Earlier this month, I shared six ways to cut gas prices forever. Surprisingly, boosting ethanol use was one of the more controversial points with readers and colleagues.

No, ethanol isn't the perfect fuel, far from it. The ethanol bashers have good points; the fuel's more energy-intensive to produce, and the Cato Institute says it's dirtier and costlier than gas.

However, ethanol's the only alternative fuel on my list that gives us a chance to use today's infrastructure with a different fuel that we can import cheaply from a friendly country in our own hemisphere. And the future potential of producing it stateside from biomass and grasses means it's time to plan now for a much larger ethanol piece of the pie.

Instead of dismissing the more than 6 million E85-capable vehicles on the road, we need to seek it out and make sure ethanol producers know it's in demand. If you have an E85-powered vehicle, why not try out how it works, boost sales, and give fuel makers the financial incentive to build the next generation of waste-derived ethanol plants? Here are four ways to find fuel for your E85-capable car or truck:

• OnStar: just push your magic blue button and ask where is the nearest E85-equipped station


• Mapquest: the Web-mapping site has the information, along with a gas-prices survey to find the cheaper alternative fuel


• Plan ahead by visiting the E85 manufacturer's Web site and find a station on your route before you leave


• Use your navigation system; systems like TomTom have the data included in their maps

You might even get a financial windfall if your state is underwriting the cost of an E85 vehicle or a fill-up. More important, you'll be sending a message around the world that we're ready for "real change"--the kind that comes from our wallets and pocketbooks.

Congratulations, Seattle--the men's magazine that tells guys every month how to eat like a supermodel has chosen your city as the home of the greenest commuters.

Men's Health magazine picks the Emerald City tops out of 100 towns based on an exotic equation that involves gas consumption, air quality, miles driven each year, and the fuel efficiency of the vehicle fleet in the area. Privacy hounds alert: The survey tapped into data from the National Transit Database, the American Lung Association, the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M, SimplyMap, and the Energy Information Administration.

Seattle placed tops, with Burlington, Vermont, in second place. The top five also included Portland, Oregon; Madison, Wisconsin; and Fargo, North Dakota. Towns that are "driving us to extinction," in their words, include Arlington, Texas; Yonkers, New York; El Paso, Texas; Riverside, California; and Birmingham, Alabama.

Drumroll, please? Here are the top 100 cities ranked by Men's Health's green grades:

1. Seattle, WA A+
2. Burlington, VT A+
3. Portland, OR A+
4. Madison, WI A
5. Fargo, ND A
6. Rochester, NY A
7. Minneapolis, MN A-
8. Spokane, WA A-
9. San Francisco, CA A-
10. Norfolk, VA A-
11. Boston, MA A-
12. Oakland, CA A-
13. Buffalo, NY A-
14. Miami, FL B+
15. Tucson, AZ B+
16. Orlando, FL B
17. Bangor, ME B
18. Anchorage, AK B
19. Newark, NJ B
20. Lexington, KY B
21. Jersey City, NJ B
22. Hartford, CT B
23. Fremont, CA B
24. Denver, CO B
25. Pittsburgh, PA B
26. Cleveland, OH B
27. Honolulu, HI B
28. Lincoln, NE B-
29. Richmond, VA B-
30. Aurora, CO B-
31. Durham, NC B-
32. Lubbock, TX B-
33. Des Moines, IA B-
34. Corpus Christi, TX B-
35. Salt Lake City, UT B-
36. Boise, ID B-
37. Sioux Falls, SD C+
38. Greensboro, NC C+
39. Providence, RI C+
40. Washington, DC C+
41. Tampa, FL C+
42. Baltimore, MD C+
43. Austin, TX C+
44. Wichita, KS C+
45. New York, NY C+
46. St. Louis, MO C+
47. Kansas City, MO C+
48. Philadelphia, PA C+
49. Milwaukee, WI C
50. Jacksonville, FL C
51. Chicago, IL C
52. Baton Rouge, LA C
53. St. Paul, MN C
54. Columbia, SC C
55. Las Vegas, NV C
56. Raleigh, NC C
57. San Jose, CA C
58. Jackson, MS C-
59. St. Petersburg, FL C-
60. Phoenix, AZ C-
61. San Diego, CA C-
62. Atlanta, GA C-
63. Colorado Springs, CO C-
64. Cincinnati, OH C-
65. Sacramento, CA C-
66. Little Rock, AR C-
67. Dallas, TX C-
68. Albuquerque, NM C-
69. Fort Wayne, IN C-
70. Oklahoma City, OK C-
71. Omaha, NE C-
72. Billings, MT C-
73. Cheyenne, WY C-
74. Grand Rapids, MI C-
75. Bakersfield, CA D+
76. Modesto, CA D+
77. Wilmington, DE D+
78. Nashville, TN D+
79. Montgomery, AL D+
80. Memphis, MN D+
81. Columbus, OH D+
82. Detroit, MI D+
83. Anaheim, CA D+
84. Los Angeles, CA D+
85. Louisville, KY D+
86. Houston, TX D+
87. Manchester, NH D+
88. Toledo, OH D+
89. Charleston, WV D
90. Charlotte, SC D
91. Fresno, CA D
92. Tulsa, OK D
93. Indianapolis, IN D-
94. San Antonio, TX F
95. Fort Worth, TX F
96. Birmingham, AL F
97. Riverside, CA F
98. El Paso, TX F
99. Yonkers, NY F
100. Arlington, TX F

