Emerson On Energy
The Americans who suffer most from high fuel prices live in places like southern Missouri, where goods are shipped in from far away, and our agricultural and manufacturing products are shipped to even greater distances to far-off markets.
We drive farther in a day than most urban Americans drive in a week. We use tractors, semi trailers and heavy-duty trucks on our farms and at our factories. Energy is the lifeblood of our rural economy, and high energy costs are a crushing burden on families, farms and businesses.
Farms bear a significant portion of this burden. These expenses have increased by almost $28 billion between 2002 and 2005 - and are projected to increase another $7 billion for 2006. The energy portion of these costs is driving the increases. From 2002 to 2006, increases in fuel and fertilizer costs have contributed $10 billion to the cost increases experienced on the average farm.
In August of last year President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005; it was the inability of Congress and the White House to pass comprehensive energy legislation in the late 90s, which left the country rudderless at a time when we should have been preparing for this major crisis.
President calls for an end to our oil addiction
The threat here is real. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused a four million barrel drop in daily production in less than a month, and we felt the result in our pocketbooks. Now we depend on 10 millions barrels a day of imported oil accounting for 60 percent of our total use. As India and China are determined not to compete with each other over foreign energy sources, by 2025 we could be facing an impact much greater than the one Katrina created.
In addition, the desire to meet this increased demand will likely lead to increased reliance on countries that we consider a threat to our national security. The President's call to end our addiction to oil is not just good economic policy but good foreign policy, too.
Developing an affordable supply of domestic energy source is also necessary. We can't ask Americans to drive to the grocery store or the doctor's office less. We will not all pick up and move from rural America to the city, so we can ride the subway.
America is leading the way in biodiesel and ethanol technologies, just as we lead the way in farming the world's safest, most secure food supply. We must also work to protect this developing industry in our country.
I am greatly concerned by talk around Washington of the need to lower trade barriers and begin to import ethanol from Brazil. Brazil did have the foresight to support the development of this industry and build the necessary infrastructure.
I applaud them for it.
Today, the ethanol industry is growing rapidly in the United States. Now we must do the same (as Brazil) and support our (alternative fuel) industry.
http://www.joannemerson.com/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=95