Are Hybrids All Hype?Brendan I. Koerner takes readers' questions about buying a new fuel-efficient car vs. a used gas-guzzler.

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The only other car that compares based on miles per gallon is the Honda Civic—but the Civic has one killer flaw in that it lacks a folding rear seat. That is just a deal-killer for a small car. There just isn't any other hybrid vehicle available at this time that compares favorably to it (although I could see buying the Escape if you needed the extra space).

Brendan Koerner: Yeah, I just want to reiterate that the Prius isn't just a good hyrbid—it's a good car, period. It's not the perfect car for every family, and there's a price premium, but it's remarkably well-designed and provides a truly enjoyable ride. I'm not saying that we should all be driving Priuses, but I'd encourage the knee-jerk critics to take one for a test drive. I think most honest car enthusiasts will admit that it provides a good driving experience, whatever they think of the car's appearance, etc.

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Rockville, Md.: It is easy to see if one has a "big" vehicle or a small one. That should be enough to see who uses the most fuel. My ride is a '91 Mazda—still runs very well. Hybrid or not is splitting hairs—I live at a Metro stop, and last year my gas cost less than $15 a month.

Brendan Koerner: Access to mass transit is always key. But I'm curious about how long it takes for light-rail projects, in particular, to pay off environmentally. I'm originally from Los Angeles, where untold billions were spent on a light-rail system that enjoys, at best, modest ridership. I'd be curious to know the environmental payoff of all that capital—the system certainly hasn't stopped gridlock on the freeways. (It has made it easier for me to attend Clippers games, though.)

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Washington: I know this isn't your area, but a number of bills in Congress that would encourage states to plan for the effects of global warming on their coastlines are stuck in the Senate, primarily Sen. Maria Cantwell's Climate Change Awareness Act and Sen. Olympia Snowe's Coastal Zone Management Act reauthorization. Can't we move those bills?

Brendan Koerner: My hunch is that these might take awhile, given that Congress seems somewhat atrophied as we await the outcome of the presidential race. I actually need to read these bills in detail, and find out exactly what they say. It seems like a smart idea on the surface, but the devil could be in the details.

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Portland, Ore.: 'Smug' Prius owners ... please. I was considering buying a Prius last month when I lost my head thinking gas would reach $7 by Christmas—it had nothing to do with any sense of superiority, just my sense of being a tightwad. In fact, outside of my glee at the gas savings and a deliberate energy conservation measure on my part, I was depressed about how unattractive I think the car is and how limited the color choices were ... I was not excited in any way about getting a new toy. So there may be owners of Priuses who buy because of a sense of status, but you can say that about anything.

Brendan Koerner: I'm convinced that gas prices are only going to inch up in the coming months and years, to get more in line with those in other parts of the developed world. It will be interesting to see how, say, $5 or $6 per gallon gas really starts to affect consumer choices—as well as the R&D of automakers and others.

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Alberquerque, N.M.: What are some of your favorite Web watering holes (places you hang out, or go to get information)?

Brendan Koerner: Aside from the usual eco-suspects, I do my best to keep apprised of scientific and technological innovation on sites such as Scienceblogs.com and Wired.com. (Full disclosure: I'm a contributing editor at Wired.) I also keep track of all the major peer-reviewed journals, which have increasingly started tackling eco-topics.

I also enjoy Andrew C. Revkin's "Dot Earth" blog at the New York Times.

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Boston: So how smug should I feel about taking the bus most days? I usually think the bus is zero-emission for myself—it would be driving the route whether I was on it or not, so my presence adds nothing. Should I really try to bike instead, or would the extra energy from heating water for a shower offset that?

Brendan Koerner: Excellent question about mass transit. A reader recently asked how many passengers a bus has to carry in order to "break even" with the planet. I hope to tackle that question soon.

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Alexandria, Va.: Is it economical to throw a bunch of solar cells on the top of my house in order to fuel an electric commuter car?

Brendan Koerner: Solar power is a topic I've yet to tackle in the column, for reasons I can't possibly explain. I've recently read that solar-panel production is shockingly energy-intensive, but I'll have to investigate that claim. My hunch is that, in the particular scenario you propose, the car may require so much power that the solar panels will be a net energy loser—at least for the several years. But that's just a hunch, and I promise to take a closer look in the coming months.

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