Friday morning, I dropped half-a-hundred on a full tank of gas. It probably would have been less, but I chose mid-grade at $3.22 a gallon (not significantly less, mind you: Regular was $3.09).

I should be thankful; at least I don't own an SUV.

&#8220America is addicted to oil,” President Bush said. Whose fault is that? And does anyone really think ethanol is the alternative energy source of the future? One, that $3 bucks per pop you're paying at the pump is partially because the feds have required more ethanol in gasoline. Two, ethanol is terribly expensive to produce. And three, is there enough corn in America to feed the nation's hunger for fuel?

I long for a day where every automobile is powered by trash, as driven by Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future.

Don't expect prices to ease anytime soon. Al Gore and his &#8220Inconvenient Truth” have scared Congress into cutting off any potential oil exploration in Alaska and off the coast. According to Gore, humans are the direct cause of Global Warming and in 100 years Florida's beachfront property is going to have to be moved back considerably. The polar ice caps, you see, are melting, which in turn will lead to a rise in sea levels.

While I haven't seen &#8220An Inconvenient Truth,” we must certainly take Mr. Gore's word for it. After all, he invented the Internet. Or claimed to.

Documentaries such as &#8220Truth” are packaged as such to be believable. It's the slick trick of Hollywood. How many people had there beliefs about President Kennedy's assassination warped by Oliver Stone's &#8220JFK”? And despite Johnny Depp's superb performance as Captain Jack Sparrow in &#8220Pirates of the Caribbean,” the buccaneer's life wasn't as glamorous as depicted in the films.

Gore has become the ultimate political puppet for the environmentalists. In him, they have found their champion.

Truthfully, there are just as many scientists who oppose the theory of global warming as support it.

Opposing viewpoints can be found in another documentary entitled &#8220The Great Global Warming Conspiracy.” Ideas expressed in this British made film include:

n There has been an increase in funds available for any research related to global warming &uot;and it is now one of the best funded areas of science.&uot;

n Scientists seeking a research grant award have a much more likely chance of successfully obtaining funding if the grant is linked to global warming research.

n It is more likely that vested interests occur among supporters of the proponents of the theory of man-made global warming because hundreds of thousands of jobs in science, media, and government have been created and are subsidized as a result of this theory.

n Scientists who speak out against the theory that global warming is man-made risk persecution, death threats, loss of funding, personal attacks, and damage to their reputations.

n Some supporters of the theory that global warming is man-made do so because it supports their emotional and ideological beliefs against capitalism, economic development, globalization, industrialization, and the United States.

n The theory that global warming is man-made was promoted by Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a means of promoting nuclear power and reducing the impact of strike action by the National Union of Mineworkers.

n Claims that all skeptics are funded by private industry (such as oil, gas, and coal industries) are false and have no basis in fact.

Just some opposing viewpoints for your pleasure.

Or, perhaps, an inconvenient truth?

Kevin Pearcey is Group Managing Editor of Greenville Newspapers, LLC. He can be reached by phone at 383-9302, ext. 136 or by email at: editor@greenville.advocate.com.