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About a week ago I did a short post on Prius/oil-related matters that seemed to irritate a few folks. I hadn't noticed until today that our occasional contributor (and pundit nonpareil) Clark Williams-Derry posted a response. He seemed to be approaching the question the same way some other people did, so I thought I'd offer a reply.

To recap:

A Wall Street Journal editorial (sub.) said this:

Petroleum not consumed by Prius owners is not "saved." It does not stay in the ground. It is consumed by someone else. Greenhouse gases are still released.

Treehugger's Lloyd Alter said (I paraphrase): What a jerk.

I said (again paraphrasing): Yes, he's a jerk, but on this narrow point, he's right.

Several commenters thought I was making a point about the futility of energy conservation generally. But I wasn't -- the point is about oil in particular.

Bart, and at greater length Clark, mentioned the "rebound effect," whereby reduced demand lowers price, which subsequently raises demand. Both of them make the point that although the rebound effect is real, demand only bounces back about 30-50%. So, while using less oil may not make the total efficiency gains you'd want, it does make some efficiency gains. It does save some oil.

To which I say: For "energy" generically, yes. For electricity, yes. For something like coal, where supply is plentiful, yes. But oil?

Obama ’08?

As a confirmed Obamaphile, I feel obliged to note that speculation is afoot.

Bush accentuates nuke positives, inspires malefactors everywhere

George W. Bush developed an interesting habit this year when he talked about energy. In his speeches, words like “oil,” “coal,” and “natural gas” shivered in the dark with no adjectives, while “nuclear power” consistently got two. Bush used this spiffy phrase in, among other places, his State of the Union address and a spring […]

A must-read investigation into the lives of foreign guest workers in America’s public forests

Speaking of must-read pieces of journalism, don't miss the Sacramento Bee's three-part story about pineros.

Pineros ("men of the pines") are the Latinos that do the dirty, exhausting work in America's forests.

A nine-month Bee investigation based on more than 150 interviews across Mexico, Guatemala and the United States and 5,000 pages of records unearthed through the Freedom of Information Act has found pineros are victims of employer exploitation, government neglect and a contracting system that insulates landowners - including the U.S. government - from responsibility.

The treatment of these workers is bad enough on its own, but is particularly egregious in the context of a government-run guest-worker program, on public land.

The Bee's package is not just a superior piece of journalism but a fine piece of web design -- it's an attractive site with judicious use of flash, audio, and video. Really a model to aspire to for all you budding environmental journalists out there.

Read it.

Ah-Ha California

California pushing ahead with ambitious plan to fight global warming Earlier this year, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) broke with the Bush administration’s do-nothing stance on global warming when he pledged that by 2050, his state would shrink its greenhouse-gas emissions to 80 percent of 1990 levels. On Thursday, the state’s Climate Action Team will […]

Into Thin Bear

New Jersey bear hunt gets under way New Jersey’s second bear hunt in 35 years kicked off yesterday despite last-minute attempts by activists to halt the six-day season. By Monday afternoon, 54 bears had been killed. Joisey’s growing bear population is estimated at 2,000 to 3,000, and human-bear encounters are increasing. Hunt advocates claim bear […]

The Long, Hot Summit

U.S. senators, E.U. ministers press Bush to join climate talks At the U.N. climate summit in Montreal, there’s increased pressure on the U.S. to join in — and when we say “pressure” we mean “begging.” On Monday, 24 senators, including four Republicans, sent President Bush an open letter asking the administration to participate in the […]

Show Us the Money

Throw a little cash toward Grist and absolve your eco-sins Grist readers are a guilt-ridden bunch. Your environmental peccadilloes are many, and you feel awfully bad about them. “I use bleach, thus transferring stains from my clothes to my soul,” confesses one angst-ridden person. “I suck at ironing so I take some of my clothes […]

Things are a’changin’ in the business world

BusinessWeek has a large and informative package of stories on the changing climate (har!) around climate change, both in the business world and in the halls of government. There are too many stories even to summarize here -- just go browse around.

One positive notion that crops up in several stories is that federal limits on CO2 emissions are inevitable. The science is solid and public opinion is squarely behind it, and in those circumstances there's only so long politicians can drag their feet (though a shout out here to the Bush administration, which has been amazingly effective at stalling, a perverse accomplishment of sorts). Businesses are already busy planning for it.

By planning and preparing now, [Cinergy CEO Jim] Rogers believes he'll position his company ahead of its competitors and make a positive contribution to the environment. In the utility sector, where plants take years to build and remain online for five or six decades, that has long-ranging consequences.

"Rather than all of a sudden having huge increases [when regulation hits], we need to smooth it out over the long term," says Rogers. "I want to make sure the decisions I make today on this C02 issue ensure that leaders of this company five decades from now will look back and say 'I'm really glad that guy positioned us that way'."

Also of particular interest -- and a refreshing change from typical media reports that say "business is coming around" but provide only scattered anecdotes -- BusinessWeek, Climate Group, and a panel of judges ranked companies based on their action so far on climate change. You can see a list of the top 10 overall performers as well as lists of the best management practices, best individual performers, and best financial-services companies.

This is a fantastic, comprehensive, balanced set of stories, and hopefully it will reach the right people.

It's hard to see sometimes, especially weeks like this when the U.S. is busy shaming itself at the Montreal conference, but the tide really is turning on global warming.

Even climate-change is a gender issue

Well, now, here's something I hadn't thought about: the relationship between gender and climate change. Immediately I want to roll my eyes (too much time at a women's college), but there seem to be many serious studies out there on this topic. I will investigate further. Any thoughts?