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—Rudy Giuliani, remarks to the Republican National Convention, 2008.09.03
In more GOP doublespeak, "all" doesn't mean all. McCain and Palin embrace oil and natural gas from Canada (still a foreign country, kids), but the GOP doesn't want the renewable fuel South Dakota farmers can grow for them. The Republican Party has given unanimous approval to a platform that drives ethanol out of the core strategy for energy independence.
Well, not quite unanimous:
The 2008 Republican platform, approved at the party's convention in St. Paul, Minn., calls for ending the renewable fuel standard for ethanol, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., says that's a big mistake.
It's "proof that Republicans are not always right," Thune said Tuesday in an interview. "On this one, they just got it wrong.""I'm disappointed in that," Thune said. "It came as a bit of a surprise" [Dennis Gale, "SD Senator: GOP Call to End Ethanol Mandate Wrong," AP via Forbes, 2008.09.02].
In the same article, Brian Jennings of the American Coalition for Ethanol argues that the ethanol mandate has helped reduce our dependence on foreign oil as "reduce gas prices, clean the environment,... and restore some prosperity to farm country" [Gale, 2008.09.02].
The platform mentions ethanol and biofuels twice: The first mention says the GOP wants to end the ethanol mandate and "let the free market work" [p. 30]. The second [p. 30] acknowledges we should continue to develop alternative fuels, "especially cellulosic ethanol," but couples that with a mention of "the burden of rising food prices," a gentle nod to the Big Oil propaganda campaign to keep ethanol out of our tanks.
Corn ethanol is here now, but the GOP doesn't want to use it. They want to focus on alternatives that are still a few years down the road so their Big Oil pals can maximize their oil profits here and now.
"All of the above"—in GOP-speak, that means everybody but South Dakota farmers. Thanks for nothing, Republicans.
Ethanol is not going to solve any energy crisis. In fact, too much ethanol production will only drive up food prices.
ReplyDeleteEthanol is a good idea to help cut pollution in the cities.
yeah we would much rather farmers going broke and getting 2 per bushel for corn then then them making a living....also, ethanol infrastructure being built is just a waste...like anyone will ever develop the technology to make ethanol from swith grass or other highly celluslosic material then actually have use for this infrastruce that has alread been built to produce it. Much better to Drill Drill Drill for oil maybe the corn belt can become a national park after we have ravaged and raped those wilderness areas that were set aside for a reason.
ReplyDelete$10 corn isn't necessarily a good thing for farmers.
ReplyDeleteAmen GOP! Corn ethanol is a joke. If you want proof, remove the subsidies and sell 10% next to regular gas and see which fuel consumers WANT to use. And, as far as anonymous #2 says...you can't even make cellulosic ethanol in any of the plants around here (except for 1 very small one).
ReplyDeleteI heard a fascinating and inspiring interview with David Blume on NPR a few weeks ago. Sounds like we could all stand a reading of his book, Alcohol Can Be A Gas! The key here is getting Big Oil out of the picture entirely.
ReplyDeleteWhen Henry Ford first produced his model T, we could have discouraged him with negative rhetoric and kept him from continuing to improve the auto industry. The ethanol industry is relatively new and its need room to grow and advance. Corn ethanol is a beginning and universities like South Dakota State University are looking to produce cellulosic ethanol from nonfood plants and the University of Minnesota is looking at producing ethanol from fallen trees. Many universities are researching ways to produce ethanol with nonfood plants like switchgrass and even lawn clippings. This industry needs to time to grow and develop. Especially in South Dakota where we have more than 14 ethanol plants breathing new life into our rural communities, we need to encourage ethanol.
ReplyDelete