"Rose Parade Moving at a Crawl Toward Being Green"

"It was September, and the Tournament of Roses was proud of its newly signed sponsor, American Honda Motor Co. The automaker, promoters said, not only was the first-ever presenting sponsor, it was "employing Honda's innovative environmental technologies to help the Rose Parade function more efficiently and reduce its carbon footprint."

Leading Saturday's 122nd Tournament of Roses will be a 35-foot fairy tale castle called "A World of Dreams," the first float to be powered by fuel-efficient hybrid technology. And the pace car will be the fuel-sipping Honda CR-Z.

But behind the World of Dreams will be a whirl of planet-warming emissions: 46 floats powered by V-8 engines, some supplemented with gasoline-powered motors for moving parts, that are expected to burn through about 800 gallons of gasoline by the time they finish their 2.5-mph cruise along the 5.5-mile route. Mixed in are 80 auxiliary trucks, 145 fleet cars and dozens of law enforcement vehicles — all of them powered solely by old-fashioned fossil fuels."

Louis Sahagun and P.J. Huffstutter report for the Los Angeles Times December 31, 2010.