Ethanol is a homegrown fuel that replaces foreign oil, one of the dirtiest chemicals in the country, according to Environmental Defense's Web site, Ethanol plants are much cleaner than oil refineries.
Perform Background Checks On Anyone.......Even Corporate Directors!Ethanol also reduces ozone pollution from cars and trucks. Pollution went down when the state of New York replaced MTBE blends with 10 percent ethanol (E10) on Jan. 1, 2004. In the six years leading up to the use of E10, New York averaged 17 EPA 8-hour ozone exceedance days per year. In the two years since the switch to E10, New York has averaged 5.5 exceedance days per year, a 68 percent reduction.
In gasoline ethanol replaces benzene, a dangerous cancer-causing chemical, to lower the cancer risk. This is important because New York air is 1,900 times too polluted with cancer-causing chemicals, according to Scorecard.org. Ethanol also can clean up diesel fuel, another dangerous cancer pollutant. Ethanol also reduces soot particulate matter from cars and trucks, making them safer still.
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that ethanol reduces greenhouse air pollution (GAP) by about 20 percent compared to burning gasoline, one of the largest and fastest growing sources of GAP. The 5 billion gallons of ethanol burned today is like not burning a billion gallons of gasoline, making ethanol the best carbon dioxide control program we have today.
The corn that will be processed at the new RiverWright Energy plant in Buffalo would have been shipped overseas to be fed to animals. By producing ethanol here, we can capture the fuel and jobs from corn produced in the region and ship high protein feed.
Some worry that corn is not a sustainable crop, but the corn crop today is much cleaner and requires less fertilizer than ever before. More corn is now grown with conservation tillage that reduces the number of tractor passes over the land, reducing erosion further.
In addition, the RiverWright plant will reuse an abandoned grain elevator, helping to revitalize the downtown area and preventing sprawl development.
A new report, "The New Harvest: Biofuels and Wind Power for Rural Revitalization and National Energy Security," shows that biofuels like ethanol could largely replace gasoline in light-duty cars and trucks by 2050 - if we invest now with plants like these. Corn is a start for ethanol from many other sources of starch, including prairie grasses and wood waste.
All of these reasons prove that ethanol can save lives, jobs and money. We should approve the RiverWright proposal quickly so Buffalo can start reaping the benefits.
