Missing Inaction: Switchgrass

[Earth_First]

As I filled up this evening for the upcomming week, I noticed gasoline prices up over 11 cents from a week ago.

This got me thinking: "What happened to the switchgrass?"

[orleans]

1. george smoked it all. so now we just have to make do.

:smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. If the U.S. has a major push towards methanol and biodiesel

where will the water to grow these extra crops come from? There are no melting polar ice caps in the midwest. What will the impact be on our topsoil? Is this a technology that we can pursue in the long-term or is it only a stop-gap measure? And meanwhile the population keeps growing. Topsoil and water will be going towards feeding the billions of new people who will be added to our population over the next two decades. Overpopulation is the one problem no one addresses, but it's also the single greatest factor in bringing about the rape of the planet and global warming.

To me, this problem is going to require a major investment by our government into bringing about a technological revolution. Back in the early 1970s, I remember hearing scientists from NASA on Pacifica Radio saying that we could place giant cells in outer space and beam solar energy back to the earth as microwaves. But unfortunately no President has had the will to give these solutions anything more than lip service at election time. And it's going to take a gigantic amount of self-awareness and self-discipline to bring about a worldwide, dramatic reduction in population.