Why I see biofuels more as an alternative to oil

Luke, I think that the article is a little bit off in a couple of respects.

First off, the US is not terribly dependent on middle east oil. This only
makes up a small fraction of our domestic oil consumption. As far as I
understand it the US involvement in the middle east is primarily to control
China's (and India's) access to oil.

Secondly, from what an oil executive insider I know has told me, the world
is very very long way from any "peak oil" crisis. We don't need middle east
oil -- we have Nigeria, the North Sea, Russia, etc. It is that China is
terrifying to the US, and the middle east is seen as a way to keep China in
check. So our use of bioD isn't going to slow the war effort down. (Very
sorry to say.)

Regarding the environmental aspect of the article I think that the author is
trivializing the amount of risk involved. We just don't know what will
happen as  weather is "chaotic". There is a slight chance that global
warming will do nothing but help everyone's tomato plants. There is a
greater chance that global warming will radically alter the face of the
planet -- and we just don't know how it will play out. I would equate the
current situation to playing Russian roulette with five bullets, not just
one. Why would you invite massive change into your life (or the economy) if
everything was going as well as the author indicates it is going?

It seems odd that a "conservative" person (such as the article's author)
would be welcoming change, especially if he didn't know what he was trading
for. Environmentalists really just want to keep things the way they are now.
Case in point, everyone here is driving a car, and proud of it.
Environmentalists are just as "addicted" to modern conveniences as
Republicans, they just tolerate less risk. So, we (environmentalists) try to
fudge things a little bit. Keep driving, but get a more CO2 efficient car.
It seems like an easy compromise to maintain our current standard of living.


Really though, we do not KNOW the full impact that global climate change
will have on us -- no one does. We just know that we are pretty comfortable
now and we'd prefer if things didn't change too much.

Seth

>This article (link at bottom) is worth everyone on this list considering.
>It explains something I think, but much more clearly than I could say it.
>I am a moderate conservative who has 3 SVO powered Mercedes Benz 300Ds, not
>because I worry about global warming, but because I want to do everything I
>can to minimize the U.S.'s dependence on OPEC and our involvement in the
>political zoo that is the Middle East.
>Personal (and national) freedom is a great back-door for
>non-environmentalists to come into the biofuels movement.

<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9deb730a-19ca-11dc-99c5-000b5df10621.html>