There are no problems with biofuels. There are no problems with biofuels. There are no problems with biofuels. Anyone who says otherwise is obviously a dupe of Big Oil. There are no problems with biofuels. Ignore the 14 million acres of cropland that have been converted to growing fuel for cars in the US alone. There are no problems with biofuels. There are no problems with biofuels. Besides, the biofuels we're subsidizing today are just a bridge to the biofuels we'll be subsidizing tomorrow. There are no problems with biofuels. There are no problems with biofuels. The peer-reviewed studies showing that biofuels produce MORE greenhouse gases than oil published in Science and Nature are bullshit, the biofuels lobby knows better than that. There are no problems with biofuels. Ther are no problems with biofuels. The atmospheric scientist who won a Nobel prize for warning about the ozone-depleting chemicals like Freon and who is now warning about the nitrogen used to grow biofuels also doesn't know what he's talking about. There are no problems with biofuels. There are no problems with biofuels. The clearcutting of the richest tropical forests in the world to make room for palm oil plantations and the subsequent huge release of stored carbon from the peat is also not a problem. There are no problems with biofuels, Go Yellow Be Green! There are no problems with biofuels. Besides, the oil depletion allowance is a big subsidy to oil companies. There are no problems with biofuels. The increase in ground-level ozone that actually is worse for human health than the gasoline it displaces is also not a problem. Because, as you know, there ARE NO PROBLEMS WITH BIOFUELS, everyone should have to use them.

better living through slightly different purchasing decisions--that's the American Way.

surely, technological innovation will always solve our problems? just wait. any day now.

and growth is inevitable, and skyscrapers are "sustainable", and building more highway lanes solves congestion problems.

just like giving your kid more candy solves their hunger problems.

Replacing a naturally occurring but finite energy resource (oil) with a renewable resource (grass) limits geopolitical manipulation of price but has it's own downside. Clearly, the impact of humanity on the environment is extremely complicated and there are no simple solutions. Energy resource development is a worthy endeavor as are a host of technological advancements which use energy more efficiently with minimal waste. Biofuels are one piece of the puzzle which depends upon bringing all the pieces together to create a comprehendible image. Profitability unfortunately jumbles the pieces. The light bulb is a simple example. Remember the days we had to replace em every couple months? Why such flimsy elements? Profit. Just another highly invasive weed.

Replacing a naturally occurring but finite energy resource (oil) with a renewable resource (grass) limits geopolitical manipulation of price

no. Archer Daniels Midland and two other companies already own the majority of biofuel production across the globe. look it up.

a handful of companies controlling an energy source and manipulating price and profit--sound familiar?

"renewable" is false too, unless you stop looking at the issue where the grass meets the ground. topsoil depletion, already a critical problem across the Midwest, is accelerating due to biofuel production. "fixing" it takes centuries or millenia, and can't be fixed by technology.

but, like all American problems, it's been reduced to a superficial techno-problem that citizens simply can't believe won't be solved by techno-innovation.

I grew up on a farm. We always rotated our crops every few years because of soil depletion of some kind depending on which crop grown. The practice of bio-fuel production is sorely depleting our bank of soil nutrients.

As any good farmer knows, what comes out of the ground must be put back in. The same amount of"energy" taken out of the ground for bio-fuel crops, must be replaced.

This fact has been repeatedly stated in the debate before people like Gov. Ted, Randy Leonard and Portland's City Council enacted bio-fuel, ethanol requirements. Just a westside naysayer.

What's the solution peeps? Give up on biofuels? We are talking about SECOND GENERATION technology...the chip in your computer is past the 500th generation. And that chip that runs your amazing technology that let you now access the world has only developed over the last 40 or 50 years.

Solutions? Give up on biofuels and rely on that handy oil. Pray the prices go down, like praying brought rain to Georgia? Continue funding not only record profits to our oil companies but those damned terrorist regimes we refuse to speak to?

Time to either heavily invest in alternative fuels including hydrogen, biofuels, and battery, or start changing the way you live. We are already seeing Americans adjust with mass transit ridership up across the country. When we hit $5 or $7 or $10 or $15 a gallon, are you going to be able to maintain your way of life?

What's the solution peeps? Give up on biofuels?

yes. because by the time that "500th generation" you speak of is reached, we'll be out of topsoil, and that soil we depend on to grow food will be...gone. then, watch the fun.

Time to either heavily invest in alternative fuels including hydrogen, biofuels, and battery, or start changing the way you live.

i vote "change the way we live."

We are already seeing Americans adjust with mass transit ridership up across the country.

yet pollution still goes up, and oil's still running out.

We are talking about SECOND GENERATION technology...the chip in your computer is past the 500th generation.

just like I wrote earlier--some cling desperately to the mantra "techno-innovation will save us."

When we hit $5 or $7 or $10 or $15 a gallon, are you going to be able to maintain your way of life?

gas is about $10 per gallon in Britain, and they still have a growing traffic problem.

In 40 years, all the good topsoil will be depleted? C'mon guy. I wasn't even advocating a large spread use of the small technology gains. Do you upgrade your computer every 2 weeks?

What we need to do is heavily fund laboratory experiments and improve the technology before using it widespread. And we look at all forms of new technology, not just biofuel.

Americans have just recently started leaving their cars, or thinking more critically about their trips, it is to early to determine what the results will be on a national or even worldwide scale. I remember as a young Oregonian seeing a commercial with one person throwing their newspaper into the garbage instead of the recycle box saying, my one newspaper can't really make a difference. Then they showed their neighbor saying the same thing, and the next neighbor, and the next, until you had tons of paper stacked up to go to the landfill instead of being recycled. It opened my eyes as a kid about the importance of change, even small changes, and if each person in 2008 makes small changes, it will affect the planet in a large way. More changes, more effectiveness.

I agree, we need to rethink the way we live. But not on a Socialist scale. We can't close the freeways nor blindly think 15 South Waterfront developments are going to solve our ills. But as a nation we need to address the challenges and start making progress today, not continue arguing about who is right, and who is wrong, while we continue pissing away our chance to make a significant change on our terms, before change is forced on us by God, or Mother Nature's schedule.

Just read this article, and it will tell you everything you need to know about the "green" movement and its heaping spoonfuls of fallacy:

http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/16-06/ff_heresies_intro

Yes, good topsoil depletes quite quickly, especially when it's being mined rather than built up.

http://www.energybulletin.net/28610.html

What's wrong with oil, gas, coal and hyroelectric?

Besides the boogeyman.

In 40 years, all the good topsoil will be depleted? C'mon guy.

put down that fiddle, man; Rome's burning.

and we're responsible for it.