Saturday, March 17, 2007

I just hope those biofuel fumes aren't blinding him.

They are somewhat less polluting, its true. Biofuels can also help us prolong the lifespan of the world's wells, which are running out of easily recoverable oil. They can help us reduce our reliance on foreign oil.

But we're in these predicaments because we've made some bad choices along the way. Putting all our faith in ethanol is like applying a layer of makeup over a black eye. It will only make us feel good about ourselves for awhile, without dealing constructively with our injuries.

We've based our lifestyles on readily available cheap oil. We've disregarded the environmental impact of our actions. We've invested our money and resources into highways, shopping malls and suburban houses, instead of mass transit and urban centers.

As a recent article by The Associated Press summed it up, "Americans consume so much gasoline that all the corn in the world couldn't make enough ethanol to slake the nation's lust for transportation fuels."

Americans have been overconsuming resources for decades. Ethanol can't save the day for us.

Right off the bat we must decide what's more important: food or fuel? Americans eat a lot of corn -- not just off the cob and in Fritos, but in hundreds of insidious ways as "high-fructose corn syrup." Check that bottle of spaghetti sauce in your pantry if you're not sure what I mean. The AP article says the federal Department of Agriculture has already announced that meat prices are escalating. Why? Cows, pigs and chickens all eat corn.

The article also notes that Mexicans are up in arms because tortilla prices are skyrocketing.

Ethanol must be processed, and its manufacturing contributes to greenhouse gases. In some parts of the world, forests have been clearcut to provide fields for biofuel crops. Ethanol is not a sustainable solution.

The longer we continue to believe in the miracle of ethanol, the more time we will waste. Time we don't have. Ethanol is a stopgap, a bridge. Nothing more.

The problem, of course, is that there are few politicians in America who want to tell us the truth. After two-plus centuries of hurtling forward, we have to slide back. It's just a matter of perception -- there are many of us who think that people who conserve energy are a step up on the evolutionary scale. But by the standard barometers of economic progress, specifically the car and housing markets, it will appear like we are regressing. On the bright side, alternative energy products should soar.

Are we flexible enough to adapt? Those who are will thrive. Those who aren't will be dragged kicking and screaming into the next era. So why not start now, with a weekly walk, a shorter shower or even a look at the real estate ads for a house closer to your work?

If we ask the elders among us about the happiest times in their lives, they invariably recall the days when families, friends and neighborhoods were the focus of American life. Slowing down and eliminating the excess can take us to that happy place -- and farther than biofuels ever will.

Liz Soares is a freelance writer and the author of "All for Maine: The Story of Gov. Percival P. Baxter." She welcomes e-mail at Baxter24@aol.com .