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The very real problem of global warming has an affect on us all, whether we like to admit it or not. Imaginary scientists and charlatans love to tell the population that global warming is not only a myth but that it is a natural cycle of the earth, adding that we’ve encountered these cycles before and nothing has changed. These deceivers project their own special interests, claiming that global warming is part of a broad political conspiracy to gain control over large groups of the populous and apparently to force those large groups to…take better care of the world?

Oh, the horror!

Global warming is very real. There is not one reputable scientist on the face of the earth that denies basic global warming science. Some fringe scientists fight and quibble about the “human cause” of global warming and how responsible our species is, claiming that we don’t know just how responsible “we” are. How those scientists imagine we can pump noxious gases and pollutants into the ecosystem and not have an effect on the environment is beyond me, but I’m not a scientist.

Many pundits and so-called experts often decry global warming as “fear mongering,” but these are usually the individuals that also claimed that Saddam Hussein had WMDs and that large groups of Islamofacists are going to arrive on the shores of the good ol’ USA with nukes and are going to kill us all because they hate our freedoms. Fact is, nobody knows the fear game quite like the brethren from the Holy Church of the Right.

So what does all of this fear mongering and doublespeak have to do with your car and how you drive? A while back we did a series called “Drive Smart.” The series revealed basic tips and hints behind getting more out of your automobile and gave some ammunition to those tired of the “debunking” crowd working hard to keep drivers drowning in big oil and bigger subsidies.

With this series, we’re going to spend the next few days going over the dangers of global warming and reviewing how problematic it can be to simply ignore the conventional scientific knowledge.

As always, we will offer suggestions as to how to curb the dangers of global warming. The suggestions usually start and end with a visit to a car dealer, such as a local Scion dealer, to learn more about vehicles that are better on the pocketbook and the environment.

A new partnership between Last.fm and Pontiac could be great news for new Vibe owners.

First of all, have you heard of Last.fm? If not, it’s a great website where you can log on, type in the name of a song and listen to it immediately. I haven’t tested it out extensively, but I’ve typed in a few obscure songs and it played each one of them.

With the < href=http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3629909>new partnership with this CBS-owned website, Vibe owners have access to their own "virtual Pontiac dashboard." They visit the website, click on the site’s logo and the music begins. You can even switch between different genres with the click of a button.

While you’re boppin’ your head to the music, you can view other information related to the Pontiac brand. Local Pontiac dealer locations, features and comparison of different Vibe models are just a few of the things you’ll find here. It’s all part of the "Pontiac Vibe Community" created on Last.fm.

According to Christian Ward, the public relations manager for Last.fm, the website decided to team up with Pontiac because the automaker has been "innovators in the digital music space for years."

In addition to viewing all types of information related to Pontiac, you can also register to win some valuable prizes with a unique concept. Instead of filling out a generic form, you can win an iPod by leaving messages in the website’s "shoutbox" about the longest distance you’ve ever gone just to get to a concert. For me, that would be the time I drove from Flint, Michigan to Cleveland, Ohio for a Hootie and the Blowfish concert. Or it could also be the time I took my crush to a Dave Matthews concert in Dayton, Ohio only to find out once we got there that it was about three hours away (with traffic) in Columbus. We got there in time to catch the last three songs.

With China holding the United States’ future and currency in the palm of its hand, it shouldn’t be too surprising that a shift in what they do over there would cause major tremors over here in North America. So when China announced that they were raising gas prices, the tremors felt over here were instant, bold, and compelling.

For starters, the oil prices sank like a stone. This major shift came as China announced Thursday that it was going to lift subsidies that have been blamed by experts for driving oil prices higher. The move will likely curb demand from China’s rapidly growing economy.

Crude oil for July delivery fell $4.75 to settle at $131.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as a result. China’s National Development and Reform Commission said that prices of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel will increase by 8% beginning Friday. The reaction of United States markets to this shift will likely be sudden and sweeping.

The news came as a shock to many analysts, who had expected China to simply follow the lead of other oil consuming countries that have lifted subsidies in recent weeks. The idea that the shift comes in the weeks before the Olympics seems to have added insult to injury in the minds of many brokers. Nevertheless, the markets will be interesting to watch on Friday.

Strong demand from China’s economy regarding crude oil and gas has been a driving force in the markets. While much of the United States’ attention has been on the Middle East, it has been China that has been driving a lot of the prices. American investors would do well to have a broader global perspective in dealing with the markets.

As for the local consumers, changes are always in order when something like this happens. This news not only reinforces the idea that America’s fuel markets are being played by other puppets, but it also reinforces the idea that Americans need to take their own power back. That means driving smarter and using more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Start by dropping by a Scion dealer and looking at a more fuel efficient car. You’ll be glad you did and, you never know, you’ll probably even feel more American…

Remember the days of the muscle car? Those great days may soon go away, but not if Pontiac has anything to say about it.

