Last year, air travel and transport emerged as major contributors to global warming. Airlines and shipping companies are exploring a range of potential solutions in the face of legislation underway in Europe. Is it even possible for planes to be friendly to the skies?

PLEASANTON, -- The retailer's fleet uses more than 1,000 big rigs throughout its operations. The move will help Safeway avoid about 75 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Against a background of significant growth in air travel and aviation markets, and as a result of increasing awareness on the part of governments and the public with regard to climate change and its possible consequences, pressure is being placed on the aviation industry, and airlines in particular, to reduce aviation carbon emissions, writes industry consultant David Hodgkinson.

ABBOTT PARK, -- Health care giant Abbott is the first company to sign on to PHH GreenFleet, designed to improve vehicle efficiency and reduce fuel consumption among commercial fleets.

RICHLAND, -- If all the cars and light trucks in the nation switched from oil to electrons, idle capacity in the existing electric power system could generate most of the electricity consumed by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

SILVER SPRING, -- A new program to offset shipping-related carbon-dioxide emissions, Carbonfree Shipping, has been launched by Carbonfund.org.

New technologies and governmental pressure to reduce environmental impact have created a range of options for consumers looking to curb gas consumption.

ANN ARBOR, -- Con-way Freight, a subsidiary of Con-way Inc., has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's voluntary partnership to increase energy efficiency while significantly reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution.

OTTAWA, -- The Canadian Trucking Alliance, a federation of Canada's provincial trucking associations, has unveiled a 14-point action plan to drastically reduce smog and greenhouse gas emissions in the freight transportation sector.

Who killed the electric car? Who cares? It's history! What's far more interesting is who's working to bring electric cars to life. By Joel Makower

Cars built by the Big Three automakers gave off 230 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the United States in a year, more than the biggest U.S. electric utility, environmental researchers say.

U.S. automakers say they will double production of flexible-fuel vehicles by 2010, adding vehicles capable of running on ethanol blends and other biofuels and reducing dependence upon foreign oil.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are set to announce what a top official described as radical new environmental policies that could change the way America's ports operate.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled the first-ever series hydraulic hybrid diesel urban delivery vehicle, the result of a partnership between the EPA, UPS, U.S. Army, International Truck and Engine Corporation, and Eaton Corporation.