Welcome back to the GREEN SCENE, where progressive people, places and products aim to enlighten and empower us to live sustainably. Regardless of where our lifestyle is on the green continuum, each one us can and should take simple steps to improve the state of our local and global environment.

“Officer, I realize I was going a little fast but I was just coasting down the hill to improve my gas mileage, please don’t give me a speeding ticket”. This is the mental scenario that plays out in my head as I hypermile around town. I try to rationalize speeding as I switch my VW transmission into neutral and coast faster and faster switching lanes and avoiding the break pedal.
There is no doubt that driving is serious business but done right hypermiling is a good methodology to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Hypermiling is defined as “a method of increasing your car's gas mileage by making skillful changes in the way you drive, allowing you to save gas and thereby have an easier time withstanding the rising oil and gas prices.” For specific strategies go to www.hypermiling.com.

My new favorite website is Hot Women for a Cool Planet – www.hotwomenforacoolplanet.com. According to the link Personal Life Expectancy Calculator which is found on Peter Russell’s website Spirit of Now my virtual age is 29.5 and my life expectancy is 90.5. This new information is good to be sure but it makes me wonder, if I indeed live that long will the state of our environment be much improved? The answer to that question leverages on our collective actions now and our willingness to stay informed and get involved with organizations such as Missouri Votes Conservation www.movotesconservation.org. MVC is a local non-partisan organization dedicated to increasing the political power of the Missouri pro-conservation community. Log on to their website and find lots of useful information including Conservation Scorecard which Missouri Votes Conservation publishes every two years. Check out this factual guide to find out how state legislators voted on key conservation issues during the 2007-2008 legislative sessions. This scorecard provides Missouri voters information the lawmakers who consider environmental protection a high priority.