SOMEBODY SHOULD TELL THIS JACKASS GOVERNOR IN MINNESOTA:
Pawlenty pumps ethanol
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio
September 26, 2005
Governor Tim Pawlenty addresses the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition in St Paul. (MPR photo/Laura McCallum)
Governor Pawlenty is challenging other states to boost their ethanol consumption. He told a meeting of the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition that the corn-based fuel will reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. The group consists of 31 states and five countries that support ethanol. But unlike Minnesota, few of them mandate ethanol use.
St. Paul, Minn. — Minnesota was the first state to require that all gasoline sold in the state contain 10-percent ethanol. Montana and Hawaii have passed similar laws, although they haven’t gone into effect yet. This year, Pawlenty pushed for doubling Minnesota’s ethanol mandate to 20-percent by the year 2013. He says the events of the last few months have made it clear that the nation must reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
“I think seeing Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, instability in the Middle East and $3 or $4 gas has hopefully shocked us all to say, “Hey, we gotta do something and do it better than we have in the past,” says Pawlenty.
Pawlenty challenged all states to achieve 10-percent ethanol use by the year 2010. He says ethanol can benefit states that aren’t corn-producers, since ethanol can be made out of sugar, other grains and even garbage. He also defended ethanol subsidies, which critics have questioned.
Pawlenty”Every other fuel is subsidized too,” he says. “This notion that ethanol is subsidized and somehow it’s therefore tainted is ridiculous, because we subsidize oil like crazy! Look at the federal tax code and the incentives we give to oil exploration and production and refining.”
Pawlenty says ethanol has the added benefit of creating jobs in rural America. He says only people on the far margins of the political spectrum oppose ethanol.
Pawlenty perhaps doesn't know about the gigantic taxes on petrol products that make up the bulk of its price. Or maybe, just maybe he is some kind of shill.
Don’t go feeling special on us. Oregon’s governor is an ethanol jackass too.