Blogger Beer: June 2008

Thanks Obama

For not using public monies to finance your campaign. I urge John McCain to do likewise!

I do not want to fund Obama's effort to foist what I consider to be bad policies at best or evil policies at worst on our nation and world. Why should I want the tax dollars of my political opponents to do the same?

I suppose he is raising bucket loads of private cash and to take public dollars would actually hamper your effort to become president, so you opt out. Perhaps (and I guess likely) but isn't that what democracy is about? The public at large is already speaking up and being heard about who they want as president.

Also, is not Senator Feingold a part of that old system you refer to when John McCain opts into public financing? Do you slur Senator Feingold when you use that tired old cliche, or is there a Feingold exception?

LS9 & The Oil Bug

Conventional wisdom has it petroleum is a non-renewable resource, at least renewable in a meaningful way. There are those who believe petroleum arises from the life of millions of years ago and there are those who think petroleum has an inorganic source.

One thing many like to say human ingenuity is unlimited. Well, I dispute that, but certainly human ingenuity is is plentiful

A company by the name of href="http://www.ls9.com/">is developing a bug to make petroleum! Looks like the bug creates fuel straightaway.

Here is the <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133668.ece">Times Online article</a> about the innovation.

This brings a number of questions to mind. Will our government refuse to allow development of this technology? Our government seems determined to limit our ability to produce our own petroleum this bug has to be a nightmare for them.

Will the Europeans refuse to purchase & use petroleum derived from a GMO?

One thing that just struck me though, is carbon neutral. Whether you buy into anthropogenic global warming or not, carbon dioxide is an important sticking point the energy debate. The raw material is agricultural waste material (they say they understand the need for using food crops but there is a comment about using Brazillian sugar cane) so this means the carbon being emitted from burning this fuel comes from the plant material that before was removing carbon from the atmosphere. In the end, this means the earth will start locking up carbon again.

If this pans out...