To save fuel, a return to 55 mph -- or a four-day workweek?

Warner, a Virginia Republican, says the 55 mph limit, in effect from 1974 to 1995, saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country's highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year. With more vehicles on the road now, Warner estimates even greater savings. Click here for the full story.

In Utah, 17,000 of 24,000 state workers will take part in the Monday-through-Thursday, 10-hour-a-day experiment. Turning off the lights, the heat and the air conditioning on Fridays in 1,000 of 3,000 government buildings will save about $3 million a year out of a state budget of $11 billion, the AP quoted state spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley as saying. The state's Department of Environmental Quality estimated employees in six buildings alone will save themselves more than $300,000 spent on gas to commute to work.

"We feel like we can reduce the CO2 or the ozone by around over 3,000 metric tons, as well as have an impact on our air pollution," Kim Hood, executive director of the Department of Administrative Services, told the AP. Here's the full story.

Other states are looking at the Utah experiment. Readers, should states in New England follow Utah's lead? What do you think of a return to a 55 mph speed limit? Have your say in our comments section below.

More energy-saving ideas are coming from governments closer to home. At least five of the largest communities north of Boston are trying to curb the use of take-home vehicles by municipal employees and cut the number of city-owned autos.

In Haverhill, Mayor James J. Fiorentini recently ordered a 15 percent cutback to his city's fleet of 60 take-home vehicles. Malden, Peabody, Revere, and Salem also are looking at how to put the brakes on their fleets, with Malden estimating it already has spent 20 percent more this budget year on fuel than last -- with a month more to go. Here's the full article by the Boston Globe's Erin Ailworth.