Strange Bedfellows, indeed.

Via Tishalro, via Slate.

Hey, I’ll take an energy revolution darn near any way it comes. Growing and/or reprocessing our own oil can only benefit America; it’s not really isolationism, in this case — it’s self-sufficiency: the more of our own needs we can produce at home, the better off we’ll be. See this article where the Engineering students at U of M recycled some of the 11,000 gallons of waste fat produced by the dining halls each year — and turned it into biodiesel to run the busses that run in unending circles between central and north campuses.

To me, this epitomises “Conservatism”: It’s about conserving what you have so that you don’t have to buy new stuff. Being self-sufficient so you don’t have to be dependent on — or worse, beholden to — other people. Making do with what you have, and making what you have work for you. I was raised in a very conservative, self-sufficient household, and I simply cannot understand why Republicans have largely tossed this technology aside as happy-hippy crunchy-granola pie-in-the-sky spotted-owl claptrap. It’s not. It’s science, business and common sense all rolled into one.

It also astounds me how GM and Chrysler are still totally caught flatfooted on the whole hybrid thing. How ridiculous it is that we have to buy overseas to get an efficient car. I live in Michigan, home of the Motor City, and this depresses the everliving crap out of me. At least Ford is making some progress — the Ford Dealership where I bought my used VW was in a very, very red part of the state; very rural and very Christian, and not precisely the types you’d figure on being environmentalists… and yet all the guys in the Used Car Shack were really impressed by the new Hybrid Escape.

I’m still a little unsure about brand-new technology; never buy a car on its first model year and all that. Plus, the only Prius/Escape/Insight I could afford is one that’s 4-5 years old — which means those big ‘spensive battery packs are about to need replacing. That’s why I picked my bean-burner.

Also, for the record, the VeeDub starts like a champ in -10F weather. She doesn’t like it much, but she turns over on the first crank. Twenty seconds later and the idle’s straightened out and ready to go. That’s using b20; I can’t wait until the weather’s 40F overnight so I can run 100% biodiesel.

Oh, and the car’s name is “Silverbean.” I finally decided.