Environmental lawsuits block ethanol expansion
So let’s get this straight: Ethanol is supposed to be the gasoline
replacement that eases our oil im****ts and pays a dividend for the
American farmer, while at the same time yielding environmental
benefits from a cleaner, renewable fuel, right? So why are
environmental groups around the country suing to halt construction of
ethanol-producing facilities? If you haven’t learned by now that
things that sound too good to be true are too good to be true, I’d
like to talk about how you can make millions selling real estate
without a single dollar down... but that’s another matter.
Now that the bloom is off the corn fuel, er, flower, some hard truths
are emerging. By now, you probably know about speculation and wild
fluctuations in grain futures, about ****k-barrel projects, and about
questions of how much energy goes into ethanol production in the first
place. What you may not have heard about is the strain that the 140 or
so existing ethanol plants place on local infrastructure.
When US Envirofuels began the permitting process for Florida’s first
ethanol plant in Tampa, the city put their plans on hold when it
emerged that the facility would require 400,000 gallons of water per
day to operate — far more than the drought-stricken municipality can
safely supply.
Tampa shouldn’t have been surprised, though. In Missouri, Gulfstream
Bioflex Energy’s plans to build a plant near Fordlands has run into a
lawsuit by the local Citizens for Groundwater Protection, over
Gulfstream’s plans to draw over 1.3 million gallons a day from the
depleted Ozark aquifer. Missouri water rights currently allow anyone
to use as much as they desire.
Similar legal battles are being fought in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska,
Kansas and Illinois. “Green,” it turns out, is a matter of
perspective.
- By David Traver Adolphus
NOTE: According to a recent agricultural re****t....
the US could not possibly produce enough corn to alleviate foreign
dependence without replacing all other crops... farmers will produce
crops for whoever pays the most.... if it is fuels, then there will be
a shortage in foods and therefore food prices will climb.
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