Mazda says it will boost the fuel economy of its vehicle lineup by 30 percent by 2015.

The Japanese automaker promises the new fuel economy levels will be reached in a "holistic" way. Lighter vehicle and component weights will help, as will the addition of stop/start technology to its gas-powered engines, starting in 2009.

Flex-fuel vehicles are also a part of the equation: Mazda says in 2009 it will get a flex-fuel vehicle for sale in North America (likely a Tribute crossover), and starting in 2011, its vehicles will also get direct injection for a 10 to 15 percent fuel economy boost.

Mazda also promises, as part of its goal, to introduce a new rotary engine and a new diesel engine in that span of time. By 2015, almost all the company's powertrains will be new, and after 2011, Mazda will be putting out vehicle architectures that cut weight by 220 pounds or more.

Mazda says its fuel economy in Japan increased 30 percent from 2001 to 2008, but the home market's stress on minicars and subcompacts gives all Japanese carmakers a boost there. In the U.S., the brand's latest victories have come with vehicles like the large CX-9 crossover.

Honda's first fuel-cell FCX Clarity rolled off a production line in Japan today--and one of the first five vehicles is headed to Jamie Lee Curtis.

Scream queen Curtis (Halloween, Freaky Friday) and her auteur husband Christopher Guest (For Your Consideration) are one of five U.S. families to take in the FCX fuel-cell vehicle as Honda experiments with how to build the car, expand its range, and extend the availability of hydrogen fuel. Other customers include film producer Ron Yerxa; business owner and car enthusiast Jim Salomon; actress Laura Harris; and Jon Spallino, who has been leasing a current-generation Honda FCX since 2005.

Honda set standards for its first batch of customers--mainly, that they be near a hydrogen filling station in Southern California and be near one of three dealers in the Southland that are equipped to service the car.

Earlier this year, Honda said it would deliver about 200 FCX Clarity sedans to customers in the United States and Japan in the first three years of production. The cars are leased to the users, and Honda will take care of the regular service calls as it monitors the car's performance in real-world conditions.

The FCX has a range of up to 280 miles on a tank of hydrogen fuel, gets the equivalent of 72 miles per kilogram of hydrogen, and seats five.

Is the world of plug-in hybrids about to go mainstream?

While General Motors has been aggressive in touting its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, Toyota's also been pushing the technology through the planning stages. This morning, the Associated Press reports, Toyota confirms that its plug-in hybrid will be ready for sale in 2010.

A new generation of lithium-ion batteries are enabling plug-ins from major manufacturers. Toyota's new high-capacity batteries go into production in 2009, the AP says. The new plug-in hybrids will be aimed primarily at lease customers and will be charged from home electrical outlets.

It's unknown whether the plug-in hybrids will be a version of the new Toyota Prius due in 2010 or an entirely new model. Toyota only confirms that it sees plug-in hybrids as part of a big green-car effort that will keep it growing as a manufacturer while helping to preserve the environment.

Earlier this week, Toyota showed a fuel-cell vehicle with twice the range of previous efforts. And last week, General Motors confirmed that it had approved its own plug-in hybrid, the Volt, for production. Nissan has announced its plans to produce electric vehicles in two years, while Honda has committed to building a new range of hybrids, including a gas-electric version of the Fit subcompact as well as a new Prius-like vehicle and a hybrid based on its CR-Z concept.