Verboten

In this Newsweek column, George Will contends with Mr. Bush's global warming comment in his SOTU speech . All well and good, except for these paragraphs:

It could cost tens of trillions (in expenditures and foregone economic growth, here and in less-favored parts of the planet) to try to fine-tune the planet's temperature. We cannot know if these trillions would purchase benefits commensurate with the benefits that would have come from social wealth that was not produced.

and

Another reason (for his fascination with new fuels), he says, is U.S. imports of oil from unstable nations.

One of our greatest pundits, Mr. Will, by focusing on the 'foreign' aspect, doesn't recognize the essential role oil itself plays in our economy. He fails to ask the question: what happens when demand exceeds the supply? Can the economy (and social well-being) be sustained, nevermind expand?

Mr. Will correctly questions the assumptions regarding ethanol. He's generous when he says:

Ethanol produces just slightly more energy than it takes to manufacture it

Back to the SOTU, Mr. Bush suggests:

Let us build on the work we've done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next 10 years.

Is there the option not to, willy-nilly.
Peak Oil Cassandra I