[pinot]

The point is to take carbon out of the cycle. Not mining petroleum would of course have the same effect but good luck getting people to do that.

[seunosewa]

In both cases you're burying a product of photosynthesis that would have been converted back to carbon dioxide through combustion or respiration. You're taking carbon out of the cycle. It doesn't matter whether the carbon was fixed millions of years ago or a couple of months ago. Carbon is carbon.

[TheRealPomax]

Funny how oil and corn aren't just carbon though. Almost as if thinking in terms of CO2 only is intentionally ignoring the actual fuels involved.