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81 comments on CNN: Bush's SotU to Focus on Energy

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louGrinzo on January 30, 2006 - 10:11am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I couldn't agree more, Don.  I'd add that the more serious we think peak oil is (in terms of proximity of the peak and the decline rate post-peak), the less sense it makes to increase fuel taxes now.

I've been pushing for higher energy taxes since the 1973 embargo, but now that we're in the shadow of the peak, we can be sure that the market will give us all the incentive we could ask for in terms of volatile and higher prices.  At this late date we need to focus on non-oil sources, including ethanol.

One of the prime arguments for ethanol subsidies is not that ethanol currently provides a killer bang-per-buck (in terms of EROEI), but that we need to establish the infrastructure for it in advance of the Big Breakthroughs in cellulosic ethanol production.  Currently, there are about 5 million E85-compatible vehicles on the road in the US (including one in my garage); we need that number to be higher, and we also need to see ethanol much more widely available at the consumer level (so people like me can actually buy it).  Tax breaks, such as the package proposed by NY State gov. Pataki, can do a lot to jump start that chicken-and-egg cycle.

Also, GM will be launching a major flex fuel (E85) ad campaign during the upcoming Olympics.  It seems GM has decided on a short-term tactic of promoting ethanol to reduce the perceived oil-per-mile consumption of their vehicles.

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TJ on January 30, 2006 - 10:43am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
My only answer to the concept that the market will save us is to ask how many refineries are currently being proposed for the U.S.?  If the answer is none (I don't really know), then, tax breaks or no tax breaks, you aren't going to get private investment for something like ethanol.  A dedicated tax would be the only thing that would work.
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oilaholic on January 31, 2006 - 1:04am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Lou said: "Also, GM will be launching a major flex fuel (E85) ad campaign during the upcoming Olympics.  It seems GM has decided on a short-term tactic of promoting ethanol to reduce the perceived oil-per-mile consumption of their vehicles."

How depressing.  I'd like to believe ethanol could be part of the solution - after all it's working well in  Brazil - but since GM is by definition wrong on everything, that's pretty much a death knell for ethanol.

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Oil CEO on January 31, 2006 - 6:15pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I've already heard this ad campaign. They are playing it as a "sponsored by" piece on NPR in Boston. Really sad. Last month when I heard their hybrid-SUV "giveaway" for some fundraising thing, I cried.

This is obviously marketing aimed at the rich, environmentally-concious, SUV-driving,  pseudo-"aware," left-leaning GOP wannabe. - "Y'know, my Explorer is an E84." "Oh yeah, well my HUMMER is E83 that uses EROEI 1.01 sugar-cane instead of corn."

Let me be clear. 15% corn in your fuel tank is not going to save us. GM should be ridiculed for this approach.

It won't work. E85 is a lie.

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Southsider1 on February 1, 2006 - 4:05pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Having spent too much time with marketing types, I have to say: of course it's a lie! And you've identified the target demographic precisely. All commercial speech either directly or indirectly aims to increase shareholder value. That's all. Once I accepted that reality, I got a much clearer view of the world.
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