New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday his plan to replace every cab in the city with a hybrid by 2012. The city now has 375 hybrids among its fleet of 13,000 taxis.

The standard taxi in NYC is the Ford Crown Victoria getting only about 14 mpg. The hybrid is the perfect option for use as a taxi, running completely on battery power while idling or at slow speeds. This plan is part of the city’s goal of a 30% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

Slowly but surely it looks like governments are taking action. Let’s watch for other cities to follow suit. Learn more at msnbc.com.

Everyone loves to hate Wal-Mart, but the world’s largest retailer has been in the news for their environmental efforts.

Wal-Mart has recently set a goal of reducing their greenhouse emissions by 30% over the next four years and solid waste by 25% in the next three years and an eventual goal of using only renewable power. Here are some of the ways they plan to accomplish this:

• Currently taking proposals for the installation of solar systems for up to 340 stores in five states.
• Pledging to increase the fuel efficiency of its vehicles by 25%.
• Planning to reduce excess packaging by five percent by 2013. (this would be equal to removing 213,000 truck from the road, and saving approximately 324,000 tons of coal per year.)
• Experimenting with a ‘green’ roof on one of its Chicago stores featuring hardy native plants.

Some other steps Wal-Mart has already taken and plan on taking in the near future to be more environmentally friendly include:

• Currently recycling one billion plastic hangers every year.
• World’s largest buyer of organic cotton.
• Largest seller of organic milk, with plans on stocking more organic food.
• Planning to double their sales of compact fluorescent light bulbs - selling at least one to each of its 100 million customers.
• Requiring electronic suppliers to fill out scorecards grading their own environmental impact that will be available to customers.
• Switching to corn-based plastic packaging for some of their grocery items.
• Considering selling ethanol in its new gas stations.

Some might say Wal-Mart is doing all this just to get their name in the news or to clean up their image, but does it matter? I for one will be keeping an eye on my local Wal-Mart.

For Wal-Mart’s report on their plans to go green, click on walmartfacts.com.

The New Walmart.com Home Page

This might be the only way to get some people to change their ways.

A California legislator wants to ban incandescent light bulbs as a part of California’s plan to reduce greenhouse gases. If passed, the “How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb Act” would ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012.

…it would be another pioneering environmental effort in California, the most populous U.S. state. It became the first state to mandate cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, targeting a 25 percent reduction in emissions by 2020.

To read the entire article visit enn.com.

New Jersey and Australia also have plans in the works to ban the standard bulb. Australia would like to phase them out by 2009. New Jersey, home state of the light bulb’s inventor, Thomas Edison, would like to switch to fluorescent lighting in government buildings over the next three years.

Something as simple as changing a light bulb could be the easiest way to make the biggest difference on your personal carbon footprint.