KOHALA COAST, HAWAII—Mauna Lani Resort has been named one of the “World’s Top Earth-Friendly Getaways” by Conde Nast Traveler magazine in its January 2008 issue. The award winning Big Island green resort was recognized as one of the world’s top luxury, eco-friendly beach destinations, and is the only beach resort in the United States named in the collection.

Unofficially the United States is now in an economic recession. Investment bankers Merrill Lynch say so.

Officially, the US may not be in recession for months. That kind of announcement usually comes from the White House, but since this a presidential election year, and the party of the sitting president usually is ousted when there’s bad economic performance, the Oval Office will be slow to admit a downturn.

WWF and the government of Abu Dhabi today launched a Sustainability Strategy to deliver the world’s greenest city.

Masdar City will be the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city, meeting or exceeding a set of stringent sustainability goals established under the “One Planet Living™” programme established by WWF and environmental consultancy BioRegional.