In the early 20th century we had this incredible industrial revolution. It allowed us to stop being jacks-of-all-trades and truly focus on our niche skills. It also meant that everything was standardized and shipped off to places all over the world.  This had been going on for many centuries, but not to this degree. As a society we became dependent on certain technologies to survive. Now, we’re so dependent that we often don’t wish to discuss the effects of those technologies on our lives and environment.

In today’s United States, which is filled with suburban sprawl, urban congestion, and severe separation in the rural areas. We face many problems which have forced us to become reliant on very specific ways of getting things done. We’ve become hooked on the tailpipe; you can’t get groceries in the countryside without driving into town. You must drive your kids to soccer practice in the suburbs because it’s much too long of a walk. And, the severe congestion of the city forces a constant influx of resources that need to be driven into the city and delivered.

At the very least, in recent years people have begun make serious changes in their daily actions. Between the inflation of gas prices and Al Gore’s infamous film, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ a new trend in environmentalism began. Many people have hybrid cars, some drive on ethanol, there’s talk about hydrogen cars, hell, ‘word on the street’ is that the sales of bikes have nearly doubled in the last few years.

Now, in an effort to continue the progression towards a lifestyle that is sustainable, making these choices is certainly a way to get closer to the final goal. But if you pay close enough attention and play everyone’s favorite Kindergarden game ‘one of these things does not belong’ you may start to realize only one of these options is actually carbon neutral.

Of course, as I talked about in my last blog, driving on bio-diesel/grease fuel this is the closest and most accessible way to drive with little to no negative emissions. But unless we all start sending love notes to Phoenix Motorcars – to open up the availability of the fully electric trucks and SUVs they manufacture – or get GM to bring back the EV1 (a fully electric car made by Saturn, that was discontinued) the only options we have left are only half as good.

Sure buying a Prius would be great. But Toyota’s pulled a fast one on you. You think you’re driving something innovative when truly you’re still buying into the oil market. Check out that mileage. If you’re going to drive on petroleum, will 30 to 50 miles per gallon really make a difference when you can get better mileage than that on bio-diesel or with a non-hybrid SmartCar? Even better, some VW diesel sedans have gotten better EPA ratings than the hybrid vehicles that are currently available. Instead we need to be writing letters to our car companies imploring them to bring back the electric vehicles we know that they know how to make (see the movie ‘Who Killed The Electric Car?”).

As far as Ethanol goes: If you don’t have the ability to change the car that you drive, but you have access to ethanol, by all means use it. But if you have the ability to make a change or make a choice, go diesel. Become aware of a local bio-diesel CoOp or truck stop that may be able to help you figure out your fuel.  E85 is certainly a cleaner fuel than straight gas, however it diminishes mileage.

The big difficulty with Ethanol is that it’s made primarily from corn. Corn which is grown specifically to be turned into fuel.  This is causing a food crisis on a level, which cannot be seen by all right now, but is on the fence of becoming painfully apparent. Which once again, is why I am such a fan of bio-diesel/veggie fuel – because it can be made out of waste grease, which means we grow it to be used for food purposes and then put that waste to good use.

Lastly, if you’re at your front door with your running shoes on waiting to run to the dealership to be the first driver of a hydrogen car. You might as well put a second mortgage on your house, sell your kids into some kind of slavery, and then sell your kidneys on the black market. Then -- and only then you may have a chance at affording the upkeep of this kind of driving fuel, enough said.

If you want to learn more about these things feel free to email me at biomoo@gmail.com, and feel free to come check out our events and talk to me www.lethalpoetry.com.