image by apple

While the future of General Motors hangs in the balance, the future of public transit is getting more and more appealing. And much much easier.

If you ride mass transit, have an iphone, and live in any of these cities , you are about 245 megabytes away from being rewarded for your carfree lifestyle.

So now you can choose between the following two ways to plan your commute via public transit:

1) By awkwardly unfolding confusing transit maps, creating a "you are here" dot with your thumb, while you then cross reference your location with a printed schedule almost as thick as a telephone book that Columbus would have a hard time navigating.

OR...

photo: Sumter County Geographic Information System

With the already clear need for an animal shelter in Florida's Sumter County, the Humane Society/SPCA of Sumter County has outlined plans for Florida's first environmentally responsible animal shelter. After 26 years of serving the community without an animal shelter, the Humane Society/SPCA of Sumter County has begun its major capital campaign to raise the $1 million needed for construction of the 7,300 square foot structure. Read on to find out what makes this animal shelter so green.

Image from Joshua Rappeneker

It's not quite ocean iron fertilization, but I have a feeling this new geoengineering proposed will still raise quite a few hackles. The idea, which originated with Federico Magnani of Italy's University of Bologna, is, as the name implies, fairly straightforward: You would fertilize, or "dope," as the New Scientist's Catherine Brahic put it, trees with nitrogen to stimulate their ability to absorb more carbon dioxide and, by increasing their albedo, to reflect more solar radiation back out into space.

Manhattan Borough President Stringer telling it like it is
photo via the Observer

I was surprised the other morning when Brian Lehrer, on his eponymous WNYC radio show, stated that he had received 600 comments suggesting Michael Pollan as President-elect Obama’s Secretary of Agriculture. Who knew New Yorkers cared so much about agriculture and food? But the interest was evident yesterday, as five hundred food and community activists, students and researchers, gathered in Columbia University’s Lerner Hall to share ideas and to listen to government officials speak about the “Politics of Food.”

:: Get the do goodin' dirt from the man on a squeaky-clean and green mission, Josh Onysko of Pangea Organics.

:: Cranberry salsa? Now that's a modern and tasty twist on traditonal Thanksgiving fare. Try it along with these other deliciously sustainable side dishes.

:: Breathe new life into an old, unworn dress. Use its fabric to make a sexy new scarf!

Image source: Gainesville

In anticipation of the upcoming meetings to update Kyoto next month in Poznan, Poland, the 53 African nations met recently to develop the Algiers Declaration, stating that they will vote as one bloc during climate change negotiations, reports the Monterey Herald. Forests, renewable energy and deserts are the three major issues that African nations are most concerned about and its felt that voting as one bloc will give them more power during negotiations. Europe is hoping to get in on the action.

Image source: Shuuichi Endou/Tuvalu Overview

Tuvalu, made up of four small coral-reef islands and five atolls off the coast of Australia, will be one of the first to go as sea levels continue to rise. Shuuichi Endou decided his response was to take 10,000 photographs, almost one for every person on the island to capture the spirit and essence of the people, reports the Japan Times Online. When the island is gone, and the population has dispersed and assimilated into area nations, will the photographs be the only thing keeping this nation together?

Video clip: Amory Lovins on climate change, geoengineering and unintended environmental consequences.

In case you’re not a regular US News & World Report reader, we’d like to point out that Amory Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute (which is a guest contributor to TreeHugger) has been just listed as one of America's Best Leaders for his work at RMI promoting energy efficiency, and more efficient use of natural resources in general.

In describing Lovins’ work, US News had this to say

Recent Comment by Willy Bio : "Well, Mr. Smarty, by your own admission, you already have. So please, enlighten us.</p..." [read]