Despite gas prices, Pontiac recently released the G8 GT . This is a muscle car that doesn’t get the best gas mileage, but you still get quite a bang for your buck. It has plenty of power that you simply can’t find in new cars nowadays with more than 360 horsepower and a six-speed V8. Remember when they used to measure a car’s significance by how fast it can go from zero to 60 mph? The G8 does it in just under six seconds.

Here’s something else you might like about the G8: If you’re uncomfortable with they power and muscle, you can get a "less muscular edition," or a G8 lite. It has a smaller engine (V6 instead of a V8) which gives you slightly better gas mileage. But reviewers say the increased gas mileage isn’t enough to warrant getting the cheaper version. You might as well stick with the full-on muscular version.

Car and Driver said the Pontiac G8 is quite spacious and agile. It has a muscular appearance that any car enthusiast would appreciate. Reviewers at C&D even said it’s the best thing to happen to Pontiac since KITT was a Pontiac Trans Am in the 1980s TV show Knight Rider.

Sound interesting? Your local Pontiac dealer undoubtedly has some of these sitting on their lot right now. And with people shying away from muscle cars in recent months, you can probably get a great deal on one. Test drive one today and see what I mean.

It was bound to happen and it is bound to continue to happen time and time again. Canada’s inflation rate took another leap in the wrong direction, jumping to 2.2% in May from 1.7% in the previous month according to reports recently released by Statistics Canada. May marked the second consecutive monthly jump in the inflation rate and a sharp rise in the consumer price index. It also marked the most significant increase since January 2007.

“The acceleration in consumer prices in May was mainly a reflection of the 12-month increase in gasoline prices,” the report said. “This acceleration in gasoline prices occurred as crude oil prices almost doubled between May 2007 and May 2008. Gasoline prices increased substantially across the country, rising the most in Quebec and Ontario.”

Naturally the impact felt by most Canadians has been in the gas prices.

Statistics Canada said gas prices rose 15% in May from a year earlier, up from a year-on-year pace of 11.6% in April. Excluding gasoline prices, the 12-month growth in the CPI in May was 1.6%. Ouch.

Down in the United States, of course, things aren’t too much better. Gas prices continue to climb, but Canadians continue to flock to the border in some places to catch the difference. The border lineups in our area are quite extensive, as my wife well knows, and are filled with people going down to the United States to save a few bucks on gas.

With no real end in sight, are there any easy answers? No.

The only answers require a significant change in consumer lifestyle. Consumers have the power and the responsibility to change. The problem is that most consumers often feel powerless and feel literally “consumed” by misinformation and propaganda coming from corporations with special interests and from governments with their hands in the public coffers. The only option is changing the course.

Part of changing the course means driving a car that makes more sense and changing some lifestyle habits. Luckily there are companies that are listening. Toyota is one of those companies and, together with the Yaris, the Toyota Scion is a car that can go a long way as to changing gas mileage and its harmful effects on the consumer pocketbook. Drop by a Scion dealer today and check it out. For Canadians, it may well be worth a trip down South, as the Scion isn’t yet available in Canada.

Did you ever read George Orwell’s 1984? If so, you probably look at headlines like this and immediately think of Big Brother (and I don’t mean the CBS reality show). But in an effort to make the roads safer for everybody, engineers are working on ways to make cars take over some of the responsibilities of driving.

Right now, newer cars will already tell you things like when they need an oil change or some other service. But can you imagine your car telling you when you should pull over and get some sleep? Or how about your car telling you to get something to eat?

At MIT, engineers are working on technology that automakers can use in cars to monitor the driver. They built a prototype – the Agelab’s Aware Car – that monitors the car’s statistics as well as the driver’s. Sensors are mounted in the dashboard to monitor the driver’s breathing rate, heart rate, sugar levels and even blood pressure. When these levels seem askew, the car warns you that you should do something about it before you lose your concentration and risk getting into an accident.

Another interesting thing about this concept is that the Department of Transportation is contributing to the project. With more and more aging drivers on the road, we can use technology like this to protect everybody on the highways and side streets.

If this type of thing scares you, don’t worry. You won’t find it anywhere near your local Pontiac dealer for several more years. Visit one today before the cars of the future arrive and nag you about your driving habits.

With huge wave in small cars and gas-sippers, some car companies are experiencing a new kind of problem. They’re running out of cars to sell.

The problem with many of the hybrid and fuel-economy cars that are hitting car lots as of late is that there aren’t enough of them in production. So while Ford is closing down SUV plants and GM is shutting out workers, other car companies are scrambling for more facilities to meet the growing consumer demand. The other side of the story in terms of the recession and the factory lockouts is a very real issue of not having enough vehicles or vehicle-making facilities.

A prime example of this is the top-selling Toyota Prius. This hybrid is selling like hotcakes, to put in mildly, and car dealers are running out of cars. Dealers like Mike Ross at Palmiero Toyota/Scion in Meadville are offering test drives of the Prius for consumers who simply come on their lot. The problem as of late has been that there haven’t been any models of the car to offer up for the test drive. There just aren’t enough to go around!

