Just thought this was interesting:

The Austin Advocate is a news paper written by and for the homeless in the Austin area. I was unaware that their is an entire homeless culture that alot of Austinites don't know about ...

In regards to the Austin Homelessness the following article discusses new hope for the homeless. They have developed "Garden Terrace is the first housing solution designed exclusively for single working adults, retirees, homeless and people with disabilities that meet the top recommendations of housing experts in Austin, and around the country." A great step that is there to help those who want to change their life style! But what about those who are content with living on the streets ...

Since the semester is more than two thirds of the way done, and for the most part I have consistently written about American Dependence on Foreign Oil, I thought that for my final project, and final blogs for that matter, I would shake things up a bit and go for a chance. I will now be discussing the issue of homelessness in the United States, with a specific focus on the Austin area, and how we can prevent and deal with the problem. Although this topic is a little less pertinent to a lot of people, I think that understanding the situation is the first step to improvement. Hopefully you all agree.

Since the Holiday Season officially started yesterday, I just wanted to announce my EXCITEMENT! Family, cookies, glitter and snow! I don't think anything could be more exciting! And perhaps, if you are stumped about what to get your loved ones this holiday season, may I suggest ...

A NEW HYBRID CAR!

Or an ethanol engine? Great for you AND the enviornmnt! Do you part this holiday season. Ha, just kidding, but really. Let the Holidays Begin!

Last one of the day, I promise ...

Taken word for word from:
http://www.oerb.com/education/teacher-didyouknow.asp

Here are a few fun facts about oil ... know thy enemy! Someof these are funny : )

1. Petroleum originated from marine plants and animals that decayed over time under ocean silt, sand or other materials. Millions of years, extreme pressure, and heat transformed the material into petroleum.

2. Fossil fuels supply almost 95 percent of the world's energy, even though hydro, nuclear and geothermal energy use has tripled since 1970. According to American Petroleum Institute statistics, world proven oil reserves are estimated at well over 1 trillion barrels, enough to last almost 50 years at current rates of consumption. In fact, for many years, on average, more oil has been discovered than has been used, so proven reserves today are the largest they have ever been.

3. Much of our high standard of living can be traced to the use of petroleum. Thousands of products are produced from petroleum including many types of transportation fuels, industrial fuels and chemicals, residential fuels, lubricants, waxes, asphalt, fertilizers, pesticides, photographic film, plastics, and medicine.

A little off topic, but has anyone read this book?

100 People Who Are Screwing Up America: (and Al Franken Is #37)
By Bernard Goldberg

He talks about Larry David's wife (I can't remember what number she is), and how she is "such an environmentalist," but flies around in a private jet anytime she needs to go anywhere. NOW helping our dependence on foreign oil lady ... Some the chapters are ridiculous, but some actually seem to have a good point.

Here's an interesting article:

http://www.affordable-energy.org/key_points/dependence.asp

Basically it is talking about companies and entire industries that have moved away from oil and are using alternative fuel sources like coal and lignite. It gives multiple alternative energy success stories, as well as having a kid’s section about how to improve standards and continue "oil education." A kid’s section? WOW.

So about the ethanol ...

Kansas

"The Energy and Agriculture departments are funding $250 million in research to unlock the barriers of bioenergy crops over the next five years."

They have stated that refineries would be "decentralized and less vulnerable to malevolent threats by terrorists." Just on more reason for people to use ethanol produts! Clean, affordable, home grown, AND not as much of a terrorist threat! YEAH!

In regaurds to:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0519/p14s01-sten.html?s=widep

More startling information! Hybrids are HOT! This article discusses the potential influence of Hybrids in the United States, and whether or not they can potentially make a difference in our overall foreign oil consumption! And who doesn’t love this quote:

All we've been hearing for 15 years is that consumers don't care about fuel efficiency, that they care more about cup holders than fuel economy," says Bradley Berman, editor and publisher of Hybridcars.com. "I would say that fuel economy is the new cup holder.

Indeed. Also, I found the graph at the bottom of the article to be pretty encouraging.

Ethanol (CH3CH2OH), in case anyone was wondering...

http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/whatis_eth.html

Basically, this is just a great site that explores and educates American's about the endless possibilities of alternative fuels. I think that allot of people are unaware of the other gasoline alternatives available, and how popular they are actually becoming. This site, hosted by the Alternative Fuels Data Center, gives documentation on fuel-efficient vehicles, alternative fuels, Emission standards, and tons of other information. For those especially interested in the science and logic behind alternative fuels, this is the site for you. Go ahead, snoop around.

I thought that it might be important to show that this is not a problem without a solution. Major corporations all over the world are making great strides in trying to lessen oil dependence and better our environment. General Motors for example:

http://www.gm.com/company/onlygm/livegreengoyellow/index.html

I was unaware that there are over 2 million vehicles on the road that use FlexFuel today. Did you know that ethanol comes from CORN? And I always thought we would be driving potato-fueled cars ... Anyways, it is nice to know that these options exist, and that big businesses are supporting them.