Ford announces record losses and a plan for the future; U.S. offshore windpower gets a boost; and high fuel prices mean fewer highway deaths.

Ford’s promised new products at a glance: After announcing the deepest quarterly losses in the company’s 105-year history, Ford Motor Company laid out sweeping changes in its future product line. The 2009 vehicles doesn’t look too promising, with a poorly timed Mustang revival and slightly more fuel efficient F-150 pickup. The 2010 model year will see a rollout of the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ midsize sedans. The Milan and Fusion will be available in hybrid versions. Ford will also provision the Taurus and a new Lincoln crossover vehicle with their new Eco-Boost engine. Finally, Ford will begin selling the popular European Transit Connect multipurpose van in North America sometime in 2010. (Forbes)

US to Sign Leases for Offshore Testing: Wide-scale testing of offshore alternative energy projects got a boost this week with the issue of 11 temporary leases by the US Minerals and Management Service. Most of the licenses will be for windpower projects. While they won’t allow for power generation — that step in the permitting comes later — the new leases will allow potential developers the opportunity to test a broad range of installation and site impact technologies. (Clean Edge)

Postal Service Wants To Green 90% Of Fleet: Back in May, we mentioned that the U.S. Postal Service was trying to formulate a plan for reducing the gasoline consumption of its sprawling delivery fleet. Now USPS says it finally has a goal in mind: replacing 90 percent of its gas-burning vehicles. General Motors has given USPS a Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell electric vehicle to road test. The Postal Service currently operates fewer than 5 thousand alternative fuel vehicles. (Environmental Leader)

First Solar To Build 10-Megawatt Photovoltaic Power Station: A company called First Solar will be building out a 10 megawatt solar photovoltaic power facility in Nevada. The interesting twist to the project is its co-location with a natural gas-burning plant, which will allow for the shared use of transmission lines. First Solar plans to use thin film technology in the construction of the plant. (Celsias)

Traffic fatalities drop as gas prices increase: Here’s one fortunate side-effect of high fuel prices — fewer traffic deaths. The National Safety Council says fatalities in May were down 9 percent compared to the previous year. While not statistically certain, the decrease is probably due to motorists choosing to do less driving. The last time traffic deaths dropped so sharply was in 1973 and 1974 — the peak of the Arab Oil Embargo. (Autoblog Green)