Daily Score Blog

Governor Kulongoski is warning Oregonians to prepare for drought this summer, though he won't make an official declaration until next week. The warning is not surprising given the low streamflows in the state. Check out the US Geological Survey map--red and orange dots represent very low stream levels.

Washington isn't doing any better. The snowpack available to Seattle City Light remains significantly below levels in 2001, the most recent drought year.

We recently reported on how "eco-friendly" labels on home cleaning products can be misleading. Here are some updates: Grist interviews Urvashi Rangan, who set up the Consumer's Union eco-labeling site; and Matthew Mill of Nature Conservancy of Idaho gives a good, brief overview of eco-labeling and its discontents.

On a related note, the Organic Consumers Association has a campaign for "organic integrity in body care products," with links to relevant information that may convince you to change how you stock your medicine cabinet.

Which states use the least gasoline?  Which ones have the best gas-conservation trends? Probably not who you'd think, at least for the latter question.

Based on Federal Highway Administration data covering 2001 through 2003, residents of New York State use the least gasoline, person for person, of any U.S. state:  about 0.8 gallons per person per day, vs. the national average of 1.2 gallons per person.  That's to be expected: New York City--which makes up a sizable chunk of the state's population--is among the densest cities in the country, which allows many of its residents to get by perfectly well without cars, except for the occasional taxicab.

The runners-up to New York were:  Hawaii--with high priced gas and surprisingly dense Honolulu--at .9 gallons per person per day; Rhode Island--dominated by urban Providence--at one daily gallon per capita; and Illinois--which has a significant share of residents in urban Chicago and its dense inner suburbs--with 1.1 gallons.  Oregon, Washington, and Idaho rank 8th, 12th, and 17th, respectively, in per capita gas consumption; but all three states are close to the national average.

The states that use the most gas are either predominantly rural, have particularly sprawling cities, or both.  Wyoming residents use the most gasoline (1.8 gallons per person per day), followed by residents of Georgia, South Carolina, and Vermont at about 1.5 gallons per capita.

Now, for the trend lines -- over the long term, which states are going in the right direction?  If you guessed Nevada, you hit the jackpot.

As the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports, professor Donald Shoup of UCLA has just released his magnum opus on the consequences of free parking. Judging by its table of contents, the book sounds important. Shoup is perhaps the world's leading expert on parking, so I'm optimistic. More when I've read it...

Why parking matters so much is summarized here (registration required).