Thread: Somebody’s been sniffing ethanol
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Old 02-03-2007, 01:43 PM   #3 (permalink)
Jefferson
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Jefferson is offline 		Reply With Quote
 
Let's remove the blatant hypocrisy of politics from the issue for a moment:


For the last 40 years, our government has paid farmers to produce LESS corn. That policy is stupid. Corn ethanol could & should reverse that.

Burning corn alcohol is multiplied times better for the environment then burning fossil fuels. This should make environmentalists everywhere happy - even if blind partisan hacks like Tyreay have to eat crow because it's Republicans backing the measures.

Corn is not the only source of ethanol. Sugar beets, cane sugar and a whole host of other plants can be used to produce high amounts of alcohol/ethanol.

In addition, soybeans, sunflowers and a whole host of other "high oil content" crops can produce oil to be used fuel diesel vehicles. Those oils gel more quickly in cold climates, but BioDiesel works great in warm climates, and is also much better for the environment.

Throw in the current technology to produce and utilize electric vehicles - the energy for which can be harvested from the thousands of wind-generators that are being erected across the country. Millions of short-trip commuters could be driving 100% electric vehicles, with no emissions whatever.

All in all, we could easily cut by 75% our dependence on foreign oil WITHIN 5 YEARS. As a result, we could collectively "give the finger" to the terrorist regimes we buy crude oil from, and dry them up.

But there's one problem: WE DON'T WANT TO. Capitalism is driven by consumer demand. So until consumers by the millions - that means all of us - change our energy-consumption habits, drive less, and demand better, IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Instead, we've got soccer moms yakking on their cell phones, thundering down the highways 75 mph in massive 10 miles per gallon SUVs. We've got insecure men, trying to overcompensate for their perceived penis problems by driving enormous SuperDuty trucks - and driving them alone.


So forget hoping the politicians are going to make it happen. They're not. Consumers are going to make it happen - but not until we pull our heads out of our butts and make changes in our personal lives.


...I'm off the soapbox now...