Mike says that most prospective drivers of the Prius wind up just putting their names on an increasing list and wait their turn. Many people are trading in larger clunkers and SUVs for the Prius or the popular Toyota Scion, which is creating another problem. The backlog of used trucks and SUVs will one day reach its boiling point, too. This is an issue that will need to be addressed, of course. Will anybody be buying these used SUVs soon? Doubtful.

At this point, dealers like Mike Ross are claiming that they could sell 20-25 Prius hybrids a month and who knows how many Scions. But due to the fact that the production of the cars isn’t coming fast enough or with enough volume, Mike’s sales are limited to what he has available.

Drop by your local Scion dealer today and find out if there are any left. If not, you’ll be waiting like the rest of us!

I remember the days when we would stand around and talk about how gas will never reach $2 a gallon. Those were the days, weren’t they? After it reached $2 a gallon, we’d stand around and talk about how it would never reach $3 a gallon. Now, nothing surprises me. Even when predictions say we’re going to hit $5 a gallon gas just after Labor Day, I say, “I believe it completely.”

Maybe I’m so ready to believe it because where I live, I already pay about $4.65 a gallon. Maybe I believe it because the price has practically doubled in the last two years. But I believe it could happen and it probably will. Do you believe it?

One prediction I read was from a guy who predicted when gas would reach $4. At first he predicted the $4 mark by figuring out we were paying an average of a penny more every day. On June 9, he predicted the same thing – gas prices would go up by about a penny each day. And the national average on that day was $4.02. As such, that means it’s going to hit $5 by September 15.

Hopefully, he’s wrong though. By the time that day rolls around, Labor Day will be over by nearly two weeks. And since the summer driving season will come to a close by then, demand will drop drastically. That usually brings prices down, but it doesn’t seem like the prices have followed any type of logic lately.

But it’s really out of our hands. With 10 million vehicles being sold in China alone this year, the possibility of hurricanes and the Middle East controlling the prices, all we can do is pay the price. So why not enjoy it? Visit a local Pontiac dealer and get the car of your dreams. We’re all in this mess together. We might as well have some fun while we’re at it.

A lot of the technology today is pushing forward for hybrid cars and even further forward to electric cars. While these are all good moves, many companies complain that they are unable to pursue the latest technology because of budgetary issues. Ford, for instance, claims to need government assistance to work with its plug-in hybrid. Lamborghini refuses to meet EU emissions standards and claims that they don’t make enough cars to have to meet global pollution standards. Everyone, it seems, is making excuses.

One company not making excuses is Toyota. With lots of company interest toward producing affordable and environmentally sound vehicles, Toyota is pushing other car companies to produce better, more efficient cars.

Using advances in engine design and hybrid technology, Toyota has a wide selection of vehicles that are fast becoming known as “fuel sippers” in that they take a little amount of fuel to go a long way. Toyota boasts the best overall fuel economy of any other manufacturer of automobiles.

With gas prices blasting through the roof, it’s nice to know that there is a company with seven models that meet EPA-rated highway fuel economy standards of 30 mpg. The Toyota Camry, Camry Hybrid, Solara, Corolla, Matrix, Yaris, and Prius all meet these standards, with the Prius being the top-selling hybrid in the United States of America.

Toyota can now boast eight models that meet the EPA standards, as the Toyota Scion xD has just been added to the list. The model is proving immensely popular among younger drivers and is offering great gas mileage.

Toyota’s use of various key pieces of new technology has made driving a Scion xD a whole lot of fun. With improvements in fuel injection technology and transmission enhancements, the days of smaller cars being less enticing are certainly behind us. Companies like Toyota are in tune with the changing demands of the consumer, which is why they are also one of the most popular car companies in the world.

Drop by a Scion dealer today and see what you’re missing out on.

Gas prices are even starting to affect the shut-ins. How can the price of gas affect people who can’t even drive, you ask? The Meals on Wheels program is a charitable service that delivers meals to senior citizens and disable people who simply can’t get to the store by themselves.

As you probably guessed, the program is adversely affected because of the rising gas prices. Since the “wheels” part of the program uses vehicles to deliver the food, it’s costing this non-profit organization more money to fill the vans up and reach the shut-ins. Instead of delivering warm meals throughout the week (and who doesn’t like a fresh, warm meal?), the service is starting to deliver one warm meal at the beginning of the week and several frozen ones so they don’t have to come back for a few days.

But that’s not the only problem the service is running into. In addition to rising gas prices, food prices are also going up. That puts an extra pinch on the pockets of the Meals on Wheels program. According to a spokesperson at an Albuquerque branch, the service’s costs are increasing each week, making it more difficult to reach the people who need the service the most.

Do you know any elderly people who can’t get out and go shopping like you can? If so, why not do your own Meals on Wheels program? First, get a new or used fuel-efficient vehicle from your local Pontiac dealer . Then, get some groceries and cook a few simple meals. Even if you’re just helping out your grandparents, you’re doing a valuable service. You’ll feel good about yourself and the people you help will appreciate more than you’ll ever know.