The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 453
Uncovering The Gas Roots of Contemporary Ethanol
Opposition
Originally published April 3, 2017
Opposition to alternative fuels almost always stems from the petroleum oil industry; the controlling caste of the global energy world. The reason, needless
to say, is financial. No person or entity in a position of power and wealth ever
wants to willingly surrender that rank - except George Washington. But to have
to go back more than two hundred years to find an exception to the rule proves
the rule, as the saying goes.
Ethanol, as the leading contender to the throne - a position it's held since its
use in the earliest internal combustion engines - naturally gets the most enmity
from the oil lobbyists and its public relations machine.
As with all historical analyses, the history of opposition to ethanol can be broken
down into chronological categories. This is how I break it down:
Ancient Era: The era begins with the levying of federal taxes on ethanol (alcohol) production to help fund the Civil War. This led to the rise of petroleum oil
kerosene as the primary liquid fuel for lighting, heating, and cooking - and the
beginning of petroleum oil wealth. With the rise in petroleum oil wealth came
the predictable birth of paid political tutelage to expand and protect the burgeoning oil industry (and its nouveau riche snake-oil salesmen).
