Saturday, February 14, 2009

Maybe Willy'ing it can't make it so... but

I really want it to succeed, I really want it to be meaningful!

I like the idea of a Good Ole Texas boy looking at the war in Iraq, and the Bush cronyism policies, and saying, "to hell with it, let's grow our own fuel at home." Or some such sentiment.

I would really like it if the Willie Nelson idea of having a trucker's biofuel revolution was one that could really hold water, and make a strong contribution to reducing environmental bootprints accross the heartland of the gas guzzling U.S. of A.

I am really hesitant, though. Because as much as I like the mystique of the home grown fuel solution, resolving the energy intensity and greenhouse gas emission problems is going to take a lot more than switching fuels. And soybean fuels have been documented to have a fairly problematic environmental footprint of their own. Also, we need to change our models of consumption, our transportation habits, and our love affair with roaming with a big engine down a vast open highway.

Still... we need to work it out so that we have an integrative scenario and so that truckers, farmers, and outlaw country singers can make their contribution... and besides...

I have been waiting eight years to have a Texan I can empathize win... and you can't help but like Big Willie...

Read about BioWillie on this NY Times article (I think it is fairly balanced, since it has the dissenting opinion of the Sierra Club as well in there).

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