sexta-feira, 29 de julho de 2011

A infâmia travestida de ciência (2)

O Senador John Thune, Republicano, eleito pelo Dakota do Sul, é um estrénuo defensor da energia eólica e do etanol. É mera coincidência, evidentemente, que o Dakota do Sul  seja um dos estados maiores produtores de milho e com ventos persistentes. John Thune manteve a esperança que um "compromisso" relativamente ao etanol pudesse ser alcançado no autêntico circo que tem sido o debate à volta dos limites de endividamento. Entretanto, perdeu-a, como decorre das suas palavras:
“There was a time when ethanol was very much viewed favorably by people who didn’t represent ethanol-producing states,” Thune said. “It was viewed as the fuel of the future.”

Thune blamed oil companies for working to build up opposition to ethanol, which now spans from environmentalists to food companies to cattle ranchers to, well, oil companies.

The arguments against ethanol are largely unsupported by facts, Thune said, but people have made up their minds. “People have formed their opinions, and it’s really hard to reverse them,” he said.

“A lot of people out there have been spreading misinformation on this for a long time.”
Portanto, de acordo com Thune, a poderosa indústria petrolífera conseguiu até fazer com que os ambientalistas se opusessem ao "combustível do futuro", vulgo etanol. Como escreve Brian McGraw, "What’s more likely is that as time passed and the evidence came in it became clear that the few minor upsides to ethanol are widely outweighed by the negatives of government support for the industry."

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