From the Department of
"Seen and Unseen", we bring you ANOTHER example of a questionable Federal government policy to try to solve a legitmate problem with a poorly thought out plan that now serves a constituency that won't let the progam die.
"The unintended ripples from the biomass subsidy program" from the Washington Post.
"It sounded like a good idea: Provide a little government money to convert wood shavings and plant waste into renewable energy.
But as laudable as that goal sounds, it could end up causing more economic damage than good -- driving up the price of raw timber, undermining an industry that has long used sawdust and wood shavings to make affordable cabinetry, and highlighting the many challenges involved in decreasing the nation's dependence on oil by using organic materials to create biofuels."
Sound alittle familiar?? Ethanol, anyone? I really have no problem with working towards cleaner energy sources in order to become more energy independent from fossil fuels. What I do have a problem with is narrow interest group politics that use ever-expanding taxpayer financed
subsidies to fund programs that may be passed their point of
dimishing returns and reach the point of harming other industries that perform important functions for people everyday...
In a matter of months, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program -- a small provision tucked into the 2008 farm bill -- has mushroomed into a half-a-billion dollar subsidy that is funneling taxpayer dollars to sawmills and lumber wholesalers, encouraging them to sell their waste to be converted into high-tech biofuels. In doing so, it is shutting off the supply of cheap timber byproducts to the nation's composite wood manufacturers, who make panels for home entertainment centers and kitchen cabinets.
Another Congressman's/Senator pet project gone arwy...Wish they would study alittle
Frederic Basitat. The world would be such a better place...
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