Put aside for a moment all the talk about alternative fuels. They are no doubt important and the wave of the future. But the fastest, cheapest, easiest and cleanest step toward a sane energy environment -- a step available to all of us immediately -- is the powerful combination of efficiency and conservation. Full Story »
Posted by Terry Gamble
Herbert makes some good points, and leaves out some good points. The framing of the problem is more than alternative fuels, it is also renewable non-carbon energy sources and protecting the atmosphere and oceans from excess carbon dioxide that brings on global climate change and acidifies the oceans. Conservation is the cheapest and quickest path to reduced fuel use, but if it still puts carbon in the air the scientists say we are in trouble. The other major problem he does not address is population expansion. If usage per person is cut in half, but population triples, the game is over.
