quantifying cost of emissions

[font=Comic Sans MS:58dc0f34b8] [/font:58dc0f34b8] Anyone know a way to calculate the cost of a given amount of emissions?

If there was a way to do that, then we could see the savings of a Prius over other cars, similar to the way mpg of different cars lets you calculate the relative cost/savings for fuel.

The US government website, http://www.fueleconomy.gov/ (click "find and compare cars") calculates the fuel consumption, which anyone can easily convert to currency cost, which let's you compare two cars' fuel costs. That site also calculates the tons of emissions produced by different cars. So, you CAN compare the emissions of different cars that way. But, how can we get the cost in currency of a ton of car emission? Without that info, I dont think people can easily nor accurately perceive the importance of emissions saved with a Prius.

Anyone know the cost of a ton of car emissions?

I googled for that info. Found some relevant hits, but they did not have a cost expressed in a way that I could understand. Sure, I realize that calculating such a cost is probably not easy and might be subject to dispute. But, ya gotta start somewhere and go from there.

 

[font=Comic Sans MS:950816160c] [/font:950816160c]Come to think of it, some or all those types of costs may be associated with the process of manufacturing gasoline, and they are not figured into the cost of a gallon of gas. But, they should be. Still, I'd like to see a swag or two for emission costs. A place to start is better than no estimate at all. :|