Anyone Want a Hybrid? - Greg Pollowitz - Planet Gore on National Review Online

According to this AP analysis, hybrids really never made sense, even with gas at $4:

It's hard to blame buyers when the 2009 Altima hybrid costs about $5,900 more than the standard version. The Altima hybrid improves combined city-highway fuel economy to 34 miles per gallon from 26 mpg in the standard four-cylinder. Even with gas at $4.11, where the national average peaked in July, a driver has to log nearly 159,000 miles to recoup the upfront cost. For someone who drives 15,000 miles annually, the gas savings is $558 a year. That's more than 10 1/2 years of driving — assuming the car lasts that long.

With gas at current prices, get ready for a 364,000 mile road trip to get your money back.

New Zealand: $10 million in climate change research funding announced

Over $10 million of new research designed to help the agriculture and forestry sectors adapt and respond to climate change has been given the green light.

The research will be funded from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's existing Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change fund.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister David Carter today announced the latest round of funding would go towards projects including technology for reducing methane emissions from cows and gauging the impact of climate change on trade and potential drought conditions.

Energy think tank publishes new report on causes of global warming - The Mainichi Daily News

Who is the real culprit behind global warming? The Japan Society of Energy and Resources (JSER) pits differing views from five researchers -- some who attribute the greenhouse effect to CO2 emitted by human activity and others who express skepticism towards the claim -- against each other in the latest issue of its journal.
...
...all but Emori disagreed with the IPCC assertion that "Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic GHG concentrations" -- in other words, that global warming is the result of human activity.