Break oil addiction with ethanol
President Bush has made much of our so-called “addiction to oil” recently. He is right, of course. The question is: What do we do about it?
As with most addictions, the first obstacle to freeing ourselves is denial that our addiction is a problem. Clearly, this is the case with our addiction to oil.
In the past 50 years, the USA has gone from being the largest producer and exporter of oil to the largest consumer and importer of oil in the world. How all that happened is way beyond the scope of this column.
The fact is we are addicted to oil, too much of it foreign, and too much of that from countries that are often unreliable and increasingly indifferent, or downright hostile, to our national interests.
Once we admit our addiction to oil and the problems it causes us, from national security, all the way to the gas pump and into our pocketbooks, we can begin to look seriously and systematically for alternative fuels.
Ethanol is an excellent alternative fuel. Its virtues are many. First, it could be produced in abundance from farms and factories in the USA. Second, it could be much less costly and much more predictable as a source of domestic energy than the oil we now consume so greedily.
Third, ethanol could be the ultimate cure for our addiction to oil and all the pernicious effects, foreign and domestic, of that addiction.
For a peek at the future potential of ethanol in this country, we need look no farther than Brazil. The Brazilians committed themselves several years ago to breaking their dependence on foreign oil. They turned to ethanol. Now they are reaping the benefits of that strategic decision.
Brazilians now have a choice of ethanol, gasoline, or a mixture of the two. “Flex-cars” produced by Ford, by the way, give them these fuel options. The switch to ethanol has been a win-win solution for Brazil.
What works for Brazil could work for the USA, too. Given some visionary national leadership and re-tooling of our agricultural and industrial bases, we could wean ourselves from our oil and gasoline guzzling habits in about five years.
With nearly 32 months left in office, President Bush could lead the way. His successor could preside over our ultimate triumph. Both could contribute to a stronger, more secure future for the USA.
The way out of the wilderness of our addiction to oil will be long and winding. Arguments against ethanol will be stacked as high as big oil company profit margins and as deep as oil lobbyists? pockets. Most of these arguments are blatantly bogus and self-serving.
There are, of course, logistical challenges to switching from gasoline to ethanol. For example, the vast domestic sources of ethanol-corn, sugar cane and prairie grass-are not matched by our ability to refine, distribute, and deliver ethanol at the pump.
What the USA needs to meet the legitimate challenges of switching to ethanol is something akin to what we did in World War II. Out of the despair and desperation of Pearl Harbor came the national unity and sense of urgency that created the “Arsenal of Democracy,” which in turn helped win the war.
Breaking our addiction to foreign oil is a war worth fighting, too. It deserves our best and brightest efforts. Ethanol is an excellent, environmentally friendly alternative. So, as President Bush would say, “Bring it on!”
Thomas B. Vaughn is a professor at Motlow College and co-host of the WCPI radio show ?Viewpoints,? which airs on 91.3 FM.