Once again, my state senator stands athwart the rush to corn-a-hole, but not nearly as strongly as in the past, and indeed the last portion of the letter is troubling to me. Once again, since this is in the form of paper and ink (or maybe toner), I’ll be transcribing his response to my registered opposition to SB 380 (sent before I knew they had the companion bill in the Assembly):
I received your correspondence regarding a propsed ethanol mandate for Wisconsin, Senate Bill 380. Thank you for taking the time to express your concerns. Constitutent input is an integral part of the legislative process.
Mandating ethanol percentages in gasoline is not good policy. Use of green fuels is a step in the right direction yet more work is needed on production and use of such fuels. Producing corn based fuel is an energy intensive process that results in a product that most vehicles do not burn efficiently, ultimately resulting in increased gasoline usage. Premature widespread use of such fuels may have unintended negative consequences. While increasing energy efficiency and decreasing dependence on foreign oil are both of great importance, we must proceed with caution. There are more effective means by which to address Wisconsin’s fuel needs.
Legislation mandating ethanol will benefit a very small portion of the population, and this is not the average taxpayer. Special interest groups would reap the benefit of passing SB 380. If and when automobiles are manufactured with systems designed to run on ethanol based fuels we can revisit this issue.
As the fight against blogal warming gains greater momentum the state of Wisconsin is joining a number of other states in stepping up to the plate. Much effort is being put forth by Governor Doyle’s Task Force on Global Warming. Public and private citizens alike are working diligently to formulate public policy that will most efficiently and effectively reduce Wisconsin’s contribution to global warming. The additional concern for our dependence on foreign oil and energy efficiency policy addressing global warming will address this issue in kind. There are a number of innovative policies in the works that will have far reaching positive impact without the negative consequences of mandating use of ethanol.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. Do not hesitate to contact me in the future if you have further questions or concerns withing state government. I look forward to hearing from you in the future.
