Teddy Roosevelt Would Say Bully - Again

Theodore Rossevelt

A good editorial penned by Secretary of Navy Ray Mabus appeared in the Boston Globe on June 30th making the case for the Navy's need for alternative fuels. Mabus appeared earlier in the year on The Colbert Report during Fleet Week in New York City - he handled the interview well with good facts and a little humor.

There is still disagreement about the need for Navy use of biofuels, but the facts point for the need:

Each $1 increase in the price of a barrel of oil results in a $30 million bill for the Navy and Marine Corps. In 2011 and 2012 price fluctuations added an unplanned $3 billion to the Department of Defense’s fuel expenses. The potential bills from that “security premium” can mean that we will have fewer resources for maintaining and training our military.

Three Pinocchios

I think a good topics course for graduate students would be to do critical analyses of opinion pieces on merits and demerits of biofuels, and then publish their findings using a Fact Checker format as often published in the Washington Post newspaper, and give ratings as to how well the "facts" are presented.

The reality of a realized vision for a time when biofuels are priced competitively with petroleum fuels will soon be at hand. Teddy Roosevelt would say Bully - another innovation for the Navy.