Dirty laundry in the Bush fuel spin cycle

[babylonsister]

http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/50393/

Dirty laundry in the Bush fuel spin cycle

Posted by Frank O'Donnell at 9:34 AM on April 10, 2007.

Frank O'Donnell: (hint: it's all about coal, cars and corn)…and a surprising lobbyist against global warming limits


We are bracing ourselves for some vigorous spinning in this afternoon's press conference by EPA Administrator Steve Johnson, Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, and NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason to tout "the use of alternative fuels and modernizing CAFÉ standards for cars."

It will be curious to see if they, as President Bush did last week, will try to argue that this is a Bush administration response to global warming and last week's Supreme Court decision.

Calling this plan an effective response to global warming is about as appropriate as naming Don Imus the Dean of Women at Rutgers.

(Please don't try to tell us you are doing a great job on global warming if you leave out the biggest source of emissions - coal burning at power companies.)

But there's more…

the administration appears to have at least a partial ally now in former House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt. Read on, and, as always, please let us know if we can help.

Hazy horizon: Part of today's announcement includes the rollout of the final "renewable fuel standards" called for in the 2005 energy policy act. Those of you who have followed this know it's a very mixed bag. As the US EPA has reported, the standards will yield a marginal reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, while increasing smog-forming emissions in many states.

And, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch astutely reported over the weekend http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/2034137C9EC71841862572B6001B8236?OpenDocument , the administration is simultaneously working up a plan that would permit more pollution to spew from ethanol refineries. This plan was spurred by former ethanol industry lobbyist and current South Dakota Senator John Thune.

more...

[Tigress DEM]

1. Ethanol plants should have to be solar & wind powered to a certain percent.

Those two types of energy production are clean and after initial investment nearly free except for general maintainence, so if ethanol is to become a low cost alternative fuel that comes from renewable resources, this would be the logical way to go.

Getting serious about making a profit on ethanol shouldn't mean any extra pollution is created.

Successful business practices should also have good neighbor clauses attached to them. We may need to make huge legislative noise to start treating corporations and CEOs as second class citizens when they prove they are a danger to society as a whole and demand if evidence of wrong doing exists that THEY will be automatically subject to search and possible seizure by the public.

Such a bill will never get anywhere BUT the debate about it will at least make them be glad of their privilaged status and push that line in the sand back in their direction.

[soothsayer]

2. all govt' buildings should get solar panels on top (where practical)

for starters. Mebbe all schools, too.

[Tigress DEM]

3. Carter put them up on the White House, Reagan took them down.

What do you think about that?

I get so sick when people get all sappy about Reagan. I think he was awful.