Petey's
Pipeline E-zine
Issue #19
November 21, 2005
Contents
Business
First Editorial Biofuels Present New Investment Opportunities
Random Ramblings and Miscellaneous Musings
Greed as Ideology
Write Thinking Using Popular
Quotations
Business
First (Editorial)
Biofuels Present New Investment Opportunities
Look
for biofuels to be the next big business or investment opportunity.
Worldwide demand for transportation fuels continues to grow
even as worldwide petroleum reserves continue to shrink.
Environment
friendly, renewable fuels like biodiesel and ethanol are gaining
in popularity. Although both are currently more expensive to
produce than petroleum-based fuels, expect this to change in
the near future. As new production facilities come on-line,
new sales outlets open along transportation corridors and a
reliable customer base develops, prices will come down. Meanwhile,
prices for petroleum fuels will only go up.
A
biofuels revolution means that America can free itself of dependency
on foreign oil while at the same time creating stability and
sustainability in both economy and culture. Because all phases
of biomass fuels production can be handled at local levels,
local economies will benefit. Family-owned farms will once again
become profitable, local workers will have new job opportunities,
there'll be fewer disruptions to the energy supply, and local
communities will retain more of the money that circulates through
the local economy.
Biofuels
are a good deal for everyone (oil company executives and their
congressional lackeys excluded), and in the end we'll all breathe
easier.
Copyright
© 2005 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Random
Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings
Greed as Ideology
by Phil Hanson
Little
doubt remains that human activities are the primary causes of
environmental destruction and global climate changes. Economic
pursuits of all kinds account for most of the damage. Widespread
harvesting of natural resources, manufacturing processes that
convert raw materials into consumer goods, various consumption
by-products, and energy-consuming transportation systems used
at virtually every stage of the production-consumption cycle
all take a toll on the environment. The more people involved
in this cycle the greater the toll.
How
long can we continue to pervert the meaning of economy? How
far along the road to self-destruction must we travel before
we realize that economy and consumption are not one and the
same? At what point do we say, "Enough is enough?"
On
average, North Americans consume more than eight times more
energy, per capita, than their Latin American counterparts.
On average, developed countries consume more than five times
more energy, per capita, than do developing nations.
The
U.S., with less than 5% of the world's population, consumes
about 25% of the world's resources. The U.S., with the world's
largest economy, is also responsible for a disproportionate
amount of environmental pollution. With its crusade to promote
democracy (read capitalism) around the globe, the U.S. encourages
the people of other nations to behave in the same irresponsible
manner.
If
the other 95% of the world's population lived as extravagantly
as North Americans do, it would take four more Earths to provide
for their material and energy needs.
How
much more of this can the planet take? With the global population
now over 6.5 billion and expected to climb to over nine billion
people within the next 30 years, how many more millions of acres
of forests can we cut? 80% of the original rain forests have
already been cleared or degraded. How many more millions of
hectares of productive farmland can we afford to annex for cities
and suburbs? Between 1982 and 1992, the U.S. alone lost four
million acres of prime farmland to urban and suburban expansion,
and another two million due to erosion, over-grazing by animals,
and unsustainable farming practices. How many more thousands
of square miles of land can we afford to bury under concrete
and asphalt? The amount of land covered by 58 U.S metropolitan
areas increased by 305% between 1950 and 1990, although the
population of these areas increased only 80% during the same
time.
Will
we come to our senses in time to avert disaster? Already the
planet is showing signs of great distress, particularly in global
climate changes and annual loss of plant and animal species.
Each will profoundly affect the planet's ability to support
life.
The
Rapture? Armageddon? Why should God get involved in destroying
Earth, in wiping out mankind? Humans are already doing an excellent
job of it without His participation. No doubt He'll just kick
back and watch the cosmic equivalent of a popular TV reality
show. Survivor, anyone?
With
the economies of China, India and Southeast Asia heating up
they, too, will use more oil, hastening depletion of the world's
remaining oil reserves. They, too, will consume more of a finite
amount of natural resources. They, too, will dump more pollution
into an already polluted environment, hastening the day of reckoning.
If
society rewarded conservation as richly as it rewards consumerism,
there'd be no need for this discussion. But, then, the term
"reward" presents a bit of a conundrum, doesn't it?
Perhaps we should be talking about a system of disincentives,
instead. You know! Tax penalties, instead of tax breaks, for
having more than one child. Tax breaks for growing your own
food, tax penalties for buying highly processed food that comes
wrapped in excess packaging. High taxes for driving large, inefficient
fossil fuel-guzzling vehicles, low taxes for biofuel-powered
vehicles, no taxes for riding a bicycle, walking, or using public
transportation.
Let
the rewards come in the form of low taxes, clean air, pure water
and a healthy living environment. It's an ultimately fair solution.
Let the polluters pay for the privilege of polluting. In the
long run, everyone benefits.
The
road we're on ends at the edge of an abyss. If we Americans
(and Europeans) fail to turn back now, other nations will follow
us down that road, and then it will be too late. Let me put
it another way. What if the lead lemmings try to stop at the
edge of the cliff, but can't? They go over the cliff, too, don't
they? Yes, they do, and they tend to cushion the fall for those
that follow. However, in terms of environmental meltdown, there
will be no cushion for anyone.
Failure
to reverse population growth and develop a sustainable economy
means that, ultimately, we'll all become eaters of Soylent
Green, at least until we become Soylent Green. But
then, you've got to admit that that's one way of dealing with
global hunger and global overpopulation; it addresses both problems
at the same time.
Now
there's a business idea for you.
Copyright
© 2005 by Phil Hanson
All rights reserved.
Write
Thinking
Using
Popular Quotations
Quoting
previously published material is a quick way for writers of
e-media content to pad an article while building credibility
and creating an aura of expertise. There's nothing wrong with
this practice except for when writers . . . well, get it wrong.
Three
common mistakes inexperienced writers make are:
