Register's ethanol bashing redux
I should never read the Des Moines Register. It gets me too worked up.
However, I decided to go over to their website this morning and found their "watchdog" entry about biofuels. I also checked out some of the comments made by their "Biofuels Brain Bank" team and replies from readers.
It is easier to be the armchair president/CEO and make make/impose decisions on others than to actually be in the "trenches," put your own money on the line, and make it happen. Less energy is expended by jawboning about what other people need to do than to make the changes yourself.
The commenters all think they know what is right and wrong and of course, the way things are now are ALL wrong. If only they would be given the opportunity to make things better, along with an unlimited amount of cash. Why, they'd save us all from ourselves.
There is a disconnect between what "is" and what "might be" in this discussion. Platitudes and promises from politicians only serve to muddy the waters, and rhetoric from environmental non-profits do nothing to solve the issues at hand.
Just so you don't think I am beating up on all environmentalists, one of the brain-bankers, Rich Dana, is a friend of mine - he was our lobbyist at Iowa Farmers Union for a while. He is a sharp guy, and has done things on a personal level like make his own biofuel and work on solar collectors. He practices what he preaches, as much as he can.
However, the fact that the DM Register puts this profile in the "Watchdog" area of their paper tells me they are more interested in crusading than in telling the truth as it really is. How many times have you seen a "watchdog" bark incessantly when there is nothing to bark at? Such is the case with the Register - barking at shadows in an attempt to drum up more business to stave off their faltering readership.
However, I decided to go over to their website this morning and found their "watchdog" entry about biofuels. I also checked out some of the comments made by their "Biofuels Brain Bank" team and replies from readers.
It is easier to be the armchair president/CEO and make make/impose decisions on others than to actually be in the "trenches," put your own money on the line, and make it happen. Less energy is expended by jawboning about what other people need to do than to make the changes yourself.
The commenters all think they know what is right and wrong and of course, the way things are now are ALL wrong. If only they would be given the opportunity to make things better, along with an unlimited amount of cash. Why, they'd save us all from ourselves.
There is a disconnect between what "is" and what "might be" in this discussion. Platitudes and promises from politicians only serve to muddy the waters, and rhetoric from environmental non-profits do nothing to solve the issues at hand.
Just so you don't think I am beating up on all environmentalists, one of the brain-bankers, Rich Dana, is a friend of mine - he was our lobbyist at Iowa Farmers Union for a while. He is a sharp guy, and has done things on a personal level like make his own biofuel and work on solar collectors. He practices what he preaches, as much as he can.
However, the fact that the DM Register puts this profile in the "Watchdog" area of their paper tells me they are more interested in crusading than in telling the truth as it really is. How many times have you seen a "watchdog" bark incessantly when there is nothing to bark at? Such is the case with the Register - barking at shadows in an attempt to drum up more business to stave off their faltering readership.
posted by bgunzy at 6/17/2007 08:13:00 AM
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