In Peoria, Obama urges doubling ethanol production

[Nambe]

PEORIA (AP)

Democrat Barack Obama took his U.S. Senate campaign to farm country Monday and urged doubling ethanol production in eight years, while Republican Alan Keyes said "a cogent argument could be made" for paying federal reparations to slave descendants.

Speaking to the Peoria County Farm Bureau, Obama said ethanol was an important component in the effort to make the nation more independent of foreign oil. ..

Arriving in Peoria, Obama toured the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, which is designed to find innovative uses for farm products. He called for greater federal spending on agricultural research because it is "critical to building the Illinois economy." ..


Very Good Voter’s Guide

[shawcomm]

1. I'm doubling

my ethanol consumption, if that helps any.

[amandabeech]

2. It really doesn't help much, because so much oil and nat gas

goes into growing corn and processing it into ethanol that you might as well just burn the diesel in your Jetta TDI and turn the natural gas (for nitrogen fertilizer) into synthetic diesel for a few more miles.

Google "David Pimental", professor at Cornell, for more info.

Obama and every politician asking for votes in the corn belt has to say this. Switchgrass for ethanol and biodiesel from soybeans may be better than corn for ethanol net energy-wise. Nonetheless, modern farming isn't a team of horses and a farmer sowing seed saved from last year's harvest and fertilizing it with manure from the dairy barn. There's a lot of oil in them there fields.

[Kolesar]

4. LOL

Even better: "I am doing it to support our troops over there...."

[neonplaque]

3. I'll be doubling my alcohol consumption...

if Bush is elected.