According to Friedman, $4 per gallon is the new price floor for gas and we all need to get used to it. There are no short-term fixes and with increasing demand from the developing world, demand is outpacing supply so it’s just not practical to expect that gas prices will ever return to “normal”.

Friedman also calls the recent Chrysler promotion for subsidized gas reckless and likens it to offering discounted cigarettes to teenagers. Even better, Tim Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics wrote: “So Dodge wants to sell you a car you don’t really want to buy, that is not fuel-efficient, will further damage our environment, and will further subsidize oil states, some of which are on the other side of the wars we’re currently fighting. … The planet be damned, the troops be forgotten, the economy be ignored: buy a Dodge.”

Story from The New York Times

Carbon calculators for your lifestyle are almost as ubiquitous as online mortgage calculators, but for the marketers of the world there has been little help in calculating the impact of marketing campaigns. This is especially true of digital efforts, as print and direct mail are the most obvious targets when considering marketing and environmental impact.

Sensing the opportunity, imc2 has developed a handy tool that let’s anyone engaged in online marketing plug in the details of their campaign to see just how much it would cost to offset the carbon footprint.

I ran a quick scenario and a 20,000,000 impression run on Yahoo using a 728×90 would cost just $78.14 to offset, a drop in the bucket when compared to the overall spend for such a buy.

Clear Sky Digital Media tool

Sapphire has come out of hiding with a bang, announcing a $50 million round of funding for the development of renewable gasoline. Unlike other emerging technologies such as biodiesel or ethanol, Sapphire uses a combination of sunlight, CO2, and microorganisims. This method eliminates the need for farm land and the controversial use of food crops for fuel.

The fuel itself is identical to gasoline and thus is compatible with the energy infrastructure already in place, a major plus.

Sapphire Energy

In a study released today by the American College of Sports Medicine, San Francisco outranked 15 other cities to earn the title of America’s fittest city. Areas of consideration included the percentage of people with access to healthcare, exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, don’t smoke, and more.

The top 5 fittest cities include:

1. San Francisco
2. Seattle
3. Boston
4. Washington D.C.
5. Atlanta

Story from the USA Today

Grace & Cello has been extremely popular since being added to the store but we’ve got a few items in stock and we need to blow them out before closing our virtual doors. Lucky for you, that means all Grace & Cello clothing for women is on sale at 40% off retail! You don’t even need a coupon.

From shorts and skirts to jackets for work, Grace & Cello has a great mix of contemporary pieces for summer and fall.

Shop Grace & Cello

Burgerville, the 39 unit chain of healthy fast food outlets, has removed Gardenburger (owned by Kelloggs) products from their menu and replaced them with veggie burgers from an Oregon homemaker with a background in accounting, but passion for cooking.

The chain of events involves sub-par products that Kellogg contends don’t involve food safety issues, though distributors were asked to participate in a voluntary withdrawal. Evidently the burgers in question were impacted by construction being done where Gardenburgers are produced. How exactly does construction impact the quality of the product without there being food safety concerns?

Story from The Oregonian

I often knock out blog posts, read email, and scroll through my google reader with my notebook perched on my lap so that I can watch a bit of television at the same time. The one problem with this set-up is that the heat coming from my Dell can get unbearable. The alternative is to sit it on a pillow, but that doesn’t allow for the appropriate circulation and can cause overheating.

To solve this most basic of issues comes Laptop pillows from Intelligent Forms. Each pillow is constructed using sustainable materials including organic cotton, hemp fiber, and buckwheat hulls.

Intelligent Forms website

Eating locally sourced food is a hot topic and one that is finally reaching beyond the confines of the typically progressive cities. According to Epicurious, here are the top ten restaurants in the country for locavores.

1. A.R. Valentien: La Jolla, CA
2. Manresa: Los Gatos, CA
3. Montagna at the Little Nell: Aspen, CO
4. Woodfire Grill: Atlanta, GA
5. North Pond: Chicago, IL
6. Cinque Terre: Portland, ME
7. Chester Creek Café: Duluth, MN
8. Tupelo Honey Café: Asheville, NC
9. Poppy Hill Tuscan Café: Fredericksburg, VA
10. Trellis: Kirkland, WA

Story from Epicurious & MSNBC

I’ve never seen a hotel website with less information about a property, so booking a room here will take a leap of faith until more details are made available. According to the sparse homepage, the hotel is “green friendly” and features recycled wood used during construction, “green friendly” beds, and organic breakfast.

A quick reservations search revealed prices to be about $200 per night.

The Cody Hotel website

If you are a Hayden fan, are available in mid-August, and have thousands of dollars burning a hole in your pocket, head over to eBay for your chance to bid on a whale watching excursion and dinner with the star from Heroes. You can even bring along five friends. In addition, the winner and his or her friends will be treated to dinner with Hayden (and her entourage I’m sure) at Eva Longoria’s restaurant in Beverly Hills.

If you need to justify the day with Hayden to your spouse or accountant, rest assured that 100% of the proceeds are going to The Whaleman Foundation.

Start bidding at eBay