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Google's do-gooder arm, Google.org, is off in Washington holding a conference to lobby Beltway insiders on commercializing plug-in hybrid vehicles. Which makes sense from a self-interest standpoint, since Google is actively investing in companies and technologies that could benefit from subsidies and regulatory changes by the government. Google.org has also hired engineers tasked with researching the goal of creating renewable energy for less than the cost of coal. Which, again, could make Google orders of magnitude more money than it ever will selling text ads. So everyone really needs to stop referring to Google.org as any sort of philanthropic enterprise, and call it what it is — a venture-investment subsidiary. Just listen to Dan Reicher, Google.org director of energy initiatives, talk about exit strategies for some of the projects the organization has funded in the video after the jump. It's certainly a new approach compared to non-profit climate change preparation and prevention advocates. Just don't mistake it for altruism.