The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 437
The Center For Consumer Freedom, which changed its name to Center for Organizational Research and Education, is a front group for the tobacco industry.
Global Climate Coalition was a front group for the petroleum oil industry. The
names were intended to make it seem like they had some planet-wide environmental concerns, other than the concern for their own personal business environment, of course.
So when we get to a group like the Natural Resources Defense Council, and
Environmental Working Group, I don't care how many "green" words they use
in their title or if they marched down 5th Avenue with environmentally conscious
flags flying out of the rear ends. If they promote unworkable schemes that divert
attention away from real solutions, or they spread irrelevant and contrived information against solutions (like ethanol) that are inexpensive and available
right now, then they are as deceptive and damaging as any Big Oil funded stink
tank. Jennifer A. Dlouhy might refer to NRDC and EWG as "respected," but I
don't respect them one bit.
As it happens, I had some experience with Environmental Working Group when
their Research Analyst, Emily Cassidy, published an absurd "Dirty Corn Ethanol" story on the EWG website in October 2015. She took EPA information out
of context and perhaps invented some new details to suit her unwarranted attack on ethanol...and I told her so.
In Ms. Dlouhy's Bloomberg article she refers to the fertilizer runoff problem that
has created a "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. She does what many ethanol
opponents do, she implies that the problem is caused solely by corn farmers.
She conveniently fails to recognize that nearly 10,000 golf courses, thousands
of other farms, hundreds of thousands of residences, and commercial campuses also use fertilizer that also drains into the Gulf. Animal waste is a major
part of the problem, as well. Therefore, unless all farming and ranching and
living is discontinued in all of the states with rivers that drain into the Mississippi
basin, the problem will continue.
Since the end of farming and elimination of all other areas that use fertilizer is
unlikely, the solution would be to do what David Blume preaches in his Permaculture Workshops: Harvest the algae, use it to make ethanol, allow oxygen
back into the water, use the remnants as organic fertilizer on the farms and
ranches and campuses, and help to make America energy independent.
These are my possibly noteworthy comments to Ms. Dlouhy's seemingly noteworthy questions.
