Climate change isn't going to be free. A report by Point Carbon, an independent consulting company that tracks global carbon and energy markets, estimates that U.S. climate legislation could push the price at the pump 13 cents a gallon higher. The increase would result from the cost to oil companies for carbon permits, which they can pass along to consumers.

This is a much rosier view than that of the oil industry, however, which believes a U.S. cap-and-trade system would thrash demand for gasoline and lead to the shuttering of many refineries.

Right now coal is still king. Coal provides 50% of the electricity production for the U.S. while natural gas provides about 20% of that production.

Now, however, with an energy bill in Congress, the battle lines are being drawn between the coal and natural gas companies. Each side is marshaling an army of lobbyists to descend upon Congress. Each side will make pitches to Congress to gain favor for their companies.

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift? Why not buy your kids some carbon offsets? That should give them something to whine about to their therapists.

Unfortunately, CO₂ pollution is no joke, but eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) is partnering with the Pop!Tech social innovation network to organize the Pop!Tech Carbon Initiative, which allows you to buy your carbon offsets via the Internet marketer. The offsets won't be auctioned, however, but sold in a 'buy it now', flat-price form.

The site offers a simple carbon calculator to allow you to estimate the amount of CO₂ you generate per year. I supposedly am responsible for 11.5 tons.

Once my carbon debt was calculated, I was given some carbon-saving projects from around the world that I could choose to fund to offset my carbon debt. In my case, these included a solar irrigation project in Benin ($10/ton), reforestation in Nicaragua ($5.50/ton), and converting ceramic kilns to biomass in Brazil ($10.50/ton). By these figures, it would cost me roughly $600-$1200 to offset my carbon debt.

The project is scheduled to run through the end of the year, but shop early for the best selection!

From his ChangeWave Investing newsletter and regular appearances on Fox TV's Bulls & Bears, Toby Smith is one of the most widely followed newsletter advisors. AS growth investors, he seeks stocks poised to benefit from enduring trends, which he calls "Changewaves".

To help isolate these trends, he turns to his ChangeWave Alliance, a group of thousands of business leaders in a wide range of fields who respond to ongoing surveys regarding developing industry trends.

Three such trends, which he considers among his favorite macroeconomic ChangeWaves are Clean Energy, Carbon Credits, and Chindia (China-India) Infrastructure. And one of his latest stock recommendations -- Fuel Tech (NASDAQ: FTEK) -- plays into all three of these waves.