The rising costs of fuel...

Richard Fontenot

There was a time when rising fuel prices were a little bit interesting. You know, how high would prices go before they began to come down.

However, it’s getting a bit ridiculous now, as motorists, farmers, truckers and anyone (which is everyone) who relies on fuel to make their businesses run is being stretched to the breaking point.

Rising fuel prices have been pegged as the primary reason for increases in food prices. Make no mistake, farmers are not seeing one extra penny as the cost of food goes up. The farmers are spending more to grow their crop and, while some commodity prices are higher, those prices are being tempered by astronomical inputs for fuel, feed and fertilizer.

So what can be done about the pain at the pump and the shock at the supermarket? Well, economists might throw out a lot of theories about times like these, the underlying cause is that America remains far too dependent on other countries for its fossil fuels.

Short of punching more holes in the Gulf of Mexico, and heaven forbid any new drilling takes place off the coast of California, alternate sources of energy must be developed here at home. While wind and solar power do meet a small part of our energy needs, it’s what goes in the fuel tank that really drives America.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. used nearly 140 billion gallons of gasoline in 2004. That’s 380 million gallons a day. Last year the number of gallons used daily was 400 million. Higher prices have done little, it seems, to wean us off the life blood that keeps America moving.

Now is the time to really invest in renewable energy. There are critics who say the output can’t meet the demand. Well, that might be the case right now, but it won’t always be the case. And you’ve got to start somewhere.

The EIA says there were 3.4 billion gallons of ethanol produced in the U.S. in 2004. And while that represents just two percent of our gasoline consumption, the amount is increasing. Combined with the 75 million gallons of biodiesel produced in 2005, such fuels can and will make a difference.

It’s likely this same scenario was played out more than 100 years ago when automobiles began to replace the horse and carriage. Undoubtedly there was some guy who said “Having a car is nice, but there aren’t too many places to fill it up. Beside, I’ve got plenty of oats in the barn for my horse.”

True, but once the die was cast, there was no turning back. Development of the nation’s fuel distribution infrastructure took less than a generation, plenty of time for granddad to see his grandson fill up the “Woody” whenever he needed. That means if the U.S. would make a serious commitment to developing more ethanol and biodiesel plants, many of us would likely live to see our grandchildren filling up as such “green fuel stations” across the country.

Since this country was founded, agriculture has been the foundation for its progress and success. Let us be the source and inspiration for the next generation of fuel makers too. Write your senator or representative and tell them the country needs to look to agriculture for its new “former fossil fuel future.”

Then again we could all just stand around watching oil prices dictate the state of our nation, our economy and our wallets.