But Japanese automakers are beating Americans to the punch, even with much less government support. Honda and Toyota have already begun mass-producing hybrid cars that get between 50 and 70 miles to the gallon. An estimated 20 million people in rural areas of the U.S. burn trash in their backyards, according to EPA surveys. Backyard burning may emit as many dioxins and furans as all the nation's municipal waste incinerators combined, said Dwain Winters, director of the EPA's Dioxin Policy Project. While large oil spills threaten sea birds off the coast of France and in a Turkish shipping channel this week, scientists are warning that even small oil spills may harm marine bird populations to a much greater degree than previously thought.
Marine birds are slow to reproduce, and they're migratory.
Sydeman said a growing body of evidence indicates that there's no such thing as a minor oil spill. All rights reserved.