Bio-fuels Aren’t the Holy Grail (Rep. Lynn Woolsey)

From national security and job creation to environmental protection, the benefits to our nation of developing a strong and reliable energy strategy are almost endless.  That’s why we can all agree that it is far past time to move beyond our addiction to fossil fuels, and break our addiction to Middle Eastern oil.

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about so-called bio-fuels.  Their proponents cite their cleaner emissions and hail them as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels.  While they certainly deserve much of the praise and accolades that they receive, they are not, in themselves, a total solution.  We must ensure that the total environmental footprint of bio-fuels is less than their fossil fuel counterparts, otherwise what progress are we really making?

We must also go further, and we cannot rely on bio-fuels as an excuse to avoid developing other strategies and technologies such as increased energy efficiency and fuels standards, solar and wind powers.  They are a piece in the puzzle, but they aren’t the holy grail.