$16 to $17 for a gallon of homebrew VS. $2 to $3 for a gallon of dead dinosaurs. I think it will be a while until the world has to think about switching, and if that day ever comes we are all out of a job already because the world economy will be toast.
I think Alaska doing 75 flights, instead of 1 or 2 flights like UAL, is all about marketing and essentially low cost advertising. Getting another "green" award and making yourself popular to the SEA and CA tree huggers doesn't hurt either.