South Dakota doesn't like proposed ethanol roll backs.

Good read. I think when you roll back anything you are going to upset.

Just like the sequestration and other cost burdens to the taxpayers and government....somebody has got to pay the bill.

I say let the free market systems figure out who is paying the bill and scale back government mandates.

I might add that clean diesel technology might be way better than any ethanol solution. I drive a Jetta and a Ford F350 and both you cannot tell they are diesels from emissions and are extremely efficient.

I like the comment that fuel consumption and demand is decreasing. That is a move in the right direction. Consume less!
 
Rather than have the "Liberals" vs. the "Conservatives" rant we get here. It looks like we have 'big" oil against "big agriculture" with the rest of us fools, (who get our news from the yellow press and internet), to make some semblance of the thing. In the part of the world where I live, ethanol is a scourge on the farmland, water, problematic in fuels, and I don't see any real cost savings, less air pollution. I do see at lot of cost at the grocery store, and our meat animal production is lower than any time but the 1940's. Best investment is fuel conservation, and a prolonged down turn in the economy. That's why we have lower fuel prices currently. As I say, I am absolutely positive, that fossil fuels create an environmental mess some where, but not in my neighborhood, I am more worried about home, I wish that concern spreads!
 
pretty much an understood fact that the production of ethanol is not viable, costs more money to produce than its worth. And the destructive qualities it has on the environment is another big issue. Looks like they want to get the switchgrass thing going as well. We shall see what happens.
 
oldandnew said:
Rather than have the "Liberals" vs. the "Conservatives" rant we get here. It looks like we have 'big" oil against "big agriculture" with the rest of us fools, (who get our news from the yellow press and internet), to make some semblance of the thing. In the part of the world where I live, ethanol is a scourge on the farmland, water, problematic in fuels, and I don't see any real cost savings, less air pollution. I do see at lot of cost at the grocery store, and our meat animal production is lower than any time but the 1940's. Best investment is fuel conservation, and a prolonged down turn in the economy. That's why we have lower fuel prices currently. As I say, I am absolutely positive, that fossil fuels create an environmental mess some where, but not in my neighborhood, I am more worried about home, I wish that concern spreads!
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I agree with all most all of this. Fossil fuels if done correctly is not causing a problem any more than Big Ag and Chemicals dumped on crops.:)
 
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Why are we so damn stupid? On one hand we're filling landfills and the ocean with our waste when much of that waste is the same cellulosic material that switchgrass is composed of. Why don't we kill two problems with one solution and put all of our yard waste, all of the cedars that are invading our grasslands and woodlands, all of the highway clippings, all of the old hay bales, all of the hurricane debris etc in the cellulosic ethanol production and not transfer the fertility of our croplands into our gas tanks? There is a holistic answer to this problem that could work. Any decent capitalist could make money with this system if done properly.
 
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I have a friend that collects trees that have fallen, has a waste yard downtown, if you have a tree fallen, he accepts them for free, from the county, city, or private tree companies. They saw them into pallet material, and assemble the pallets, painted blue, I suppose you know who buys them! Grind and chip the rest. sell some to landscapers, sell the rest to the power plant to make electricity! I wish I though of it first! Talk about a green business.
 
would like to see ethonal go away completely. I never had carb or plug problems in my small engines untill this crap came around.
 
Yeah, never spent so much on chainsaw repairs as lately. Had 3-4 carburators replaced this summer and fall.
 
Prairie Drifter said:
Why are we so damn stupid? On one hand we're filling landfills and the ocean with our waste when much of that waste is the same cellulosic material that switchgrass is composed of. Why don't we kill two problems with one solution and put all of our yard waste, all of the cedars that are invading our grasslands and woodlands, all of the highway clippings, all of the old hay bales, all of the hurricane debris etc in the cellulosic ethanol production and not transfer the fertility of our croplands into our gas tanks? There is a holistic answer to this problem that could work. Any decent capitalist could make money with this system if done properly.
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PD,

Confused about your post???? Who are you talking too?????????????????
 
jmac, I guess I'm talking to Americans in general. We've turned outselves into the ultimate disposable consumers. If we study history, many cultures disappeared when they abused their soils. We can't maintain our wasteful fossil fuel consumption by leaning on our food source substrate. It will be the end of our way of life ultimately.
 
UGUIDE said:
Good read. I think when you roll back anything you are going to upset.

Just like the sequestration and other cost burdens to the taxpayers and government....somebody has got to pay the bill.

I say let the free market systems figure out who is paying the bill and scale back government mandates.

I might add that clean diesel technology might be way better than any ethanol solution. I drive a Jetta and a Ford F350 and both you cannot tell they are diesels from emissions and are extremely efficient.

I like the comment that fuel consumption and demand is decreasing. That is a move in the right direction. Consume less!
Click to expand...

Our government is supposed to be limited and small. We have a Constitution that is supposed to guarantee that by enumerating the exact functions that our government may do.

Mandating ethanol usage doesn't appear in that document.

BTW I also drive two clean diesel vehicles and love them.
 
Roll Back is a great place to start, hopefully they will not stop until the ethanol mandate and the government subsidies are eliminated completely.
 
I don't think the average American realizes how bad the ethanol industry is for our environment. While fishing in South Dakota on lake Sharpe and listening to KELO couldn't help but notice every other commercial spewing BS about how good ethanol is and how great it is for the environment and how much money one can save by using it. I don't mind saying, every time those commercials would come on I felt like throwing my radio overboard. Point is how can we get the word out to the general public about how environmentally damaging this industry is. I would think that if we had more people expressing their concern that sooner or later (hopefully sooner) the powers that be would scrap this madness. I have complained to Tom Vilsack himself but I/we don't have a very loud voice when compared with the big money of ethanol and big agriculture. Rant ended!:)
 
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