General Motors is working with utility companies to make sure its next-generation plug-in hybrid has a smooth rollout in 2010. GM is pushing utilities to move forward on so-called "smart-metering."

Carolina wrens — small cinnamon-brown birds that choose to live around outbuildings — will hide their nests almost anywhere: a discarded boot, a bucket turned on its side. With a little innovation, it is possible to make a connection with wrens.

California is in the midst of a long, hot summer of wildfires. Nationally, costs to fight wildfires now take nearly half of the U.S. Forest Service budget. That's up from just 13 percent in 1991. The ever-rising costs have spurred a debate in California over who should pay: all new home buyers or only those who choose to build and live in fire-prone areas?

When you think of Detroit, you think of cars — not trains or buses. Fifty years after Detroit's last streetcar went out of service, there's talk of bringing mass transit back. After years of false starts, this time, Motor City business leaders are on board.

While gas-thirsty cars are languishing in the garage, people are hopping on buses, riding bikes, and reverting to the most time-tested form of transportation: their feet. Alex Chadwick talks to Christopher Leinberger, visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, about why urban planners are paying more attention to cities' "walkability."

Congress members say they're determined to do something about fuel prices before leaving for their August recess. But there's little consensus on energy issues. Will Democrats and Republicans be able to agree on any proposals to lower fuel prices?

In a Guatemalan rainforest, the huff of a rare mammal known as a coatimundi lurks under a toucan's call.

With the price of hay up and adoptions down, the government may begin euthanizing wild horses. There are currently about 30,000 of them in federal holding centers; a number wild horse advocates blame on careless management.

To gear up for the summer Olympic Games in less than a month, Beijing has rolled out new pollution-control measures. They're designed to cut the amount of vehicle exhaust and industrial pollution.

Republican John McCain says he supports nuclear power. Democrat Barack Obama says it shouldn't be taken off the table. But the issue is a delicate one, and both presidential candidates have chosen their words with care.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has passed a resolution urging governments to phase out bottled water in city buildings. Scott Simon talks with Martin J. Chavez, mayor of Albuquerque, N.M., and one of the co-authors of the resolution.

The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers who own environmentally important areas to leave them idle. But in recent years, the demand for crops such as corn has prompted calls to put many of these protected wildlands back under the plow.

We meet a family who helped organize the largest gathering of hybrid car owners in the country. The event will occur this weekend in Madison, Wis. Participants share fuel-saving tips.

Thousands of megawatts of solar-generated power might not see the light of day if Congress doesn't act soon. Ira Flatow also looks at how you can bring solar to your sockets faster, without taking out a second mortgage.

Earthrace circumnavigated the globe in just 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes – 14 days less than the fastest previous time for a powerboat. And they did it all with biofuels, including some converted from human fat removed via liposuction.