The states of Wyoming and Montana have huge tracts of coal which, under the current fervor of climate change have started to look less appealing both environmentally and economically. Right now, a huge percentage of the population of eastern Wyoming and Montana owe their economic viability to the existence of coal mining. Now, with new technology on the horizon, the future of those communities and the people in them  is beginning to look a little brighter. Turning coal into a clean fuel alternative would have huge implications to that region as well as to the environment around the world. I just say, more “power” to them – play on words intended.

At the end of last summer, Ford announced four new electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Now, it has provided a deeper look into its plans for rolling out a fleet of electric cars over the next few years – finally. It seems automakers (in general) have been slow to react to demand for “greener” vehicles. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the bureaucratic process they seem to have for designing and building new product lines – but that’s a story for another day.

One thing I like about Ford’s plans is their focus on a niche with the Transit Connect. I think that is smart – not only is that niche wide open, but they showcase small businesses in a very attractive way. The vehicle seems to solve a problem many small service businesses face today by putting a complete office and shop all together in a very mobile, “green” vehicle. Good niche, now stay focused on it.

I wrote an article earlier about convenience being an important factor to determine a recycling program’s effectiveness. I’d also like to add getting some sort of financial benefit. Successful recycling operations will provide both. And in case you think that there are a lot of people willing to “do the right thing” by recycling no matter what, here is another article that says otherwise. The scary thing with this one is the finding that people under 40 are less likely to recycle old cell phones unless there is an incentive – I thought it would be the other way around.

I recently wrote an article about why the price of scrap has risen when the demand for steel continues to languish. I offered my take on it and asked others to offer theirs. Well, it seems World Steel Dynamics has responded (ok, so they were probably just responding to a multitude of people asking the same question so shoot me) by asserting most of what I stated and adding additional insight.  We may have to take a closer look at how we go after scrap.

Toyota was the first major car company to offer a hybrid car, the Prius and have definitely dominated that category ever since. Marketing gurus have said for some time that it is better to be first in a market than to be best. The Prius is a great modern example of that principle.

Now, the race for the first to have a plug-in car has intensified as Toyota steps up their efforts to get a plug-in into consumers’ hands. However, one wonders if there will really be a winner in terms of “first” with so many charging into this segment.

The Chevy Volt appears to still be on track to be the first – will they gain enough traction before another enters the market to truly take advantage of being first? In this case, I’m skeptical about their chances because of Toyota’s current dominance with Prius and their ramped up efforts to enter the market sooner than previously announced.

The one advantage GM will have is if their Volt is much more affordable to the masses since it appears Toyota’s version will be over-priced (around $33,770) for many US consumers. Let’s hope that the competitive nature of this particular race will force pricing to fit the pocketbooks of a much broader demographic.