Biofeulishness continues

[Valin]

AEIdeas:

Kenneth P. Green

July 19, 2012

 

 

A recent article in Reuters shows how hard it can be to unwind so-called “green” programs, like the Navy’s “Great Green Fleet,” even when the program’s failings are manifest. These programs are like vampires–they’re not dead until you’ve staked ‘em, cut off the head, burned the body, and scattered the ashes over running water.

 

Here’s the backstory: In May, Senators McCain and Inhofe managed to get an amendment into the pending defense authorization bill that put the kibosh on the Navy’s plan to use overpriced biofuels to power its ships, and overpriced renewable energy to power its bases. Their reasoning, as I wrote here, was that in a time when you’re talking about cutting military spending, and when your military is stretched thin, there’s no good reason to pay vastly more for fuel than you have to. (And, as I pointed out, the other proclaimed benefits with regard to energy security and environmental protection are specious.)

 

 

(Snip)

 

Not surprisingly, this doesn’t sit well with the biofuels industry, nor its pet Senators such as Chuck Grassley (R-Big Corn), and a “bipartisan” group of Senators is, apparently, trying to rescue the program. And the Reuters article points out, they know they have to answer the cost question:

 

(Snip)