Editorial Comment

June 2002 Vol. 223 No. 6  Editorial Comment

Thomas R. Wright, Jr.,  Publisher

Sour grapes. By the time you read this, the U.S. Congress probably will have passed ethanol legislation, despite all of its negatives, such as questionable economics, potential net energy losses and so forth. The bill, which will benefit only farmers and agriculture giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM), comes on the heels of a prior farm bill that some say increased farmers’ subsidies by 70%.

Now, we certainly don’t have anything against farmers, but additional subsidies for fuel ethanol are just another government boondoggle that will do little to improve air quality. And ironically, just as this legislation is making its way through Congress, here comes news that casts substantial suspicion on the entire ethanol industry.

First is a report from the Environmental Protection Agency, which said facilities that convert corn into ethanol are releasing carbon monoxide, methanol and some carcinogens at levels many times greater than promised. In fact, in a letter to the ethanol industry’s trade group, EPA said the problem is common to "most, if not all, ethanol facilities." The carcinogens being released include VOCs such as formaldehyde and acetic acid.

Next comes a report in The Wall Street Journal that suggests ADM may be manipulating markets while also taking advantage of subsidies on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to produce ethanol – all without using corn produced by U.S. farmers, which it so ardently promotes. Here’s how it works: Growers in Europe overproduce wine, which is purchased by the European Union (in order to prop up wine prices) and then converted to alcohol. Next, ADM and others buy the alcohol at auction and ship it to the Caribbean Basin, where it is converted to ethanol. Finally, the ethanol is imported into Texas and California for mixing with gasoline.

Documents released by Rep. Douglas Ose (R-Calif.) and others examined by The Wall Street Journal, hint that ADM colluded with other bidders at the European wine auctions. Rep. Ose says the internal ADM memos are cause for federal antitrust authorities to investigate. The European Commission said it suspended auctions of wine alcohol last fall after learning that "some people made a lot of money off it." The commission also has an investigation underway.

ADM, which owns 41% of U.S. ethanol production capacity, imports the product from El Salvador, Jamaica and Costa Rica, which are exempt from a 45-cent per gallon tariff that blocks most other import sources.

Finally, because of its special tax provisions needed to provide for the subsidies, the ethanol bill will mean substantial reductions in state fuel taxes, which are used for highway construction. Coupled with the U.S. recession and a crumbling infrastructure, the lost tax revenues will lead to further postponements of bridge and highway repairs.

Stop: Tortoise Crossing. A report in the Riverside, Calif., Press-Enterprise notes that a tortoise crossing the road is all that is needed to halt 2,000 Marines from their mission to traverse the Southern California desert in their Humvees. In fact, if Marines at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center and Camp Pendleton even see one of the "endangered" tortoises, they must stop any exercise in progress.

The federally protected species was a major concern as Marines began an 11-day training exercise through eastern San Bernardino, Riverside and Imperial counties. Through terrain similar to the Middle East, the 200-mile trip dubbed "Desert Scimitar ’02" was made to test communication capabilities, logistics and vehicle movement in conditions similar to the Middle East. The exercise was scheduled to end in Yuma, Ariz., after crossing the Colorado River on a 450-foot temporary bridge.

Plans for the exercise had to undergo environmental reviews and gain approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because the convoy passed through three areas the agency deemed critical for the tortoises’ survival – Chuckwalla Valley, Chemehuevi Valley and Pinto Mountain. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management also had to give its approval because the convoy passed through public lands the agency oversees in the desert.

To minimize the effects on the desert environment, there was to be no live or simulated fire or night maneuvers. In addition, vehicles on unpaved roads were restricted to 20 mph to reduce dust.

Fifty "tortoise monitors" sat at the front of different sections of the convoy, and the 600 vehicle drivers had stickers on their windows to remind them: "Look under your vehicle! Notify monitor if you find a tortoise."

If a tortoise was spotted, a federally approved biologist traveling with the convoy determined whether it could be moved or if the convoy should wait for the tortoise to cross the road.

Element discovered. According to a totally unsubstantiated rumor making the rounds, a major research institution recently announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. Tentatively named "Administratium," the element has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 11 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These particles are held together by a force called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Administratium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Administratium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete, when it would normally take less than a second.

Administratium has a normal half-life of three years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization, in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons and assistant deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Administratium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization causes some morons to become neutrons forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to speculate that Administratium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass."  

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