Superb post!

Your conclusion:

(Quote)

A joint study of the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture concludes that the United States could produce 60 billion gallons of ethanol by 2030 through a combination of grain and cellulosic feedstocks, enough to replace 30% of projected U.S. gasoline demand. Scientists and policymakers should be asking them 'at what cost'? When they reply XX billions, the comeback should be 'we didn't mean in $ terms-what are the costs in other scarce inputs needed by society?'. In robbing Peter to pay Paul, we have to realize that Paul is pretty insatiable. Who will we rob after Peter?

The subject of the origins of exponential growth, habituation and "Pauls" addiction to oil will be the subject of next weeks post.

(End of quote)

Deserves to be broadcast far and wide.

The presidential debates ought to include summaries like this, and also questions like:

"What kind of integrated national policy to address the various environmental issues we face will you implement? Please include issues such as global warming, peak oil, peak water, peak natural gas, and peak soil in your answer."

We need an intentional, informed, and integrated national path to sustainability.