HAVE A GREAT MONDAY READERS!

WOW.......what a great football game Saturday between unbeaten #1 LSU and #2 Alabama. It was a real old time "slugfest" if you like strong defensive football. But, it may not have offered the excitement for many with quick scoring offenses and lots of passing. It appears Coach Saban will have to really recruit a good punter and field goal kicker if he is to win in these types of games. And, what can you say about LSU's defense! Coach Miles gave the "game ball" to defensive coordinator "the Chief" John Chavis. And, he sure deserved it! Bama's Heisman Candidate Trent Richardson was only able to gain 89 yards running.

LSU remains #1 in both the USA Today/Coaches Poll, the Harris Interactive Poll and the BCS Poll. Alabama fell to #4 in the two polls, but only dropped to #3 in the BCS Poll. It seems the computers like them. Oklahoma State moved up to #2 in the BCS Poll.

If the Tigers can win the remaining three games, Arkansas being the toughest, they will likely play Georgia in the SEC Championship game in the Atlanta Dome on December 3rd. If they win the SEC Championship game, then on to the BCS national championship game in the Superdome in January. LSU won it 2 past National Championships in the Dome in New Orleans.......strange how fate has a way of repeating itself? At least, let's hope it repeats itself! If the Tigers continue winning, we'll find out in about 3 weeks who would be their opponent in the Championship game. It could be Oklahoma State, Standford or Alabama again.........

The Tigers play Western Kentucky on Saturday at 7:00 pm. It is their Homecoming and it will be broadcast on ESPNU. Then Ole Miss in Oxford before the last game of the regular season against Arkansas in "Death Valley". Not sure who will broadcast the Arkansas game yet and what time it will be. Will update when I get the info.

Now, back to ethanol related issues. Here's an article about shale oil and natural gas I thought you might find interesting.

Cheap Gas Is a Trap

Updated November 6, 2011, 07:00 PM

Matthew Kotchen is a professor of environmental economics and policy at Yale University.

New and efficient technologies for extracting oil and natural gas are increasing the supply of both fuels from North America. But the consequences will be different for oil than for natural gas. Oil is traded in a highly integrated world market, and the relatively small increases in North American oil will have virtually no effect on prices. The result is that our demand for oil will remain unaffected by the change in supply, though we may take comfort in knowing that more of the oil we use is produced closer to home.

Today's abundant fossil fuels should not distract us from tomorrow's renewable solutions.

Natural gas is a different story. The markets are far less integrated, so the increase in domestic supply will lower prices and increase demand. We will have more households switching from oil to natural gas for heating, and we will have relatively more electricity generated with natural gas than with coal. The lower prices will be a good thing for consumers paying their utility bills, and there will be health and environmental benefits because natural gas is a relatively clean fuel.

But more and cheaper natural gas does not help our prospects for bolstering renewable sources of energy, including solar, wind and biomass. History has shown repeatedly that nothing is worse for renewable energy — and the policies that support it — than cheap and abundant conventional energy. Without the urgency of high fuel prices, the United States has never sustained meaningful private and public investment in the technological innovation and deployment of renewables.

We should do our best to make sure this time is different. There has been meaningful investment — both public and private — in recent years, and despite our current economic challenges, it would be a mistake to turn back these efforts. Also, we must not throw out the baby with the bath water in response to the Solyndra bankruptcy. Instead, it is critical that we find ways to do better with the right economic incentives.

The expansion of oil and natural gas supplies in North America changes little about our long-term energy challenges. Beyond the growing demand for energy worldwide, climate change is an increasingly important and closely related problem. Conventional sources of energy generate greenhouse-gas emissions that cause global warming. While the burning of natural gas generates fewer emissions than oil and coal, its emissions are nevertheless substantial — and extraction using hydraulic fracturing raises other environmental concerns.

Renewable sources of energy provide a leading alternative, and we need a sustained commitment to improving these technologies with the aim of making them cost competitive. Indeed, it should be concerning that China is doing exactly this while we in the U.S. watch our former leadership in renewable energy continue to erode.

Topics: Technology, energy, oil

"Pete" Landry..........comments welcome ............at way2gopete@yahoo.com