Ethanol Fuels "Small Town News" Into MSM Election Coverage

The issues of energy security and bio-fuels are certain to be hot topics in the upcoming presidential campaign which seems to start earlier each go-round, now providing an unprecedented 2 years to choose our next leader. Normally I would find the idea of nearly 2 years filled with very un-presidential mud-slinging and campaign ads extremely depressing, however, if the ethanol scam is finally exposed as a political whitewash that PAC money has bought and paid for, then it will be well worth the 2 years of suffering we are all sure to endure until November, 2008.

Small towns across America are standing up to the massive ethanol propaganda machine and during this election cycle the truth demands to move beyond "Small Town News" and the blogsphere, forcing its way to the forefront of even the "Main Stream Media" by the sheer magnitude of its impact on the planet and our daily lives.

As is often the case, it is the people on the front lines, the ones most immediately affected by ethanol, who are asking the hard questions. Questions most politicians would rather dance around. The MSM makes it easy for them by repeating tag-lines ("reduce America's dangerous dependence on foreign oil", HA! by about 5% in 15 years!) and catch phrases ("cleaner burning", HA! If you don't count increased VOC's and Formaldehyde coming out of your tailpipe, or the increased pollution of trucks and trains transporting it, or the increased pollution of the distilleries manufacturing it, or....) as though they were actual facts. (yeah, I know, "What else is new?!") When full consideration is given to the numerous and serious negative impacts ethanol could have on our lives, it becomes clear why bringing small town news to the MSM is crucial to the future we will leave our children. As always, the truth has the potential to alter everything. So, without further delay, on to the "Small Town News."

The majority of new ethanol distillery construction is happening in rural America. It's unnerving how similar the tactics are across the country. I'm fairly certain there is a special "Dog-and-Pony" handbook given to developers as they make their way across the country selling their snake-oil to unsuspecting map-dots communities. The common scenario goes something like this: Developers (often with ZERO experience in the ethanol industry) make sweet talk with local corn growers (usually through co-ops or associations), they join forces to convince local officials ethanol will resurrect their lagging economy, pressuring them to move quickly through the approval process if they want to benefit from this "rare opportunity", often implying other towns are "waiting in line" to cash in on the Big E-Rush if they drag their feet with such trivial matters as "safety".

From Iowa, the Des Moines Register:

"A ($10,000.00) taxpayer-paid consultant's evaluation of the health and environmental effects from a proposed ethanol plant in Des Moines won't be made public until a special meeting Monday, just before city leaders vote"

"Consultants often are allowed months or even years to complete complicated reviews. Schmidt had roughly a month because of a strict schedule that requires a vote by Monday"

"At least one resident says the timing seems like a deliberate tactic to limit public discussion of the consultant's findings."

"City Manager Rick Clark said the timing is necessary to prevent further delays that could jeopardize the roughly $200 million project and about 50 jobs that come with it."

"City leaders say delays could entice investors of one or both of the remaining proposals to yank their plans."

Since when do legitimate businesses insist the welfare and concerns of the community in which it wishes to be a "Good Neighbor" (as they ALL claim to desire) are unimportant?! Ethanol developers' timetables are driven by their knowledge that there is a limited amount of free money available from the Congressional Subsidy Trough; first come, first served. No guarantees what the new Congress will do; they could be cut off with but a moment's notice.

Having been subjected to the same subliminal threats right here in Paradise, I urge all concerned citizens to ASK QUESTIONS! It is quite possibly the surest way to send these shysters packing BEFORE they drain your community resources; pollute your air, water and ground; and completely destroy the exceptional quality of life enjoyed in rural America. Investigate what being a "Good Neighbor" means to an ethanol company. The last thing they want is for informed citizens to expose their "Dirty Little Secrets", and other residents' testimony.

Communities nationwide are seeing citizens join forces to inform the public and oppose decisions that might otherwise force them to accept a horrendous risk to their family and community well being. These are the people who realize the very serious harm they will be subjected to if they don't stand and fight the rubber-stamp-it mentality driving the ethanol bandwagon. Their quality of life; feelings of peace and security, acquired through years of home ownership and community relations, all completely disregarded for the benefit of a very few.

Another point not often talked about in the media is the complete disruption to the rural lifestyle enjoyed before ethanol moves to town. Even with rail access, truck traffic will easily increase by 200 or more semis every day. Starry nights will be a thing of the past as distilleries store huge quantities of toxic (and apparently to some criminals, desirable) chemicals that need to be kept under close scrutiny with the use of industrial outdoor lights. Bird and cricket songs, too, will be silenced for miles as ethanol distilleries operate 24/7, 365 days a year and are so loud that, on what should be a quiet Summer evening, one can literally drive 5 miles from the "Good Neighbor" and still hear the droning noise; again, 24/7, 365 days a year! Imagine your family's homestead being just a few hundred yards away. Birthday parties and family BB-Q's with the new stench and noise? Not likely with this new neighbor. And even though the "D-n-P" Handbook suggests comparing the stench to "baking bread", a more accurate description is that it reeks of stale alcohol and rotting corn! Maybe because that's exactly what it is: Alcohol and fermenting (rotting) corn mash! How many politicians can grasp the horror of being told after all the years invested in your community, raising your family, preparing for your retirement in the home built with sweat and love, that now after all that, to be told: "you don't matter?" Can they even imagine??!

