Friday, November 21, 2003
Tall Corn, Tall Order
Senators backing the energy bill failed to find enough votes to limit debate this morning, thus putting the bill's future in jeopardy. My guys, Kohl and Feingold, both voted against the cloture motion. I'm usually pretty sure where Feingold stands, but Kohl occasionally needs a little prodding to do the right thing, and he presumably got it this time. Republican Pete Domenici of New Mexico provided the soundbite that's already on campaign-ad storyboards of the three lightweights planning to challenge Feingold: "You're choosing lawyers over farmers." As Reuters reported, the bill essentially came down to ethanol for farm states versus product liability lawsuits over the gasoline additive MTBE. Several farm state Democrats, including Tom Harkin of Iowa, the Tall Corn State, voted for cloture.
Majority Leader Bill Frist has warned lawmakers that if they want ethanol, this is it. There will be no separate ethanol bill coming out of Congress. At least until we elect a few more Democrats, anyhow, and our oil-slick administration gets its head out of the sand and acknowledges two things. First, that alternative fuels make a great deal of sense. Second, that until the government gets behind them, they'll always be a fringe notion--and thus we'll always be at the mercy of oil producers, more and more of whom are in countries that like us less and less.
Senators backing the energy bill failed to find enough votes to limit debate this morning, thus putting the bill's future in jeopardy. My guys, Kohl and Feingold, both voted against the cloture motion. I'm usually pretty sure where Feingold stands, but Kohl occasionally needs a little prodding to do the right thing, and he presumably got it this time. Republican Pete Domenici of New Mexico provided the soundbite that's already on campaign-ad storyboards of the three lightweights planning to challenge Feingold: "You're choosing lawyers over farmers." As Reuters reported, the bill essentially came down to ethanol for farm states versus product liability lawsuits over the gasoline additive MTBE. Several farm state Democrats, including Tom Harkin of Iowa, the Tall Corn State, voted for cloture.
Majority Leader Bill Frist has warned lawmakers that if they want ethanol, this is it. There will be no separate ethanol bill coming out of Congress. At least until we elect a few more Democrats, anyhow, and our oil-slick administration gets its head out of the sand and acknowledges two things. First, that alternative fuels make a great deal of sense. Second, that until the government gets behind them, they'll always be a fringe notion--and thus we'll always be at the mercy of oil producers, more and more of whom are in countries that like us less and less.
