War or fuel cells; You'd think the math was easy

A study reported by Marketwatch says that $200 billion in subsidies in addition to $145 billion from private sector investors could put millions of hydrogen fueled cars on the road over the next two decades. Petroleum would no longer be inflaming the world.

In contrast, the Iraq war has cost the US, in solely monetary terms, up to $25 billion per month, with low estimates clocking in at $10 billion. The US government could have subsidised the whole shot, and exceeded it's Kyoto targets, by spending the money with in it's own shores. Instead, it has gone from a budget surplus to a deficit exceeding $1 Trillion, is deeply embroiled in an unpopular war and paying ever higher gas prices. The man in charge, George W. Bush, will leave a legacy of failure, even of failing to capture the most infamous terrorist alive.

Osama bin Laden, the man behind the 9/11 attacks, is still free, and the Taliban are regaining strength after the US abandoned Afghanistan in favour of invading Iraq. Given the well known connections between the Bush and Bin Laden families, it would have been inopportune for G.W.Bush to be the president responsible for catching and executing the sons of one of his business partners.

To see this whole imbroglio as anything but the great game played by those heavily invested in oil is shorted sighted. Fortunately, the next generation of leaders don't sit on the Boards of directors of Exxon or BP.