tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post665637385372403238..comments2023-10-08T10:04:46.250-04:00Comments on The Influence Machine. (defunct): An inconvenient truth about biofuelsDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14509853932305428602noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-80830487492583482572007-08-07T20:08:00.000-04:002007-08-07T20:08:00.000-04:00PJ,It’s not easy. However, just because something ...PJ,<BR/>It’s <I>not</I> easy. However, just because something is difficult doesn’t mean that it cannot or should not be done. That’s why I drew the parallel to the generation that lived the Second World War. The change I’m writing about is a revolution in peoples’ thinking and their lifestyles. Later this week, I’ll explain why such changes are necessary.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509853932305428602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-80053173054631955772007-08-07T19:37:00.000-04:002007-08-07T19:37:00.000-04:00erd what you are asking for is a complete overhaul...erd what you are asking for is a complete overhaul of individuals lives. no easy sell.Pat Jenkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18142174423986806144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-78256791984276439222007-08-06T09:39:00.000-04:002007-08-06T09:39:00.000-04:00PJ,Anyone who claims ethanol is going to solve all...PJ,<BR/>Anyone who claims ethanol is going to solve all of the fuel problems in the US is selling either ethanol, flex-fuel vehicles, or corn. I think the best way to conserve oil is to reduce the demand. Biofuels may become more important if our overall petroleum consumption is curtailed, though this reduction in demand would have to be very considerable. Reducing demand means changing peoples’ thinking about where they live relative to where they work; changing patterns of development; changing fuel economy standards; and internalizing the cost of polluting. It also wouldn’t hurt if the federal government would bury the hatchet with Cuba (after all, we brook autocracies elsewhere, when it suits us), invest in security, agriculture, and industry in Haiti, and drop the $0.54 per gallon tax on Brasilian ethanol fuel.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509853932305428602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-3193329163747487582007-08-06T09:38:00.001-04:002007-08-06T09:38:00.001-04:00progressive,I hope all is well with getting settle...progressive,<BR/>I hope all is well with getting settled-in for school. <BR/>I increasingly believe that mass-localization and conservation are important pieces of the sustainability equation. Enormous amounts of energy are wasted in the process of getting energy and/or fuel from one place to another. Likewise, people, especially N. Americans, do crazy things like commute an hour-and-a-half each way to work in their cars. If instead, people produced a substantial amount of their own energy and conserved much of the energy wasted commuting long distances in cars, biofuels and other alternatives could have a meaningful impact. Of course, more problems start cropping-up when monocultural tracts of switchgrass and GM poplars start competing for land that has traditionally been too wild for agriculture.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509853932305428602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-2587768005435124092007-08-06T09:38:00.000-04:002007-08-06T09:38:00.000-04:00Sue,Where might I find some of your poetry?Sue,<BR/>Where might I find some of your poetry?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509853932305428602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-30478231142575466792007-08-05T13:03:00.000-04:002007-08-05T13:03:00.000-04:00erd, i am appreciative of your honesty about the l...erd, i am appreciative of your honesty about the lack of a feasible replacement for oil. it is refreshing a man of your knowledge can give us such an intelligent assessment.Pat Jenkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18142174423986806144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-1502140549984901042007-08-05T02:15:00.000-04:002007-08-05T02:15:00.000-04:00Thankyou for this piece...the unfortunate trend to...Thankyou for this piece...the unfortunate trend to ethanol for example is a travesty (but this is what happens when politics enters the race). What to do...what to do..Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01736209103978183490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-86500884800619582782007-08-04T18:04:00.000-04:002007-08-04T18:04:00.000-04:00ERD, I have written and published both poetry and...ERD, I have written and published both poetry and non-fiction essays (was privileged to have a one year stint in 2001 as a columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader and the occasionally will print my musings), and have sketched out ideas for novels (never seem to get around to writing more than a chapter or two). For the first time, I decided to try my hand at a short story. The idea seemed to fit that genre, and it seems like something that I might actually finish. <BR/><BR/>I will have to check out the titles you mention. Most recently my reading was more prosaic. I just finished <I>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</I> and thoroughly enjoyed it.sgreerpitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764262558160301061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-80836507934498828562007-08-03T09:39:00.000-04:002007-08-03T09:39:00.000-04:00Sue,I think the assumption of horizon-technology p...Sue,<BR/>I think the assumption of horizon-technology primacy is a pervasive problem. I’m reminded of Pirsig’s discourse on “What’s new?” versus “What is best?” This problem dogs environmental solutions, and as a student of management, I see it occurring and recurring in just about every enterprise.<BR/>Light-rail and similar technologies offer an excellent solution to the transportation problem for many. Rather than pretending that we’re all waiting for that breakthrough that will end dependence on foreign oil (and working for the fossil-fuel lobby in the meantime), our government needs to invest in public transportation and at least partially internalize the cost of carbon.<BR/>In the MD suburbs of DC, our leadership has opted to construct a new 14-mile stretch of highway, at a cost of two-and-a-half billion dollars, and continues to drag its feet about a long-sought Metrorail line to service a densely-populated suburb. With diagonal subsidies to the automotive and petroleum industries like this, it’s no wonder Americans can’t (or won’t) reduce their consumption of oil.<BR/>On the unrelated topic of speculative fiction, are you working on a short piece or a novel? Do you publish your fiction? I haven’t had much time to read fiction since last summer, but I can recommend the last three titles I read in that genre:<BR/>The Stolen Child<BR/>The Limits of Enchantment<BR/>A Brief History of the DeadDavidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14509853932305428602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28734479.post-56323063752943482572007-08-02T21:23:00.000-04:002007-08-02T21:23:00.000-04:00While working on a piece of speculative fiction, I...While working on a piece of speculative fiction, I was trying to think of a reasonable alternative to private autos and gasoline powered vehicles for the rural, mountainous eastern Kentucky. Suddenly I thought of something that used to common place in many U.S. cities (such as San Francisco where I grew up), and still is in European nations -- electric buses or trolley buses. Trolley buses require no rails, so can use the same roads as automobiles and other vehicles with tires. The amount of infrastructue (stringing electrical wires above major thoroughfares) is modest. And, if one uses sustainable means of generating electricity (wind, solar, hydroelectric, etc.) trolley buses are devoid of GHG emissions. <BR/><BR/>It irks me that so much emphasis is put on having to find new, cutting edge technologies to reduce fossil fuel use. We have many usable technologies already available. As I like to point out, I've been driving a 3 cylinder gasoline powered car (Chevy Metro)that gets 50 miles to the gallon all the time for the past 8 years. We know how to do this, people, we just need the will to do it.sgreerpitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764262558160301061noreply@blogger.com