Comments spectozc has made

Corn Ethanol? Clean Coal? Politician, anyone?

And I quote, "Some say that corn ethanol could be a 'stepping stone' to cleaner fuels like cellulosic ethanol. Perhaps. The danger is that the stepping stone becomes the destination--a substitute for meaningful change, squandering precious time and public faith when it doesn't pan out."
-Maywa Montenegro, "The Big Three", 4 Dec. 2006

As Maywa, a Grist writer!, has already pointed out, corn ethanol is bad in two very important ways: it is not very green (GHG, pesticides, etc.), and more importantly, it may kill public faith. The environmental movement is hot stuff right now, but during these next few years it is crucial to show the public that the environment is not only important, but can be managed in a cost-effective, successful manner. Do we, the American people, really have the attention span to keep working on something that doesn't show immediate, positive results?

Inslee had a very mixed message. He spoke about the "Flat Earth Society" being dead, and encouraged us not to think about coal in the "sense of purity." How then, should we think about the environment, Mr. Inslee? After all, why change at all, if not for something significantly better; something--dare I say--pure? You talk about being a leader, and then lead us towards insignificant changes. Clean coal does not exist. You think a "cap-and-trade is more efficient, across all sectors and across all countries"? Haven't scientists and economists already strongly agreed that a carbon tax would be the most efficient?

This man seemed to blow quite a bit of hot smoke. I hope Congress does not like his solutions any more than I do...On An interview with Rep. Jay Inslee, clean-energy champion from Washington state posted 2 years, 7 months ago 5 Responses