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The real cost is the cost of doing nothing

That's always the mantra: Serious climate policy is too pricey, especially in this economy.

To that I say: Watch this excellent video from King 5 News. (It's almost 16 minutes long, but well worth it.) The impacts of climate change, such as flooding, carry a very steep cost. And judging by the video, the costs aren't mostly borne by the rich -- they're paid for by those who can least afford it.

I want to be perfectly clear.The floods in Western Washington -- this year and in several recent years -- are completely consistent with what the climate science has been predicting for the Northwest. It doesn't really matter whether these particular floods are the direct result of global warming (that's an untestable hypothesis),what matters is that this is exactly what we should expect in the future. If the scientists are right, get ready for more.

So if you think carbon pricing is too expensive, just wait until you see the bill for failing to put a price on carbon.

Consumer Reports knocks plug-in hybrid Hymotion L5 conversion kit on efficiency, value

Is a product doomed if the highest praise its evaluators can offer is "viable"?

In the February issue of Consumer Reports, CR editors tested a 2008 Toyota Prius equipped with a Hymotion L5 conversion kit sold by A123 systems of Watertown, Mass. The conversion kit failed to deliver its promised 100 mpg, but did spike the prius' average efficiency of 42-mpg up to 67 mpg for the first 35 miles of driving. But at a $11,000 a pop, CR concluded that the kit "won't save the consumer money overall."

For the truly plugged-in, however, Hymotion's lithium-ion battery conversion kit is only one of the first forays into the world of commercial plug-ins. Here in the states, 3Prong Power of Berkeley, Calif. offers a conversion with old-fashioned lead-acid batteries that promises a 10-mile all-electric range for a more affordable $6,700. And around the Pacific Rim, Chinese automaker BYD Auto presented the world's first mass-produced plug-in hybrid in December of 2008.

(h/t: autobloggreen)

Wherein I praise the mainstream media from the back of an airborne porcine vehicle

I was bashing on Newsweek the other day, and in general that magazine really is weak on climate/energy issues.

Lest you think I'm just a hater of old media, however, I should point out that Newsweek competitor Time has been doing fantastic stuff on green issues lately, mainly thanks to the tag team of Michael Grunwald and Bryan Walsh.

Black lung is back!

"After a couple of years, something changed. I began to see the type of disease that was only in the textbooks -- this massive fibrosis, where the lung is basically destroyed. It's nothing but black scar tissue. I was incredulous. And it was young people. It wasn't the older miners. I thought, something is wrong here. We decided we'd better do some research."

-- Dr. Edward L. Petsonk, head of the black lung program for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, on the recent resurgence of the disease, once a scourge among coal miners but virtually eliminated in the 1970s

Green jobs: Boon for Native America

A network of over 250 Native American organizations recently issued an important challenge to the Obama administration for any green recovery plan: Look to the First Nations.

The reality is that the most efficient, green economy will need the vast wind and solar resources that lie on Native American lands. This provides the foundation of not only a green low carbon economy but also catalyzes development of tremendous human and economic potential in the poorest community in the United States -- Native America.

As the recent scandalous decision to expand coal strip mining on Black Mesa in northern Arizona revealed, Native Americans have been saddled with a toxic legacy of fossil fuel and uranium development.

According to the statement released by the Native organizations, including Honor the Earth, Intertribal Council On Utility Policy, International Indian Treaty Council, and Indigenous Environmental Network:

On the challenge of cellulosic ethanol

"There is only one problem: the United States is not producing any second-generation non-corn ethanol in significant quantities at the moment. So a whole new industry will have to be brought into existence within less than four years and become one of the largest industries in the United States within the next 10 years."

-- Reuters columnist John Kemp, "Obama's Biofuel Challenge"

Greenish phone from Motorola underwhelms

It's not as cool as talking into a tin can, but thanks to Motorola, soon you can talk into recycled water bottles. Or at least a phone partially made of them. The Moto W233 Renew, which was unveiled in Vegas last week at the Consumer Electronics Show, features a faint lime hue and the delicate, lingering scent of greenwashing.

In case you'd like a side of token eco gestures with your heavy metals, Motorola invested in carbon offsets and printed the important advertising messages instructions on 100 percent postconsumer recycled paper. The company is also providing a postage-paid envelope so you can return your old phone for recycling. (And if that rings a bell -- snap! -- it's because groups like Inform also provide pre-paid mailing labels so your old phone doesn't have to join the 80 percent of discarded cell phones that sleep with the trashes.)

Lou Dobbs leaves CNN viewers dumber about climate change

"Yes," you say, "I know Lou Dobbs is a knuckle-dragger when it comes to immigration and Latinos. But is he similarly idiotic when it comes to climate change?"

Here's your answer:

A mild reminder in the Gaza chaos that war is not green

It's been challenging to keep my brain on green issues when there's this huge social justice issue called "Israel's great adventure into Gaza," for which I struggle to find the best indignant word, happening. Instead, a fine reminder that war is the opposite of sustainable: Corporate Watchdog Radio's recent podcast [mp3] on efforts to green the war machine -- an idiotic concept.

U.S. coal supply may last only 10-20 years

The imminent reality of peak oil production should be clear to all by now.

Now some very serious people are suggesting that there is a lot less accessible coal out there than most folks believe. If we are nearing peak coal (and peak oil), then we would need to embrace the rapid transition to a clean energy economy almost as urgently as we need to embrace it to avoid destroying the climate.

Let's start with the U.S. Geological Survey's stunning 131-page analysis from December, "Assessment of Coal Geology, Resources, and Reserves in the Gillette Coalfield, Powder River Basin, Wyoming" [big PDF]:

The Gillette coalfield, within the Powder River Basin in east-central Wyoming, is the most prolific coalfield in the United States. In 2006, production from the coalfield totaled over 431 million short tons of coal, which represented over 37 percent of the Nation's total yearly production.

The "total original coal resource in the Gillette coalfield" without applying any restrictions, "was calculated to be 201 billion short tons." Then USGS subtracts out the inaccessible coal, and then mining and processing losses, which leaves 77 billion tons, and finally:

Coal reserves are the portion of the recoverable coal that can be mined, processed, and marketed at a profit at the time of the economic evaluation. With a discounted cash flow at 8 percent rate of return, the coal reserves estimate for the Gillette coalfield is 10.1 billion short tons of coal (6 percent of the original resource total) for the 6 coal beds evaluated.

Ouch! And this analysis was done at a time of soaring coal prices.