While former President George W. Bush may have been correct when he stated that we were "addicted to oil," it is probably more accurate to say that we are "addicted to liquid fuel."
As the U.S. attempts to ease its oil addiction, we have begun searching for alternative liquid fuels. While this search for new, boutique fuels has lead to some potentially ecologically sustainable options, for the most part it has done just the opposite.
Biofuels: A liquid fuel made from biomass that is either sourced or grown in an unsustainable manner, contributes indirectly ecosystem conversion or competes with food production.
Now, apart from carbon intensive oil, we also have other dangerous fossil fuels to contend with: liquid coal, oil shale, and tar sands. The mining and extraction of these fossil fuels cause widespread environmental damage, including air and water pollution and biodiversity loss. Also in this "dirty fuel" category are most biofuels, which were once seen as the panacea to both oil addiction as well as global warming, but which generally increase the use of industrial agricultural chemicals and encourage deforestation and habitat loss. Making matters worse, as it turns out, all of these "dirty fuels," including most biofuels, can cause twice as much greenhouse gas pollution as conventional oil and gas. That includes most agriculturally produced biofuels.
Friends of the Earth is working to regulate pollution from fuels to discourage the use of dirty fuels. For example, we're working to institute a Low Carbon Fuels Standard, which would mandate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from fuels. This way, dirty fuels would no longer be economically viable.
One important aspect of a Low Carbon Fuels Standard is the potential to use electricity from a clean and green electrical grid or, even better, to use 100 percent renewable fuel produced by solar fuel stations. To do that, we need to bring more electrical vehicles online. But, most importantly is to reduce the overall need for transportation energy through smart-growth development.
We're also working to outright prohibit the dirty types of fuels and reform the tax code so that we do not subsidize Dirty Fuels.
