I'm glad the discussion of resource usage came into the thread.

Bottom Line: we need to better caretakers of the planet and utilize it's resources more efficiently.

Ethanol is not an answer. It uses a tremendous amount of energy to produce when looking at the seed to gas tank BTU balance. Bio-diesel is a much more efficient method. And the infrastructure exists for bio-diesel. Blends can be burned in any diesel engine, exisiting tanks/pump stations, multiple feedstock options (soy, rapeseed, animal fats, waste oil, etc), and if corn is used it uses not just the kernal of corn, but the entire plant.

Europe is leading in these technologies. We need to look from today forward for utilizing new technologies. New cars should be diesel, diesel-hybrid or all out electric. Consider the millions of cars on the road on any given sunny day and where they park during work hours. What if each car was fitted with a solar panel built into the roof. Solar energy is still not an efficient method, but the cost would be spread around rather than trying to have a giant extremely expensive solar panel array for power generation. Give the automakers Green credits for putting these on their cars instead of charging the consumer. University of Delaware is doing extensive research. They have developed a new generation of panel that is flexible. As more money is invested the efficiency goes up and costs come down

The solutions for the issues we face are not a Magic bullet answer. There needs to be multiple bullets all hitting the same target.