Posted on 03/14/2005 7:10:16 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
PEKIN, Ill. (AP) U.S. Sen. Barack Obama urged Congress Monday to end a two-year stalemate that has stifled production of ethanol, a corn-based fuel additive that he says could create more than 200,000 new jobs and ease the nation's dependance on foreign oil.
The freshman Democrat says higher ethanol production targets should be broken out of a federal energy bill that has repeatedly stalled over disputes about drilling and liability for water supplies contaminated by the gasoline additive MTBE.
Boosting ethanol production has broad, bipartisan congressional support, but has been ``held hostage'' by other concerns over the energy bill, Obama said.
``Now is the opportunity to get this done not only for the future of our farmers, the future of our economy and the future of our environment, but to make our country a place that is independent and innovative enough to control its own energy future,'' Obama said in a statement after touring an ethanol plant in Pekin.
Ethanol's opponents argue that the additive requires more energy to produce than it saves. They also say ethanol has fallen short of its promises to help the environment and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
Obama is a member of the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee, which is scheduled to begin debate Wednesday on whether to break ethanol out of the energy bill and how high to set targets for ethanol production.
The nation's ethanol production is expected to top 4 billion gallons this year, and some supporters have advocated doubling that by 2012. They say raising production could ultimately boost corn prices by 25 cents a bushel, which would pump an extra $375 million a year into the Illinois farm economy.
Though he has not settled on a production goal, Obama said boosting the nation's ethanol output is a ``no-brainer'' that would spawn new plants, creating jobs and saving $4 billion a year in imported oil and gasoline costs.
``Today, if you pull into a gas station and want to fill up your tank, you're paying some of the highest prices of all time,'' Obama said. ``And if you turn on the news, you can see that our dependence on foreign oil is keeping us tied to one of the most dangerous and unstable places in the world.''
Not sure what Obama's position on ANWR drilling is, but I pretty certain he's against it.
Also, just last week, Obama voted against the Clear Skies Act, which would've greatly benefited the domestic coal industry--including what's left of the coal mininig industry in southern Illinois.
None of this, of course, is brought up in this lame AP article.
Senate Panel Deadlocks Over Pollution Bill (Clear Skies Can't Get Out of Committee)
Hey!
Pekin, Illinois!
That's where I grew up.
We were the Pekin Chinks back then. (Now its the Pekin Dragons.)
Yeah, lets depend on Ethanol. A freak cold storm pops up and wipes out the whole crop! Good idea.
My take on the Clear Skies Initiative was a win/win for the environment and industry. It set deadlines and limits that are stringent but achievable. Suing the coal industry yields few long-term benefits.
I remember some great Pekin basketball teams in the 1960s.
Always got a kick out of the Chinks nickname. Not surprised it got changed. Also remember a small southern Illinois team making it to the finals called the Cobden Appleknockers. Thye lost to Chicago Carver.
Because ethanol requires more energy to produce than it delivers as a fuel, we are burning more oil than we would without ethanol!
Not sure what Obama's position on ANWR drilling is, but I pretty certain he's against it.
=====
If it walks like a lib, talks like a lib, smells like a lib, yes, you have a lib....pandering to the enviro-whackos -- another part of their highly respectable voting base.... :-)
As the tag line say, "All I needed to learn about environmentalism, I learned when the environmentalist introduced America to MTBE."
He's for gigantic stills, but would never let an oil refinery be built here.
I live in Chicago and buy my Christmas tree every year at a farm in Pekin. Whatever happened to the Chink Rink?
Remember - Barack Obama is a "rock star," so when he talks, we all must listen, even though he's a freshman senator in a dying, minority party.
""Because ethanol requires more energy to produce than it delivers as a fuel, we are burning more oil than we would without ethanol! """
- DrDavid
(Sorry, but I thought everyone had to read this line)
That's what I thought. Obama Osama, Osama bin WHATEVER his name is, is lying.
Well, he and his colleagues certainly produce enough methane to keep the country fuelled.
Give me your white. Your black. Your former Klansmen. Your race pimps. Even your WWII war heroes.
And then watch them all speak the praises of ethanol as the ADM campaign contributions land in their campaign war chests.
ADM doesn't discriminate. They corrupt everyone in Washington.
I read that title no less than six times, wondering why bin Laden would be pro-ethanol
The risks and the benefits should go to the farmers of Illinois. If ethanol can drive all of their farm equipment needed in production, in marketing and in distribution--they will have earned their money.
From http://www.iowacorn.org/ethanol/ethanol_3b.html
Q: Does it take more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than the energy we get out of it?
A: No. Research indicates an approximate 38% gain in the overall corn-to-ethanol process and use of that ethanol for fuel. Corn yields and processing technologies have improved significantly over the past 20 years and they continue to do so, making ethanol production less and less energy intensive.
That will never happen, Obama-the government enjoys much more taxes from corn turned to booze, than it ever could from a tax upon a gas additive.
I bought OTD last week @ $1.35
I don't see ADM advertising like the did in the past. I always saw them on the NBC talking head show.
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