Need Amtrak be a Stepchild?

Posted on July 31, 2008
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When you book a train trip on Amtrak to the West Coast, you’re told by Amtrak that “we don’t control the tracks” and that some delays are possible to let freight trains go by.

In an era in which we should be rethinking our transportation priorities, and acting to change habits involving gasoline consumption, it seems there’s something wrong with Amtrak being a stepchild on the rails.

It’s not as simple a matter, no doubt, as “people over freight.” Yet it does seem there should be a new priority for passenger train traffic for the rail system. We should at least be talking about that as part of a clear-eyed view of energy choices to diminish reliance on automobile and jet fuel. Shouldn’t we?

Ethanol Backfiring on Cornstuffs and Comprehensive Energy Planning

Posted on July 14, 2008
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At a Chamber of Commerce luncheon the other day, a Pennsylvania state legislator asked the speaker, the head of a snack foods company, what was the “single thing” that could be done to check the rise in snack food prices.

“Quit using ethanol,” the executive replied without a moment’s hesitation. “It costs too much to produce and it’s eating up the corn crop.”

A neat illustration of what happens when you take a piecemeal approach to energy policy.

The same thought occurred on a visit to a candy shop recently. Giant multi-colored lollipops brightened the predominately chocolate hue of the shop. But they won’t much longer. “When those are sold, I can’t get any more,” the proprietor explained. “The candy company is going out of business. Corn oil has become too expensive.”

So maybe corn-based ethanol wasn’t such a great idea, given its inflationary impact on foodstocks. Yet we’re committed to it. The Associated Press reports that the U.S. has 134 ethanol plants in 26 states with 77 more under construction or expanding, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group for the ethanol industry. And this year’s corn crop, expected to be a record, is worth about $52 billion.

“Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department says economic growth in developing countries, tight global grain supplies and demand for ethanol have pushed corn prices to record or near-record prices,” AP adds. “Governors from the coal fields of West Virginia to the corn fields of Iowa talked at their summer meeting about moving beyond ethanol produced just from food sources.”

Wouldn’t that sort of conversation, along with alternatives – like electrically powered hybrid cars – have been better held before the nation committed to corn-based ethanol? That may have seemed the simplest expedient at the time, but it actually reflected a lack of systemic leadership on energy. When will we learn that big problems require big, inclusive, well-thought-out, planned and explained solutions? In short, statesmanship.

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