The horrendously expensive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is our wake up call. It will likely change how we obtain oil, where it comes from and what it costs. We know that at some future time it will cost more than it does to get it out of the ground. At that point we must be well on our way to replacing it as the cheap alternative. Oil will not totally go away, as there are many applications that really can't easily replace it, such as flying. We can make airplanes much more efficient, however. There are many promising ways to make fuel like gasoline and many alternatives to the internal combustion engine.

Comments on Jonah Goldberg's column of June 19, 2010, in which he states that oil is the "True green fuel."

His rationale for this outlandish statement: 4. Goldberg states we'll simply have to buy most of our oil from foreigners.

We already buy a major portion of our oil from foreigners. Ramping up domestic production enough to make a significant difference will take many years, Waiting for alternatives to be able to replace oil until it is either all gone or far too expensive for our transportation needs is short term thinking. The cost of drilling in deep water will mean that oil gets more expensive over time.

Jonah Goldberg in his infinite wisdom posted a column Saturday, June 19, stating that oil is the true "green" fuel. Why in the world would he make such a statement? Is he on drugs? His rationale is that  the BP spill is not as bad as the pollution from farm fertilizer run-off in the gulf that creates dead zones.

He goes on to say that growing corn to produce ethanol as a substitute for oil takes water and land from the production of food. Furthermore he states that we will lose $1 trillion in economic benefits, which he fails to enumerate. Next he states we will have to buy most of our oil from foreign producers. Finally he says that bio fuels are inefficient and costly and would require 30% more land to replace oil for transportation and would encourage the destruction of rain forests in countries like Brazil.

It is the title of Al Gore's new book. The choice to which he referred was whether to take climate seriously and develop non-polluting energy sources to prevent global warming, or continue with business as usual, and ignore the warnings of climate scientists. There are plenty of deniers ready and willing to take big oil and big coal's money to beat the drum for BAU.