Science vs. Politics: Part II

Pardon my rant, but isn't this obvious to the casual observer?...

Perhaps it's time we focus on the cause of the global warming, instead of the effect of global warming. Face it, burning fossil fuels, and/or replacing it with fuels that use more energy to create it - are the major cause of global warming. If we believe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, why aren't we marshalling national resources to create long-term, bi-partisan science-based solutions? (Yes, per the high-level plan outlined herein.)

Science vs. Politics, and the need to go green

Biodiesel is a great 1st step, but [1] at what cost? And [2] what about the other 90% of the solution to rid us of fossil fuel and its (security, political and eco-effects? Read The Economist article on Europe's lessons learned with bio fuel (so we don't make the same mistakes!)

X-Prize for Greenhouse (CO2) gases

Richard Branson has taken a bold step: "The Virgin Earth Challenge is a prize of $25m for whoever can demonstrate to the judges' satisfaction a commercially viable design which results in the removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases so as to contribute materially to the stability of Earth’s climate." Well done! (View details at: http://www.virginearth.com)

This is a great step in trying to deal with the effect (global warming) of our addiction to fossil fuels. Now, if we can have the same type of "H-Prize" - for dealing with the cause: developing renewable energy and energy technologies that enable the U.S. to become a net-exporter of renewable energy - we could make some serious progress for future generations.

Unintended consequences

Focus on corn-based biofuels has doubled corn-feed from $2 a bushel to $4 a bushel. (http://www.energy2025.com/FoodVsFuel.pdf)

Although biofuels are a great alternative to hydrocarbons, they cannot provide 100% solution. Yes, a 15% to 20% solution helps moderate imports, but at what cost? The "stuff" from which energy is to be produced needs to be "free". Just as oil is "free" (just need to pay to extract, refine, ship & distribute it). What else is based on a "free" essence of the basic energy source? Solar, wind, wave, hydro energy. Of course, that would drive us to electric cars (pardon the pun). But why not? The infrastructure exists, already!