How many Washington politicians have given serious (or any) thought to the extreme danger forced on the families and small communities ethanol distilleries are invading? These are often rural areas with very small, volunteer fire departments. They aren't the type of facilities likely to have hazmat gear and big, modern ladder trucks capable of reaching the huge stacks (that developers invariably request variances for) and not equipped with the expensive, specialized foam necessary for battling chemical fires.

All ethanol distilleries require massive quantities of highly toxic chemicals to be stored on site and transported regularly by truck and rail in and out of the facility. Often times the tracks are in dire need of improvement and country crossings are not adequately marked with lights and safety arms. The team that brought the ethanol show to Paradise had no idea how many of the crossings were unmarked. Likewise, they had no idea that nearly all of the trains and trucks would pass directly in front of a prison located just a few miles away. Needless to say, developers had no comment on evacuation plans for prisoners, residents, or children at the 2 schools located just 2 miles from the proposed site. Lack of communication and forethought could cost the health and lives of simple folks, yearning for the safety and comfort of a quiet, small-town life.

From Newark, Ohio:

"Unpleasant odors, health risks, pollution and the risk of fires or explosions are concerns of some residents who live in a subdivision near the site of a proposed ethanol plant in Newark."

"One would think that everyone in Newark, Heath and Granville would be very concerned about this--the stench from the factory 24/7, pollution and health issues, potential loss of property value, the fact that we're in the evacuation zone should there be a problem at the factory, water consumption and disposal, increased train and truck traffic."

Many of these distilleries receive "brownfield" designation, translating into considerable tax breaks. (some are granted 10 years of ZERO taxes!) The designation also often includes the added benefit of being exempt from some of the clean up that would otherwise be required if the site has previous contamination. (The proposed site 1/2 mile from my house has rusty, leaking fuel tanks buried underground that any other developer would be required to remove; there is also a swamp/wetlands area in the back that the developers would have polluted with their 95+ degree discharge water, guaranteed to destroy the natural eco-systems) Because they receive tax credits on top of mandated use, on top of subsidized corn, infrastructure and vehicles; no other single item costs taxpayers more! NONE! It has been heavily subsidized by the States and Feds for decades; are you feeling a lot of benefit for the billions of tax dollars wasted every single year???!

Armed with facts, and in spite of the madness and myths perpetuated by the MSM, citizens are exercising their right to protect their family and way of life.

From Missouri, the Ozark's local News-Leader:

"Foes of a proposed ethanol plant in Webster County have flatly rejected a settlement offer from the company hoping to build it.

Gulfstream Bioflex Energy owners offered the settlement Monday in hopes of avoiding a costly March 6 trial that will focus on the plant's potential to harm the area's underground water supplies."

"In previous court hearings, GBE officials have said the $165 million plant could use more than a million gallons of water a day to produce fuel-grade ethanol."

The folks in Webster County did their research and filed suit before the damage was done, because as others have learned the hard way, they knew their wells could go dry or become contaminated and they would be left with little or no recourse. Citizens who's water is contaminated with MTBE, ethanol's predecessor, are prevented from seeking real justice according to the Senator from New York.

"I join many of my colleagues in expressing dismay about the MTBE provision in the legislation.

First, the bill provides a retroactive liability waiver for MTBE producers. This provision turns the so-called polluter-pay principle on its head. It basically says to communities from New York to California: Guess what; we may have contaminated your groundwater, we may have contaminated your wells, and we are not going to help you clean it up."

"As bad as the MTBE liability waiver is, the bill doesn't stop there when it comes to the MTBE producers. Unbelievably, the bill provides $2 billion in grants to MTBE producers."

Water is the most precious and least renewable resource at risk if the ethanol train keeps rolling out of control. The Midwest already strains the aquifers serving America's Breadbasket, especially considering the drought we have experienced the past several years. Huge corporate ag and animal (CAFO) operations use more water than nearly every industry, except maybe the ethanol sector! Water rights in the West are more valuable than land. How much are we willing to risk just to maintain our addiction to consumption? How long do we expect to be able to remove fresh water at the rate of hundreds of billions of gallons every single day?? "Peak Water" would come much more quickly than "Peak Oil's" best hope.

From Wisconsin, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"We are already seeing more soil erosion from corn and beans; growing more of these crops, driven by the appetite for biofuels, will send more topsoil into our rivers and streams"

"These crops not only demand a lot of fuel to produce; they tax water and soil"

"There was nothing said about conserving soil and water in this blind rush to replace crude with corn"

"Not only are the crops from which we produce ethanol thirsty and erosive, but the ethanol plants themselves consume huge quantities of water. A conservative estimate from Minnesota shows that for every gallon of ethanol it produces, an ethanol plant (Distillery!)* will use four gallons of water."

"We need to ensure that there is ample water and healthy soil left in Wisconsin to grow the trees and grasses that offer true sustainable energy production"

(*emphasis added by author)

As I've said before, I find it strangely curious that the equally important water issues related to ethanol are nearly always overshadowed by the food/corn issue. Could it be that because water isn't linked to money, it is somehow not worthy of the same amount of "air-time"? I wonder what would happen if these industries had to actually pay for the water the deprive all citizens of?? What might happen if the general public knew ethanol doesn't help our air quality, as is often repeated as gospel in the MSM? (it only slightly decreases CO2 emissions, yet it increases smog pollution) What if everyone knew how much water would be consumed and polluted by increased ethanol production? What if everyone knew the truth? Will the truly clean and eternal energy sources of wind and solar finally be given their due?

It is through my favorite pair of rose-colored glass that I see a flourescent lit future, powered by the free and unending breezes up here in Summit City.

From my backyard to yours and beyond........