Originally Posted by cooker
The concept is "sustainability". Just google or otherwise search on that word. The problem, of course, is that if we as individuals live sustainably, we accomplish next to nothing. We have to get the rest of the population to buy into it too, and there's a huge resistance due to denial, misinformation, laziness, greed and other factors to combat.
The main problem is not greed, etc., but the government's refusal to treat this as the emergency it is & act accordingly, educating the public about the need for sacrifices as during WW2 & putting the necessary regulations in place. (Ironically, Bush's Texas retreat is powered by alternative energy but he lets the rest of the nation stick the oil needle in its arm.)
Re ethanol, that does not have to be made from food crops, it can be made from the waste of food crops such as sugar cane leaves & stalks.