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NCGA Member Counters Critics
of Ethanol (8-7-01)
"Ethanol is
going to raise gas prices fifty cents a gallon."
"Ethanol actually
makes pollution worse."
These are just two
of the myths that have been showing up frequently since the Bush administration
denied the California Oxygen waiver in June. And they just aren't true,
says the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA).
David Kolsrud is
a corn grower from Luverne, Minn., and a member of the National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA). He is also a co-op manager at the ethanol
plant in Luverne, a plant he and his fellow Rock County growers worked
to have financed and built. Like other NCGA members, Kolsrud is bullish
on ethanol and eager to debunk the myths of ethanol with facts about
the benefits the renewable fuel offers for national energy security,
the environment, consumers and U.S. agriculture.
"I attended
an ethanol plant meeting years ago," recalled Kolsrud, "and
I wasn't sure about it at first. I didn't think (producing ethanol)
would be enough to sustain and raise a family. In 1995, I took another
look at ethanol and had a change of heart."
Kolsrud and other
area corn growers begin the process to raise funds for the building
and operation of an ethanol plant. He said it's been an interesting
journey.
"It's been
a pretty exciting transition from growing corn to processing it for
ethanol at your own plant," he said. "The relationship you
build with each other, your neighbors as well as growers from across
the nation, is just as important as the money the plant makes.
"The problems
we have here are the problems faced by farmers all over the country,"
Kolsrud continued. "You feel that bond with your fellow growers.
It's been a wonderful experience."
A farmer for more
than 28 years, Kolsrud said ethanol provides a myriad of benefits for
the nation's corn growers. "It's an opportunity to market corn
for a better return," he said. "(Rock County, Minn.) went
down from a population of 12,000 to 8,000 and this plant has been a
great means of economic development by creating new jobs."
Ethanol is the third largest market for U.S. corn, using more than 600
million bushels and boosting farm income as much as $3 billion in 2000,
or 30 to 35 cents per bushel. In addition, producing value-added ethanol
has sparked new capital investment and economic development in rural
America, where thousands of farmers are owner-investors in cooperative
ethanol production facilities.
Not only is ethanol
a new avenue of sales to the corn grower, it's also environmentally
friendly, a claim that MTBE, another oxygenate, can't make. The petroleum-based
fuel additive has been found to pollute groundwater and has caused cancer
in lab rats. Legislation is on the books for 11 states to ban the additive,
in addition to the states that have already passed bills to ban MTBE,
the most recent being Illinois.
Another fact Kolsrud
mentioned is how ethanol also makes gasoline burn cleaner. That's why
the Clean Air Act requires the use of oxygenated gasoline to improve
air quality in the nation's most polluted cities.
In response to the
ever-increasing number of myths about the negative aspects of ethanol,
Kolsrud said, "Ethanol has been a positive influence in the Midwest
and the argument that it will raise gas prices is completely fictitious.
"It lessens our dependence on foreign oil and creates more volume,"
he continued, making a point on how ethanol provides energy security.
The United States currently imports almost 60 percent of its petroleum
consumption and U.S. dependence on foreign energy is increasing.
"The industry
is maturing and the volume growth for ethanol is dramatic," Kolsrud
said, pointing out how ethanol supplies continue to increase and ethanol
production is at an all-time high. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates
ethanol production for 2000 exceeded 1.6 billion gallons. Industry insiders
say production of two billion gallons is possible in 2001. At this rate
of growth, U.S. ethanol production could meet the market needs resulting
from an MTBE phase-out in California by 2002 and nationally by 2003.
"Renewable
energy sources will continue to be a trend in the future," he said.
"We need to get back to our roots and use what nature gives us.
We need to rely on an energy source we can renew, not one that is in
limited supply."
Last
reviewed August 7, 2001
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