Milton Copulos

Crude oil hit $110 today and it was an ironic farewell to Milton Copulos, late of the National Defense Council Foundation, who led a campaign to promote the "true" costs of gasoline over the past few years. I spoke with Milt in January and he gave me his latest estimate: We pay an extra $10.07 for every gallon we buy.

First, let me say that I never quite knew whether to trust his numbers -- after all, there really aren't any good numbers for the externalities of gas. But I found his background -- in defense,  the Heritage Foundation, and then alternative fuels -- intriguing, provocative and a good starting place for trying to figure out how much a gallon of gas really costs us. (Milt also offered a heck of an interview, ranging through housing stock in China to military plans to turn garbage into fuel, to his children, his wife, with time for a short primer on flash pyrolosis.)

Here's how he broke it the cost of of a gallon of gas: