The indirect impact of our dependence on oil

Some regulatory agencies -- like the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- attempt to penalize biofuels for so-called "indirect impacts" like international indirect land use change.

In a recent letter, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) pointed out that EPA and CARB officials suggest biofuels are the only type of fuel that cause any noticeable indirect, market-mediated impacts.

"This is a laughable assertion," RFA said.

After all, by only singling out biofuels, EPA and CARB have overlooked all of the secondary impacts of our continued dependence on oil.

Instead of arguing point by point, RFA produced a photo that you can see by following the link above.

I've included two similar photos here as a reminder of some of those indirect impacts of our dependence on oil.

From RFA's "Say What?" Files:

CARB's Proposed Regulation to Implement the low carbon fuel standard: No other significant indirect effects [other than land use change] that result in large GHG emissions have been identified that would substantially affect the [low carbon fuel standard] framework for reducing the carbon intensity of transportation fuels.

The photos in this post tell a different story and are in the public domain - see here and here. They were taken in 1991 during the first Gulf War.