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Unread 03-10-2006, 08:18
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Tristan Lall Tristan Lall is offline
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Re: pic: Ethanol powered car from GM

Quote:
Originally Posted by KenWittlief
the billions of dollar per year that we would be putting into our own economy (which is presently going into the pockets of obscenely wealthy kings and families in the middle east) would provide meaningful jobs for thousands of people in this country

and it would also drive the growth of an ethanol based transportation system, resulting in the needed infrastructure being created and built up over the years

the best part is this is a renewable resource. It wont be gone in 50 or 100 years.
What sort of infrastructure? Trucks? They need a breakthrough in large-scale storage and transport, before this is reasonable in anywhere but the U.S. Midwest.

And realistically, no matter who's running the hydrocarbon fuel show, the profits get absorbed by those in positions of power. It's not just sheikhs; Americans, Europeans, and eastern Asians all have their own homegrown oil magnates. If you don't like the profit sharing, simply transferring responsibility to the domestic arms of Exxon or Texaco (or maybe Monsanto, if corn-based fuel becomes popular) won't solve the problem.

And while I certainly can't make a definitive prediction based on such a small set of evidence, remember that even if thousands of jobs are created in America, if higher fuel costs make disposable income decrease, the standard of living might well follow. Even a small (percentage) decrease, because it's due to something as ubiquitous as automotive fuel, will have significant effects on GDP. So one can only hope that the increased consumption due to slightly lower unemployment will mitigate this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Wittlief
people have demonstrated the will to do the right thing regarding our economy and our environment.
Consistently? I doubt that. The "right thing" for the economy depends greatly on your views on such things; it's a complex enough system that it's difficult to prove any particular economic strategy is the correct one. Effectively, that means that damned near anything can be justified as the "right thing". Environmentally, people are willing to do token things, like buy organic foods, once in a while—but on average, there's not much evidence for people doing the "right thing" on a consistent basis. The lifestyle that we all enjoy simply doesn't lend itself to very environmentally responsible choices. Demand that people drive more efficient cars? They complain about their liberty. Ask them nicely? They don't do it. You have to trick them with hybrids (and the associated mystique—like "atomic" in the 50s) to get them to embrace efficiency—until they realize that current hybrid technology can't pay for itself in gas savings, not even with $1.20/L gas.
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