Annie Leonard lectures at a sustainability conference. (Creative Commons photo from the Flickr account of Kevin Krejci)

Annie Leonard released a long-anticipated followup to her “Story of Stuff” video, called “The Story of Cap and Trade.” It’s more complex than the first (I, an environmental reporter, had to rewind a couple times), but it does a better job than anything else at simplifying this really hard topic.

Which is to say, get on over there and spend 10 minutes learning about the so-called “solution” our leaders have proposed to attempt to save our planet.