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Politics : View from the Center and Left

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To: neolib who wrote (82872)	9/8/2008 12:15:50 AM
From: Stan J. Czernel	of 541559

Don't anticipate change ... Unlike the auto industry - where market forces are responsible for the ascendancy of energy-efficient autos - the battle over energy is yet to happen. And the energy industry is trying to forestall inevitable Government action that might be detrimental to their primary asset. They may project an image to the public of environmental concern, but their lobbyists are fighting like mad to keep oil's role as the fuel of choice. Why the dollar tax on imported Brazilian ethanol? It is partly the farm lobby, but it is also due to lobbying by the energy companies, which do not want to see ethanol become a viable fuel for vehicles. It has happened before, with Rockefeller and his Standard Oil: Since the late 1800's there had been a growing Alcohol Temperance Movement developing among reformers. Rockefeller saw an opportunity in this. It is well-documented that local efforts to curb alcohol consumption were expanded to the national level when high-profile figures like Rockefeller joined in the anti-alcohol efforts. Was he so concerned with the social problems that abuse of alcohol was said to cause? No... John D. Rockefeller was not concerned with family dynamics in the working classes. But he was influential in changing the goals of the movement from temperance to prohibition. As we know, his contribution to the outlawing of the production and sale of alcohol was successful. Of course, Rockefeller and the oil companies reaped tremendous profits as a result. Remember that the period covered by the 18th Amendment (1919-1933) coincided with the huge rise in the sale and operation of automobiles. America was on the move, and all of these cars were now operated solely on gasoline. By the time that the 21st Amendment was passed, ending the prohibition of alcohol, the standard was already set and worked completely in the favor of the Rockefeller family. One other thing. Brazil has almost completely replaced oil with ethanol. Ethanol has the potential to completely replace gasoline as a fuel for automobiles. This scares the life out of the oil companies: no matter what a buggy-whip factory might do, there is no re-engineering or retooling that can keep it viable when the horse and carriage disappears as a mode of transport.

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