Tad Patzek
Tad Patzek is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley.
Recent Posts
Why cellulosic ethanol will not save us?
[Editor's note: This is the next-to-last piece in our series on the Prop. 87 "oil tax." Tad Patzek discusses the problems with biomass, which is one of the alternative energy sources the oil tax would fund with research.]
Today it is commonly believed that burning freshly cut plants is morally superior to burning old fossil plants. Even more curiously, some are convinced that stripping ecosystems of gigantic quantities of biomass can go on year-after-year, forever, and… Continue Reading
Why is Proposition 87 a Bad Idea?
[Editor's note: Tad Patzek is the latest to weigh in on our Prop. 87 "oil tax" debate. See our previous discussion of Patzek's private meeting with Vinod Khosla several weeks ago.]
If we go along with Proposition 87 as it is formulated now, we will continue destroying the Earth ecosystems in real time to feed our greedy cars and lifestyles. We will trick ourselves into believing that we are saving California and the planet. This monumental… Continue Reading