Zubrin s Take On Biofuels. Robert Zubrin s In Defense of Biofuels, is a well thought out and extremely

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1 Pitt 1 Brad Pitt CRTW Koster 17 Oct Zubrin s Take On Biofuels Robert Zubrin s In Defense of Biofuels, is a well thought out and extremely persuasive pitch for the production of biofuels. Zubrin does a very exquisite job of answering the question at issue, should we use biofuels in the future, and of presenting the reader with numerous facts and figures to back up his stance on the future production of biofuels. Not only does he show many of the reasons for why the future creation of biofuels is a good idea, he also rebuts many of the opposing views that others have about the discontinuation of biofuels production programs. Also, Zubrin s inclusions of many facts and figures, as well as his references to highly intelligent thinkers of the past, such as Adam Smith, really give his article further validation to its credibility. Through his use of many factual numbers and data, how he credits his side and discredits the oppositions views and his references to other scientific studies is how Zubrin wonderfully created a well written and thought out argument for the future creation of biofuels. Zubrin answers the question at issue, should we use biofuels in the future, throughout the article with everything that he says. You can also tell in the title what

2 Pitt 2 Zubrins stance was on the issue of biofuels. Zubrin argued his case very well by adding in many of the arguments that people had about biofuels, and then coming back and telling the reader exactly why those arguments were wrong and gave the truth about the issue. By doing this he gives the reader an exact summary of what the article is going to be like Zubrin states in his article that Biofuels- a class of fuels of which ethanol is the most prominent and immediately promising- can play a central part in weaning the United States from oil. (pg 1). His subtitles, Paying the Oil Tax, Fueling Fears About Food, Why Adam Smith Would Love Ethanol, Omissions and Emissions, Do Vitamins Cause Global Warming?, and The Real Ethanol Challenge show the reader what will be going on in the article and what issues he will be directly addressing in each section of his article. These subtitles also help the reader get an exact grasp on what Zubrin is trying to accomplish with each part of his article. These subtitles really make it clear as to what Zubrin is discussing and it makes it easy for the reader to go back and readdress a certain concept or argument that they had previously read in his article. The most important part about these subtitles however, is the fact that they highlight the most important reasons that Zubrin feels will prove that biofuels are the direction the worlds consumers should be heading in order to make the world a better place. By using subtitles in this way, Zubrin creates a very strong and valid pitch for the use of biofuels around the world. Zubrin uses many facts, figures and data to help direct readers opinions towards his stance on the future production of biofuels. By using all of this numerical information it really shows how much he knows and has researched about the production of biofuels.

3 Pitt 3 This type of numerical information also leads the reader to see Zubrin perspective on biofuels and all the positive aspects that can come from the future production of them. Under the subtitle Fueling Fears About Food (pg 4), he uses a graph to show how much land is being used in the continental United States, to prove his point that there is plenty of farmland in the United States that could be used to grow more corn. He presents the information in this way so that there would be no second thoughts in the readers mind about how the production of turning corn into fuel in no way contributes to the over consumption of corn. Zubrin also gives many figures about; Americas annual oil tribute, the United States corn crop increasing, the OPEC global revenues, and also the cost of hybrid cars. The use of all of these numbers and data really give the reader an understanding of the topic and how they fit into his arguments for the future use and production of biofuels. In this article Zubrin references many other studies that have been previously conducted to help further credit his point of view. In contrast, Zubrin also includes and discusses studies that oppose his views on the future production of biofuels. When he provides studies that go against his views on biofuels, he portrays how the reasoning of these other studies are flawed and therefore not valid reasons to discontinue the production of biofuels. He does this with the inclusion of many opposing studies. One of the most efficient ways he discredited one of his oppositions is when he stated, from one of the studies against the use of biofuels, that food shortages were not increased by the creation of biofuels programs. In his words The problem is, that s completely untrue. (pg. 2), then he goes on to show that we have plenty of land that could also be used for farming corn that can be used as a food source. He also goes on to show that after the

4 Pitt 4 recent increase in the use of biofuels and the production of ethanol, the process of turning corn into ethanol, the United States corn crop grew by forty-five percent. Zubrin does a very good job in discrediting many popular studies that reject the use of biofuels as a way of making the planet better. Zubrin s view on the subject of biofuels is undisputable because of the way he does such an upscale job in presenting his case in a well thought out and balanced manner. The way he credits his side and discredits the oppositions views is a very effective way he makes his argument a strong one. When he disagrees with what someone has said about a study on biofuels he has no boundaries as to what he will say just to prove that their view is wrong. When he talks about the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) he said Saudi Arabia, the world s top oil exporter, is also the world s top exporter of propaganda for Wahhabism- the very extremist movement we have been fighting in our War on Terror. When he talks about what the OPEC leaders are doing with the money we give them from our taxes he really makes a reader realize where he or she is sending their money by purchasing foreign oil. When he discredits Timothy Searchinger for writing an article opposing the production of biofuels he says this (Searchinger, it is worth noting, is not a scientist; he is a lawyer who worked, until recently, as a staff attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund, the organization best known for the role it played in banning the pesticide DDT in the 1970s a ban that has resulted in tens of millions of Africans dead from malaria.) pg. 7 just to make sure we all know that Searchinger is wrong. When he talks about people or studies that go with his views he does all he can to show how credible and correct they

5 Pitt 5 are. It is worth mentioning Adam Smith, the patron saint of capitalism, was not blindly opposed to all government economic interventions. (pg. 46) By using this type of reference to a universally well respected and highly touted economist of the past, he is able to show the reader that his pitch for the future production of biofuels is not only a good idea for our world but also for our own countries economy. Even though Zubrin does many good things to form his views on biofuels he also does things that made this article somewhat difficult to read at times. Zubrin jumped around from one topic to another in a few parts of the article. In this article he occasionally confuses the reader by jumping from topic to topic instead of only discussing one aspect of biofuels. One example of this would be on page five when he changes from talking about the uses of ethanol and goes right into the topic of corn and the food prices. This made it hard for the reader to keep up with his obviously more knowledgeable concept of the subject. Another issue I had with the article was that it was very wordy. It was hard to understand the article when he would use a word then describe its meaning right after, as if we weren t as smart as he is. While a reader may not be as knowledgeable on the topic of biofuels as he is, he hurts his chances of getting the reader to be on his side when he assumes they do not know the basic English language. So while he obviously is very intelligent and has a clear understanding of biofuels, he hurts his pitch by not allowing the reader just read the article instead of just presenting the facts. In conclusion, Zubrin does do a few minor things in his article to discourage the reader to follow his views but overall his pitch is extremely persuasive and convincing in

6 Pitt 6 its entirety. The way he uses many studies and factual numbers and figures really help give the reader an understanding of the topic and with what is going on in the world with biofuels. He also does a great job in using many well known people to back up his side of the issue. I believe that Zubrin does answer the question at issue, should we use biofuels in the future, and gives many good reasons as to why it would be a good idea.

7 Pitt 7 Works Cited Zubrin, Robert. "In Defense of Biofuels." New Atlantis (2008): Print.

AP SEMINAR: End- of- Course Exam SAMPLE RESPONSES SECTION I: PART A. The Uncertainty of Science, by Richard Feynman

AP SEMINAR: End- of- Course Exam SAMPLE RESPONSES SECTION I: PART A. The Uncertainty of Science, by Richard Feynman SECTION I: PART A The Uncertainty of Science, by Richard Feynman Question 1 (3 pts): Identify the author s argument, main idea, or thesis. The author s argument is that we should not fear doubt; we should