Yahoo! Adds Green Autos Section

Yahoo! recently added a "Green Cars" section to their big "Autos" directory of new & used cars, information on finance and other car-related research. They've done some interesting things: a "Green Rating" of 1 - 100 accompanies each car to determine each models' relative environmental friendliness; an overview of most of the technologies & fuels usually stamped with a green label, including hybrid, ethanol, biodiesel & natural gas; and a community where users can query others with green car questions and thoughts. Environmental Defense helped Yahoo! with the ratings, which include smog and greenhouse gas-related emissions, fuel type & fuel efficiency and the pollution caused from manufacturing. Debates about lifecycle impact of hybrid car batteries notwithstanding, four out of the top five cars by this ranking system are hybrids (2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, 2007 Toyota Prius, 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid & 2006 Toyota Prius), though they emphasize that the ratings are designed to be used as an "apples to apples" comparison system based on "government-certified data." For anyone considering a foray into the green(er) car market, the site has some good info about how cars stack up against one another, though it stops short of encouraging people to leave the keys behind. ::Yahoo! Green Autos via greenermiami at ::Hugg