Breath Of A Nation - [CO2 Emissions, U.S.A.]

**martyr3810** · 04-12-2008, 09:36 PM

Thats funny because almost every Texan I know is in better shape than say Virginians or Pennsylvanians or even New Yorkers lol. ... Not Marylanders though. I don't know what they teach those people but those people are freakishly fit, even into old age. I don't get it.

**Aikido** · 04-13-2008, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by StealDragon

Well if you're talking about Texas... It alone has 3 of the top 10 largest fields for domestic oil in this country. Four if you count the one in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2005, Louisiana produced more oil than Texas oddly enough...

production has little to do with it. Houston is the main US hub for oil (even bigger than NY). Most oil enters via Port of Houston, and from there to pipelines that span the US.

the corn issue is rather interesting. there's too much to say about the relationship between agriculture and politics to be succinct, so I dont think I'll wade in there.

while we're talking about energy alternatives, wind power needs to be mentioned. If all the available land in Nevada was put towards wind power, there would be enough energy generated to power the entire US energy demand. (distribution notwithstanding, of course).

Originally Posted by martyr3810

Its the same for any good or service. If you offer it to everyone, or its cheap enough that everyone can afford it, people won't see the value it anymore.

In the end its a simple truth that lots of people will never take advantage of the opportunity to be educated.

im not sure I agree. Trained in economics, I see what you're getting at, but I don't believe that it should be anyone's job to provide motivation, but rather should strive for breadth of opportunity. What you're essentially suggesting is a restructuring of how people view an education (you want people to perceive more value in an education, and motivate this by means of scarcity). If we're doing that, I think we should further consider how many people need how much education. Not everyone needs or wants to get an PHD. And so on down the line (Masters, Bachelors, etc). While we're changing how people see an education, we should strive to make it so that no one feels obligated to do the next level, but has to opportunity should they like to avail themselves of it. This would also serve to increase the difficulty of each respective level, and therefore the quality of the education.

Hope that made sense, heheh

**echoblaze** · 04-13-2008, 08:28 AM

thirst for more knowledge really depends on the individual person, and is unrelated to how much of it is around, imo. there are people who want to learn, regardless how much information is at their fingertips, and people who cloister themselves in their own safe world, prefering *not* to learn. it took myself a few years to change from the latter to the former.

but, i do wonder if it's possible to give sex ed. to the people that need it most (in poorer countries), considering there *is* a connection between wealth and wanting to learn. it's been shown that poorer kids (in canada, at least) are way more likely to drop out.

**adonai** · 04-13-2008, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by Aikido

the corn issue is rather interesting. there's too much to say about the relationship between agriculture and politics to be succinct, so I dont think I'll wade in there.

They cost too much to be profitable, fertilizer is mostly nitrates, which incidentally burn quite well (wonder why that is, eh?). So in effect, you're fueling the corn to make fuel, except the conversion process isn't efficient enough to cheapen fuel, so we misallocate resources (with an overabundance of corn being fed to pretty much any sort of farm animal, even though many of them can't digest it without the aid of medication), and the supply of other crops, such as wheat, is reduced, driving up prices.

There are plants for which ethanol might work, but it's certainly not corn. I think I've heard beats, sugar cane, and switchgrass being mentioned, not quite sure how they compare though.