Is 'perversion' too strong a term? I don't think so.
The EPA has turned down attempts by the State of Wisconsin to relax the ill-conceived S.E. Wisconsin requirement for 'reformulated' gasoline even as we are virtually in full attainment. That was probably dwarfed by comparison to the decision it announced that it was denying the State of Texas' request for a cutback on the amount of ethanol required to be blended with gasoline.
There is a radio commercial playing in our market that is sponsored by the ethanol lobby that makes the case, in essence, that we, who question the use of corn to make ethanol, are over-reacting and need to check our facts. I am angered every time I hear that commercial, including this morning as it played while I was shaving...with a blade. That could've hurt!
The simple facts are being ignored by the EPA, Congress and the President. And, these aren't stupid people. This is intentional ignorance. Our food prices are going up, and it is caused in part by the insistence that ethanol be blended with gasoline even as us taxpayers pay the price for the ethanol support being paid on every gallon. The other part of the increase is obviously that caused by the fact that Democrats have so far refused to relax their stance against oil drilling here and now.
Back to ethanol. It is causing many cattle ranchers to reduce their herd size because they can't afford the feed to grow them for market. The prices for chicken and beef are rising at a rapid pace. I looked at flank steak a few days ago since it always used to be a relatively lower priced cut of meat. That is a thing of the past. I bought chicken breasts a few days ago and was astounded at the prices I saw on the packages.
I know that my mileage with reformulated gas is less than it was before that edict; about 10% worse. I know that ethanol is much less efficient in terms of the energy it generates than is gasoline. So, I am burning more and getting less. A double-whammy in our part of Wisconsin.
The EPA stated that there was "no compelling evidence" that the mandate for ethanol is causing "severe economic harm". That had to have been spoken by a federal employee who is reimbursed for his or her mileage...from our tax dollars These people simply have no contact with reality, or manage to suppress the lessons they really learn in order to be a "dutiful servant of the people".
As if all this isn't enough to put me into a deep funk, I am confronted with the idiocy that is called political campaigning where people talk about wind power, sun power, and bio-fuels while not mentioning oil or coal or nuclear power. How in the world are we supposed to leap forward a decade or more when technology is not yet even available to soften our landing?
We are in real danger of becoming a third world nation if the current policies are not changed and changed quickly! Our economy simply cannot withstand the political assault it is under. And this is not a political assault from another country...it comes from within.
So, I don't think calling the EPA the Environmental Perversion Agency is much of a reach.
And I, for one, am very, very tired of the elected people we all put into office forgetting who it is they represent, and what it is we want.
