<DrumBeat: August 7, 2007 The Oil Drum DrumBeat: August 8, 2007>

191 comments on Mythbusters: Ethanol and Foreign Oil Displacement

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Sterling on August 8, 2007 - 2:16am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Well they do all talk about energy independance but that is not a realistic possibility in the short term given the US has only 2% of world oil reserves. What they cannot say is that the world may well have passed peak oil, peak gas will come in only a few years at most and that we will pass peak coal in less than twenty years. That we will face an overwhelming crisis comparable to the World Wars. People would view that as too pessimistic because they do not have the foundation to believe it yet. But I think the most thoughtful candidates, among whom I include Clinton, know what we really face.

Roscoe Bartlett is not running for president with a reasonable chance of winning which is why he has the freedom to say what he does. When people start to listen to him then main stream politicians will also be able to say what he does.

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wizofaus on August 8, 2007 - 2:41am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

A "crisis comparable to the World Wars" is most almost a given, if Americans start doing nothing to reduce their oil and gas usage.

Of course that's not the way you sell it. Get a crack team of propagandists, marketeers and advertisers in a room together, and I bet they could come up with a campaign to convince Americans that driving big cars is uncool, public transport is "in", and wasting oil is as bad as littering or smoking. And it would cost a fraction of what the alternatives imply, even if you had to pay off compensation to big oil and big auto companies.

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Noizette on August 8, 2007 - 11:06am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Right on. No problem at all. Done in 6 months.

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wizofaus on August 8, 2007 - 3:49pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Or a decade.

Actively attempting to sway public opinion takes time, but I don't think there's any question that it can be done.

Mind you, last night I couldn't help noticing that one of our government-sponsored ads for cutting back on electricity usage "to help prevent climate change" was wedged between an ad for a plasma TV and an ad for a 4WD/SUV-type vehicle. The sad thing is that there will be viewers that will buy a new plasma TV and a new SUV, then think that switching off unused lights, or turning the A/C down a little will somehow compensate.

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reno on August 9, 2007 - 10:17am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Its taken two decades of constant marketing to get us to being good consumers so I doubt they could come up with something that would convince us otherwise in less time..

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191 comments on Mythbusters: Ethanol and Foreign Oil Displacement

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