Thursday, 24 Aug 2006

If oil is Paris Hilton, coal is Nicole Richie: just as skanky, but much less discussed. As methods for burning coal more cleanly attract the attention of politicians and regulators, Big Coal is involved in a massive, under-the-radar rush to build as many old, nasty plants as it can, while it can -- even in states that don't need the additional power. Carrie La Seur reports today on how locals in Iowa and Texas are standing up against the latest push.

Sticker Shock Absorber

Some hybrids can pay back their price premium over time

High price of hybrids got you down? According to the gurus at Edmunds.com, the cash some hybrid owners save on gas can make up for the sticker price. Hybrid cars and trucks cost between $1,200 and $7,000 more than their gas-chugging counterparts, but as analyst Alex Rosten says, "High gas prices and generous tax credits now offset the high sales prices of some hybrids, assuming owners keep their hybrids for a few years." We feel better already! According to Edmunds, owners of Toyota Prius and Ford Escape hybrids driving 15,000 miles a year and buying gas at the low, low price of $3 a gallon should break even -- compared to owners of comparable non-hybrid models -- after three years. But ya gotta hurry if you want to take advantage of the federal tax credit: once an automaker sells 60,000 hybrids, the hybrid credit begins to be phased out. The credit on Toyotas, for instance, will be halved after Sept. 30. Ah, yes, rewarding initiative and success with economic penalties: that's the kind of logic we like to see.


Nobody respects journalistic objectivity more than Grist, even when we're writing about scumbag pollutocrats and the spineless politicians who abet them. (Oops, slipped a little there!) We were curious what other environmental journalists thought about the balance between objectivity and advocacy, so we spoke with reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other major outlets. Do today's environmental crises make them want to cross the line into activism?

Hu's Fine Is It, Anyway?

China considers fining media outlets for disaster reporting

Advancing their reputation as fun-loving goofballs, Chinese officials are considering a new law that would allow local governments to fine media outlets up to $12,500 for reporting on environmental disasters and other emergencies without permission or in a way that "causes serious consequences." Officials have been embarrassed by a string of disaster reports in the media; most have concerned coal-mining accidents, of which there were 3,341 last year, and some have inspired legal action. In the past few years, under President Hu Jintao's goal to "build a harmonious society," officials have clamped down on the press, refusing to talk about a factory explosion that dumped 100 tons of toxic chemicals into the Songhua River, keeping media from the site of a gas explosion in a coal mine, banning respected journalists from their posts, and jailing two reporters. Despite the most recent threat, local journalists were not cowed. "Local government and those engaged in cover-ups should fine the media?" read one editorial. "Is this or is this not absurd?" Is.

Target Practice

BP fires up carbon-offset program

Oil giant BP, eager to show that it's Beyond (all the) Petroleum (it's leaked on the Alaskan tundra), has launched a carbon-offset program for drivers in the U.K. The new "targetneutral" website lets drivers log on to estimate their car's annual carbon dioxide emissions, then calculate how much they should shell out to offset that output. Donations go to five renewable-energy projects in India and Mexico, and if drivers registered with the program buy their gas (excuse us, petrol) at a BP station, the company will even match 'em. BP calculates that driving the average car 10,000 miles a year emits enough CO2 to fill a hot air balloon -- over four tons, approximately, which can be offset for less than $40 a year. It's like magic! Sir Jonathon Porritt, who will chair an independent advisory panel that will monitor targetneutral, says, "Helping everyone get more 'carbon literate' is something all oil companies will need to commit to in the very near future." Or they could focus on replacing corroded pipelines.