Oil spills and algae solutions

The oil spill is weighing on all of us in our house, even those of us without driver's licenses. When I hear the amounts of oil in gallons, I can only think of it in terms of milk. It is the only thing I've seen in gallons, except maybe laundry detergent, but it is to clear to picture. So I imagine white plastic gallons of milk floating around and gathering up against yellow blockers. Much of the talk is about how this will affect the habitat and coastal areas in the future. But what about now? The hotel proprietors say they are doing better than usual with all the media covering and extra employees working to stop the spill. Spill seems like the wrong term. I again think of milk. And I have on more than one occasion cried or at least yelled over spilled milk (after the third glass, or just after a long day). The accident in the gulf warrants terms reserved for trauma, warfare. But using those terms might make us realize the impact of the now. How many fish, birds, and tiny critters who hold up their end of the food chain are now dead, unable to even decay because of the oozing oil engulfing their habitat? But we are wrapped up in it, too. I pumped the van full of gas at BP tonight, guilt oozing out of me. And it's not just cars. Even after cutting out oil based cleaners and soaps and watching where our food comes from, trying to get it as close as winter allows, I live in oil -- plastic containers, clothes, shoes, furniture, everything has some basis -- in either its contents, production or distribution -- in oil. On the rare occasion I wear hose, I call them my "petroleum pants", and can't wait to peel them off again. At least after we pumped our gas, we were meeting up with Ryan for dinner, who biked to work, biked to dinner, and biked back home, all in 40 degree weather and light rain.

After hearing us talk about the spill tonight, Ryan mentioned that there was technology being developed to make algae into jet fuel. Dietrich may want to get in on this. Here was his response:

"We could get a boat, or just rent one, and then go to Lake Monona, scoop up all the blue-green algae, put it in the boat, and make it into fuel!"

Maybe there is hope to get out of our oil-dependent lives, after all.