In its blind zeal to promote development at any cost in Erie, the Times-News breathlessly editorialized on behalf of Lake Erie Biofuels Tuesday which has been producing biofuels at the old Hammermill plant site for a year or so now.
Applauding the plant's planned production expansion from 40 million to 70 million gallons annually with the help of a $1.6 million state loan, the editorial ignored the internally inconsistent claim that the company's newly announced expansion will help the nation to achieve "energy independence" despite the fact that virtually all its heavily taxpayer-subsidized product(amounting to about $1 a gallon) will continue to be exported outside the U.S.
The Times-News hailed the fact that the company has changed its name to "Hero X," appropos to nothing in evidence except that "The name change is part of a branding campaign to reach a worldwide market," while boasting that its use, among other raw materials, of vegetable oils would promote environmentally benign goals. This further ignores the hard lessons of the recent ethanol craze which resulted in a 35 percent increase in the national average consumer cost of foods like bread, cereals, poultry, beef and other foodstuffs dependent primarily upon ethanol feedstocks such as corn and grains.
On one hand, the editorial quoted a company official as saying:"We believe in biodiesel and its role for our country in increasing our energy independence (my emphasis)and improving our environment." But on the other hand it quotes the same official as saying "the plant is strategically located to export(my emphasis)its products using rail, highways and Lake Erie."
Oblivious to the inherent contradiction, the Times-News editorial exulted: "It's exciting to realize that Erie can help lead the way as Americans make good on our decades-old pledge to achieve energy independence."
To date, Erie Biofuels has exported most if not all of its product across the oceans, where there are more lucrative markets. There's no reason to believe that will change anytime soon,if ever. How does that promote national energy independence? Exporting domestic biolfuels and U.S. energy independence are mutually exclusive conceits.
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3 comments:
We could have energy independence if we DRILLED for the oil we have here in U.S. territory. Further....the United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal ! We could produce motor fuels from our abundance of coal just as the Nazi Germans did during the Second World War.
Drill now, drill deep, drill often.
Dan, I don't know that citing Nazi practices is the best way to get people to agree with you...
Ralph, when I cite the fact that the Nazi German government created motor fuels from coal, the intent is to tell people that although Nazi Germany was under intense Allied bombing attacks disrupting their energy sources, the Germans were able to utilize technology now more than 60 years old, to produce motor fuels. I'm not trying to get anyone to agree with me. What I'm doing is telling people we have the technology to utilize our natural resources. But because of tree-hugging liberals who are now in control of the United States government, we are being relegated to a nation of Third World status.
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