The Mankato Free Press editorial page looks at the discussion about the new generation feedstocks in Corn debate should be just the beginning. The editorial takes note of the debate at the most recent governors' meeting and concludes:
And keep in mind that while it’s true that corn alone isn’t the answer, it has shown itself to be an innovation and a viable pathway to something more comprehensive down the road. Let the debate continue regarding the degree to which switchgrass and wood-waste products might supplement corn.
And who better to address these crucial decisions than the governors of the states?
Leadership among the governors, who collectively represent every regional interest in the nation, can and should carry great weight in Washington. If they can help to formulate a plan that makes sense for us all, it will be more than Congress has been able to achieve until now. If such a consensus can truly be achieved, the somewhat disjointed, meandering road toward independence would take a major step toward something the nation can get its hands around.
So don’t get caught up in the corn debate, except as a starting point to an achievable end. And keep talking.
Sound advice.
The Winona Daily News reports Rep. Walz visits store in St. Charles to talk food prices, energy. The lead:
Shoppers at grocery stores across the country are complaining about high food prices.
Saturday, one lawmaker was listening. . . .
Read the rest at the WDN. We look forward to spotting the distortions in the GOP-endorsed candidate's latest visit with the press, up next week in the Pipestone Star.
The Star Tribune doesn't mention the First District race, but it does look careful at energy policy claims in Drill more now, pay less at the pump? Not so fast. The skinny on opening up ANWR:
The Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) holds too little oil to reduce gas prices more than a few cents per gallon, and new sources of oil could take decades to develop, according to government analysts. . . .
. . .But opening the refuge to drilling "is not projected to have a large impact on world oil prices" or the price of gasoline, said Budzik of the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Tapping the refuge could cut the cost of a barrel of oil by perhaps 2 percent and shave 1 cent to 3 cents off the pump price of a gallon of gas, he said.
As for the Outer Continental Shelf, the EIA said it "would not have a significant impact" on oil prices before 2030. . . .
That's pretty much what we've been saying here at BSP for weeks now, after reading various government reports.
Another item in the mix is conservation. A Reagan-administration official on conservation:
Even an advocate of expanded drilling and mining says it should be done in tandem with an aggressive government effort to lower consumption, which he says is the quickest route to lower gas prices.
"The low-hanging fruit is not energy production, it's conservation," said Robin West, an energy consultant who ran the U.S. offshore drilling program while assistant secretary of the Interior under President Ronald Reagan. "The simplest way ... is enforce the speed limit ... and then drop it."
West also favors government action to require greater fuel efficiency than a 35 miles-per-gallon target recently approved by Congress, and more spending on mass transit.
In the First, none of the candidates favor lowering the speed limit that we know of (Walz opposes it). Walz supports increasing fuel efficiency, or CAFE, standards; Brian Davis wants them eliminated completely. We don't know where Day stands on this. Walz supports bill that would punch up mass transit; don't know where Day and Davis are on this piece of the puzzle (we have our hunches, but that's for them to say).
MPR looks at the Republican primary race in Two [R]epublicans vie for chance to oppose Rep. Tim Walz. Most of the report is about Senator Day's campaigning. Summing up Day's qualifications:
Day does have other, clearer, opinions. He believes in developing alternative energy. He says oil drilling in ANWAR and off-shore will quickly reduce gas prices. He wants local police to enforce federal immigration laws. He says taxes are a detriment to progress. He's proud to be a veteran.
And he thinks the Republican endorsed candidate, Mayo Clinic Doctor Brian Davis, may be very bright, but Day says Davis doesn't know how to write a bill or negotiate with Democrats.
"What we're trying to do is take my experience, name recognition, and have I done a good job or not over the last 17 years," he says. "That's going to be --if I can get out to everyone and they talk about it enough-- that's what's going to be important to a whole host of people."
Davis is back to touting his brilliant eight-month career as an engineer 25 years ago (which followed his summer jobs and 2 semesters of work study at a reputable Chicago engineer firm) before he went on for years of post-graduate study in mechanical engineering (biomedical specialization) at MIT. And yes:
Davis wants to cut subsidies for ethanol and wind.
An argument can be made for reducing subsidies for corn ethanol--as the new Farm Bill did in reducing the blenders' credit for corn ethanol--but we have to wonder what's up with a candidate wanting to cut wind industry incentive who runs for office in a district that's one of the country's leading wind energy producers. The report notes that Day supports "alternative" (cough, renewable) energy. Indeed, like all state legislators in the First, regardless of party, he voted in 2007 for the state's renewable energy standards.
Those tired of Michele Bachmann's "silly, simplistic" antics might stop by a morning fundraiser for El Tinklenberg that Congressmen Walz and Oberstar are hosting at Vance Opperman's office tomorrow in Minneapolis. Hasslington has the details.
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