good challenge and have a lot of free time on your hands? Then you might want to start learning how to build an engine. The X-Prize Foundation, the organization that gave $10 million to SpaceShipOne two years ago for achieving the first civilian space flights, is offering a new contest: build the world's most fuel-efficient car.

OK, I’ll admit it: On more than one occasion, I have put my beloved Toyota Prius into reverse and come uncomfortably close to running over a few bystanders. It wasn’t because I didn’t see them (I swear!) it’s because they didn’t see -- or, to be more precise, hear -- me. While operating on its electric battery, my car is silent as a shooting star, so the pedestrians waltzed right into my line of fire, having no audible warning that I was approaching.

After years of criticism from greens and independent testing groups, the U.S. EPA announced on Friday that its rules for testing automobile fuel economy will finally be updated and revised. New standards should be in place for testing 2008 model year cars. It’s a move long opposed by the automobile industry, since the revisions could decrease mile-per-gallon estimates for new vehicles by as much as 10 percent.

Showing characteristic signs of short-term memory loss, the American public is apparently renewing its love affair with the SUV, according to The Wall Street Journal. When gas prices spiked to over $3 a gallon following Hurricane Katrina, demand for hybrids was in the headlines and chatter about fuel-efficiency standards was all the rage. Now gas prices in the U.S. have fallen to an average of $2.38 a gallon, and Americans on a cheap-gas buzz are making booty calls to SUVs.

Most environmentalists agree that boosting fuel efficiency in cars is the number one challenge in the battle to scale back both America's greenhouse emissions and our dependence on foreign oil. So it's excellent news that states are stepping up to impose stricter fuel-efficiency standards—particularly at a time when federal leaders in Washington are shrinking away from the issue. Vermont has decided to follow California's lead and require that all new cars and trucks in 2012 emit 22 percent less carbon dioxide than today’s vehicles.