TGM #153: Beyond Food Versus Fuel (September 4, 2009)
Posted by Arleigh. 1 CommentYou can download the episode here or listen in the embedded player.
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- In a two-part interview, Peter Stock speaks with Susan Holtz, energy policy analyst and Alternatives Journal editorial board member, about the complicated biofuels debate. Holtz explains why, when it comes to biofuels policy, Food versus Fuel is not as important a question as everyone seems to think. She also explains why we need a balance of biofuel solutions, even if ethanol is relatively inefficient. She wraps up by explaining why policy analysts, the people who seem to have all the answers, are not frustrated when politicians often ignore them.
Algae, a potential biofuel. Photo by Lee Nachtigal.
Beyond Food Versus Fuel
Headlines:
- Toronto death heightens tension between cyclists and motorists
- PetroChina buys stake in Alberta Oil Sands
- A Native band in British Columbia is fighting a tar sands pipeline
- BC continues to battle forest fires as fall approaches
- Greyhound Canada is threatening to stop service to small towns across Canada
- WWF report suggests Arctic “tipping point” has been reached
- More headlines…
Peter and Jordan’s discussion of “different rules for cycling” struck a chord with me. As a sometime cyclist I have tried stopping completely at all stop signs, more as performance art than anything else. It is more work but not impossible. I did decide that I was the only cyclist on the road doing it. I do think there needs to be some recognition of this in the highway traffic act.
But I also think that we should not limit the discussion to cyclists. What about roller bladers, skateboarders or folks on scooters, wheelchairs, motorized scooters etc., etc. If we are going to get more people out of their cars then the mix of users of the roads will be changing significantly.
I think we may need more than tweaks to the highway traffic act. But firstly me need some principles. I love Chris Bradshaw’s maxim “the more you wield the more you yield” (see: http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/articles/trips.asp ).