This post has absolutely nothing to do with SEO, so forgive me for that.
In my younger days, I was more outspoken about things that mattered to me. I attempted to make a difference when it came to issues I felt were important - whether political, social, or whatever. Those days are long gone. With age, came apathy. I became jaded and decided it wasn't worth the effort to try and affect change. Politicians didn't care. People didn't care. Well, that might be stretching the truth some, but regardless, it basically sums up my feelings about it all.
I haven't gotten worked up about any issue in many years. But lately, one thing has been festering in my thoughts. One issue has been on my mind a lot, and I can't seem to shake it. This issue is actually intermingled with other issues, but that's beside the point. I'm not sure what to do with this new-found concern of mine. I certainly don't have any kind of power or influence amongst those that matter (politicians, business leaders, etc.). No, all I have is my small sphere of influence - my little SEO world. So, since this blog is the hub of my little world, I present my feelings here. Will it do any good? Sadly, no. Not really. But I feel compelled to mention it somewhere, to someone. So here goes.
The U.S. needs to get heavily invested in E85 - Ethanol. We desperately need to rid ourselves of our vast dependence upon imported oil. Our farmers desperately need new business. Our environment desperately needs every tiny advantage it can get. And we, the people, need an alternative that makes sense on so many levels.
I recently bought a truck, and was surprised to discover that it is a FlexFuel vehicle - meaning it can run on either standard gas or E85, or any combination of both. That ended up being a huge selling point for me. Unfortunately, there is not a single gas pump in my state (Louisiana) that sells E85 fuel. What a shame.
I found a site called the National Ethanol Vehicle Coaliton, which shows a map of all the E85 fueling locations in the U.S. Although most of the states have some, you'll find that the list in each state is extremely short.
60 Minutes aired a piece last night on E85, and it was mentioned that it would be relatively easy to put one pump at every gas station within a couple of years. No new technology has to be invented. It already exists. Brazil has been using E85 almost exclusively for several years, and they have drastically reduced their imported oil dependence.
I don't know exactly what to do to help influence this change, although I did use the simple form over at www.e85fuel.com to send emails to my state representatives. I wish I knew what else I could do. I will continue to see if there is any other way I can help push this along. In the meantime, I thought I would at least put this out there for all of you to consider.
So, that's my post. I hope I didn't bore you, or offend you, in any way. But I had to put it out there. For whatever reason, it has become important to me.