It’s corn planting season in Nebraska.  Farmers all across our state are tilling the land and planting corn.  Some for food, some for fuel and some aren’t planting anything at all and leaving a portion of their land as “set aside” which means they leave it alone for wildlife and conservation efforts.

There seems to be lots of controversy around corn these days.  Time magazine says corn-based ethanol is killing the earth, Bill Maher asks how environmentalists got it so wrong, political pundits are saying farmers are getting rich off of a fuel that may be renewable but isn’t clean and is causing more harm than good including increasing the price of food.

Hogwash…farmers are feeding and fueling our country, we need to support that, not buy into the demonizing of them. 

Corn-based ethanol was never THE solution to making America energy independent and to stop global warming, it was always part of the solution.  Folks in the ethanol business—everyone from farmers, to consumers, to scientists and researchers, to ethanol plant workers and developers—know that ethanol is one step towards many that will make America energy independent. 

Folks against ethanol say it uses too much water to produce it—true in the 70s, not true today.  Ethanol plants built today use all recycled water and use less water than an average golf course does to water their grass.

The other push back on ethanol is farmers are cutting down the rainforest in order to grow biofuel crops.  This is not true in Nebraska, but is true in Brazil.  This process should be stopped and a way to do it, so the farmers can still make money, is to offer the uncut land as carbon-off sets.  This basically means governments and companies who have restrictions on how much carbon they can emit into the air would essentially pay farmers for what they can’t do themselves, reduce their carbon footprint.  In the end, farmers could still make money all the while leaving the invaluable resources of the rainforest alone. 

The most short-sighted talking point is that the ethanol process uses too much energy to produce the fuel.  While this is true on the surface, it doesn’t tell the full story.  The ethanol industry is increasing their efficiency rates on average by 2% per year.  If only every energy industry, including coal, oil and others, increased their efficiencies in this way we would be on a road to making America energy independent much faster.

Knowing they need to increase efficiency, the ethanol industry is using funds to invest in the infrastructure so they use less energy in the production phase and build a long term sustainable fuel industry.  They are investing in pipelines, rail lines and more environmental ways to produce the fuel. 

The ethanol industry also knows they need to look beyond corn-based ethanol and are ensuring their production facilities will be able to make cellulosic energy from switch grass or other plants.  This is good for the biofuel industry and good for the United States because it means more jobs and more investment in infrastructure that can support green fuels.

When talking about ethanol, you have to talk about the Farm Bill.  The 2007 Farm Bill has yet to be passed.  The Farm Bill is about much more than helping farmers, it includes funding for school lunch programs, rural economic development and nutrition programs like WIC.

The real failure is not the farmers, which seems to be the focus of all the blame right now. 

The real failure is on the leaders in Washington.  We need to demand more from our politicians who not only need to pass the Farm Bill but also need to develop a more comprehensive Energy Bill that includes resources for more biofuel development as well as funds for the infrastructure needed to deliver biofuels beyond corn.  The Energy Bill also must address consumption beyond asking us to change our light bulbs.

We want our politicians to think and act.  We want our politicians to look at production and consumption.  I ask all you to do the same.  Think about how you can consume less and act more. 

Back in the 70s when the United States faced an energy production crunch, young people at a local high school here in Nebraska challenged their school and community to conserve more energy.  Their ideas included wearing coveralls to school and around the house in order to cut down on heating bills, riding their horse to school and one kid even rode a unicycle around town to complete his everyday errands.

Now, I can’t ride a unicycle around town because I would most definitely fall right off, so I started a new list on ways we can act today, what are your ideas?

Go beyond making green hip, make frugal hip (it hurt a little to write that, but it’s even something I am now doing)

Change your light bulbs (easy and obvious one)

Use a cloth bag at the grocery store (and actually remember to bring the ones you bought)

Plant a tree (the simplest and most impact thing you can do)

Unplug your computer from the wall every night (if you do, you can actually save up to $200 annually on your electric bill)

Fuel up on gas enriched with ethanol (you can find a gas station here nationwide, here in Nebraska every gas station has pumps dedicated to ethanol based fuel and its cheaper).