Now, being a responsible driver not only means maintaining a slight feeling of moral superiority, but may just save you some money at the pump.  Through a set of techniques called “hypermiling”, you can conserve fuel by altering how you hit the road.  Some reports estimate taking it slow and steady could improve fuel economy up to 35%.  Before you start changing your habits, begin by calculating your gas mileage after each trip to the station by using your odometer.  Also, take note of your tendencies towards how you treat other motorists on the road, how quickly you take off from a stop, how often you brake, pass, and stop during your commute.

Here are a couple of tips to keep more gas in the tank:

-Avoid hard depression of the gas pedal as it pushes more fuel into the engine, causing it to run faster.

-When driving in town, accelerate more slowly from stops and decelerate more gradually when coming to a red light.  Lift your foot off of the gas pedal as soon as possible when approaching a yellow light or stop sign, and coast to reduce speed before using the brakes. This minimizes the amount of time spent getting no miles to the gallon while sitting at a red.

-Using cruise control on the freeway helps avoid driver-controlled acceleration changes that lead to energy loss.

-Stay in motion during traffic congestion as much as possible instead of hitting the brakes creating “stop-and-go” waves of idling vehicles.

-Keep your car in good shape by scheduling regular maintenance tune-ups and making sure tires are properly inflated. Whenever possible, reduce the weight of your auto by removing any junk you may be hauling around.  Help avoid drag by taking down any cargo racks or other devices that make your car less aerodynamic, and keep windows closed.  Try not to run any superfluous electrical devices or the air conditioner.

-Do not use 4-wheel drive unless needed as it makes the engine work harder.

-Try to buy high BTU content gas when possible.  Oxygenated fuels and reformulated gas can cause decreases in fuel economy.

-Plan your trips. Can you combine outings?  What is the most efficient route to accomplish your errands around town?

-Don’t get discouraged!  This type of driving takes a lot of attention and patience, but will soon become automatic and save you enough dough to be worth the extra effort!

Now you are ready to conserve energy, money, and maybe even a little aggravation.  How do you hypermile?

So, imagine you’re sleeping. I mean really sleeping. Deep, awesome, post burger kind of sleep. And you wake up, and suddenly your whole apartment complex has turned into an oil refinery. That happened this week, to a very confused polar bear and her baby cub.

In Alaska’s north slope, a mama bear awoke from hibernation with her cub to find that the world around her had been transformed to a construction zone for and oil refinery (Read: environment destroying machine).  It’s these instances that remind us that we are, in every way, messing with our ecosystems. Polar bears have already been affected drastically from global warming. Due to the warmer temperatures, there are fewer areas of solidly frozen ocean; something that polar bears rely on to hunt. With more of their energy devoted to hunting, they have less time to focus on reproduction, and thus their population has dwindled.

Thankfully, once she was noticed, construction on the refinery ceased. One can only imagine her fear and bewilderment. If you would like to aid to the plight of the polar bear, there are several organizations you can make donations to. If you can’t afford to help in that way, do your best to save on gas, and reduce not only the effects of global warming, but the need for more refineries.

Does triple-digit gas mileage sound like a dream to you? Does the ubiquity of gas-guzzling Hummers and SUVs look like anything less than a nightmare? Well, wake up and smell the carbon monoxide.

I’m just kidding, of course. Carbon monoxide is strictly odorless. But our failure to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles over the last three decades — while flooding the market with less efficient cars (and flooding our seas with oil spills) — truly stinks.

In 1984 Craig Henderson and Bill Green built a car that got over 100 miles per gallon. And this year Henderson drove his new car from Canada to Mexico on a single tank of gas. He averaged almost 120 mpg.

Read the whole story here!

Federal law now requires automakers to average 35 mpg by 2016. Should we be impressed? By now we should be thinking about new cars that will break the 200 mpg barrier. There’s a idea worth dreaming about.

In the meantime, you can petition the EPA to make 60 mpg vehicles the new standard 2025!

Enjoy our song of the day from this once popular quartet from Liverpool.