Was channel flipping yesterday and caught several minutes of a special on CNN about the current crisis in oil supply/prices called “Out of Gas” (I think – I cannot find anything about this on the CNN website).
Several minutes with Sir Richard Branson. He explained how the rise in fuel prices means an extra billion dollars per year to operate his airline. How many airlines are struggling and will fold. He used to think one of the problems was a shortage of refineries. He was going to build his own refinery – until Ted Turner and Al Gore got a hold of him and “opened my mind” to the crisis of global warming.
So Sir Branson chose not to build another refinery but to invest three billion dollars in ethanol research and production. (Rising fuel costs means an extra billion per year in fuel expenses. So he spends three billion on ethanol research. Got it.) What was remarkable was that the news special admitted candidly that this “backfired”. CNN admitted that its owner/founder Ted Turner (along with the much feted Albert Gore Jr) may have given Sir Branson poor advice. (I salute and respect Branson’s desire to invest in alternative/renewable energy. But good intentions are not enough – one needs policies and strategies that will cause more good than harm.)
Remember the next time Al Gore is hailed as a true prophet for the cause of managing the planet. When you are filling your car with gas. On the way to the grocery store.
