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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Boyda votes for sweeping energy legislation, directly benefits Kansas economy

In what it yet another landmark piece of legislation from the new Congress, the Energy Independence and Security Act will directly benefit the Kansas economy by investing more money into renewable energy.

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda heralded passage of the bill, saying:

"For years, nobody in Washington had the guts to stand up to Big Oil, and Kansans pay the price every day at the gas pump," Rep. Boyda said. "This bill says, 'Enough is enough.' It ends taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil to support renewable fuels right here in Kansas. It invests in the Midwest, not the Middle East."

She added, "Renewable energy offers tremendous promise for our state's economy. Kansas has the soil to grow biofuels, the skies to harvest wind energy, and the research base to nurture new technology. Now all we need is a national commitment to energy independence. That's what today's bill is all about. It should be called the 'Kansas Economic Development Energy Package' – that's how important it is to our businesses and communities."
More details of this bill are available on Boyda's web site.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alright sweeping change for once???

Wait instead of subsidizing "big oil" we are now going to subsidize "big corporate farmers" who benefit most from the ethanol.

There is a reason big oil is not fighting this more and that is they know that ethanol gives you less miles per gallon and still use about the same amount of oil as currently using. At the same time ethanol uses up a resource Kansas is fighting other states in court about and that is water.

The plant would use more than 365 million gallons of water per year. The average golf course uses 82 million gallons per year.

Not opposed to alternatives but water supply even more precious and short than oil supply.

Anonymous said...

ethanol is one potential- and the bill put money into it, but also into research on other biofuels and into wind, solar, all of those neat ideas.

the bills awesome for kansas

Anonymous said...

Her press release didn't say anything specifically about corn-based ethanol, so hopefully it's not included. Corn-based ethanol is a complete waste of money and resources. But I am glad that the bill raises fuel efficiency standards, because average MPG has gone to crap over the past two decades.

Anonymous said...

corn-based ethanol is a great middle step...no one thinks it's the solve to the problem on the long-term, but it sure alright for the short term

Anonymous said...

No, it's not alright for the short-term. Corn-based ethanol takes food off of our tables, water out of our pitchers, and oil out of our cars. Corn-based ethanol gets worse mileage for your car and is so corrosive that it can't be shipped by pipeline. No, there are too many negatives to corn-based ethanol for ANYBODY to use or produce it.

Anonymous said...

Heck the State of Kansas (tax payers) already subsidized ethanol producers both for the plants and on a per gallon produced basis.

Nice to know that the "lower price" for ethanol is funded out of your families pocket .....huh? For a fuel most cars can't use and is only available at a limited number of gas stations.

Anonymous said...

there are environmental positives, and "taking oil out of our cars" is a great thing.

Anonymous said...

No, taking oil out of our cars ISN'T a good thing, because that oil is going into the fertilizer that goes on the corn, into the ethanol plant to produce the ethanol, and into the tanker trucks that deliver the ethanol to the service stations. It takes more oil to produce the ethanol than you're saving by using it. And as another commenter mentioned, ethanol is heavily subsidized by you and me but we're not getting any benefits from our investment.

Anonymous said...

whatever- ethanol is a great first step,and it directly benefits Kansas crow growers. the whole "it takes food off the table" argument is silly- anyone have any idea how much corn goes into non-human consumption uses?

Anonymous said...

Corn is not even the best product for ethanol. Switch grass is a far superior product for use in ethanol and the good news is ..... it does not require irrigation, pesticides or fertilizer.

Anonymous said...

The argument that corn-based ethanol is taking food off of our table is is NOT a silly argument. I don't enjoy paying higher prices for food so that an inefficient boutique fuel that's heavily subsidized can be produced. If Iowa wasn't the first state with a Presidential caucus I GUARANTEE that you wouldn't find corn-based ethanol at a single pump in America.

Anonymous said...

corn based ethanol benefits every state in the nation that grows corn....it's got nothing to do with Iowa

Anonymous said...

Yes ..... it's farm welfare

This blog is not affiliated in any way with the Kansas Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, the Office of Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, or the campaign to re-elected Congresswoman Nancy Boyda. All commentary herein not directly attributed must be considered the opinion of the authors of this blog and not of any other individual, including Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.