The Ethanol Lie

Lets all face it, sooner or later, we will have a gas crisis. Prices will be so high that hardly anyone will be able to afford it, and those that can will suck it up in a cutthroat nature. There will be such a scarcity on gasoline that we as a human race will have no other option than to turn to other resources. Prices are already hitting 4 dollars all over the US and rising quick. Already, we have started to lean towards Ethanol. This "miracle" gas alternative is basically grain alcohol. It is a compound structure that has been around for hundreds of years and is primarily used for other things. However, with gas shortage in the 70's Ethanol found a calling in many places to be used instead of gas. Whether we like it or not, the government already has the wheels rolling on the ethanol truck for when there is simply not enough gas to go around. While millions believe that this is quick scientific solution to the current and rising gas problem, we must first look at it from both sides. According to Fabio Feldman, a leading Brazilian environmentalist, some of the ethanol plantations are the size of small European states. This leads to the take over of important ecosystems and other important natural things. Also, in order to harvest the cane, you must burn it, which in turn leads to massive amount of pollution and smog. This is something that people might not take to seriously at first, but imagine the devastating effects if we actually depended on Ethanol. The consequences could potentially be so bad that they it could actually be worse than gas on the environment. Brazil is only the fourth largest producer due to deforestation which is a terrible thing. Burning down forest in order to create Ethanol is not the solution. We must not create a problem when trying to solve another one. Furthermore, such some statistics regarding Ethanol are so ridiculous that they almost make us thing why we are considering it in the first place. It is said that the amount of ethanol needed to fill a 4x4 truck is equivalent to feed a person for a full year! how could we even think the same about ethanol after hearing something like that? Bottom line is folks that we a society in the US are far too dependant on gas. Without gas, nothing will run. Nothing will be shipped and no one will be able to drive fly or boat anywhere. Our whole economy runs of gasoline. If superman has his kryptonite, then the United States has its gasoline. That is a sure fire was our economy could crumble and to be quite blatant, its just scary. We must, yes must, search for other resources as someday the worlds supply of gasoline will be gone. Sure, we might be okay, and a few generation from now might be okay also. But what about after them? The answer is not ethanol. According to a recent study, there isn't even enough land in the United States to produce enough ethanol available for each driver in the US to only travel 50 miles a year. 50 miles a year! Most people do somewhere in near that in a day! Clearly, this is not the solution. So, we must look elsewhere. Solar energy is the only answer, and furthermore, solar energy does not run out. Sure someday it will, but not for millions of years. To do this, we must focus our efforts internally. Certainly, a war overseas is the last thing we need when facing a gas crisis. We must look domestically as we suffer much bolder issues in our own country, such as this gas crisis, than anywhere abroad. We can play this silly game that has cost us thousands of lives, or we can think intuitively. Basically, it starts from the top. Putting someone in place of president Bush next fall who is more concerned about the well being of the nation rather than his reputation will be far more beneficial to us.