Edwards Touts Alternative Energy Plan

[draft_mario_cuomo]

==DES MOINES — Democrat John Edwards today proposed boosting the use of alternative fuels by replacing 100,000 school buses with biodiesel vehicles.

He also called for sharply increasing the availability of biofuels, manufacturing more cars that use such fuels and raising the fuel economy standards to 40 miles per gallon by 2016.==

==His package would create a new biofuel bus program in which the federal government would help local school districts replace 100,000 diesel buses with cleaner-burning biofuel vehicles. Replacing buses would not only reduce oil consumption but would limit the exposure of children to soot and fumes from dirtier conventional buses.==

==Edwards also would require oil companies to install biofuel pumps at 25 percent of their gas stations.

In addition, all new cars sold after 2010 would have to be flex fuel, with the option of running on either gasoline or a biofuel.==

Read the rest at http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070817/NEWS01/70817010/1079

[wordpix]

1. YEAH, Edwards! BigOil won't like this "independent" candidate

[KansDem]

2. Yea, the Saudis won't like it either...

They'll have to arrange another attack on the US. This time Bush et al will say that Edwards has WMDs...

:nuke:
LOOK!!! LOOK!!! John can do this in 15 minutes!!!

[MasonJar]

3. Jefferson County School System (Louisville, Ky.) already used

alternative fuels and has for some time.

[satya]

4. Glad to see him talking about this, but the buses can use biodiesel right now.

Any diesel vehicle can use it. If the buses are really old, they may need to replace some of the rubber hoses, but you don't need a whole new bus ...

People who see the biodiesel bumper sticker on my car are always asking me where I bought a "biodiesel vehicle" and are surprised when I tell them it's just a diesel car, nothing special.

[skids]

5. That was my thought, too...

...but then, many school buses are decrepit anyway and need to be replaced. I'd more suspect an ulterior motive of getting funds for new buses than I would an ulterior motive of pro-ethanol-anti-biodiesel. Not that there's reason to suspect anything, just I have a very suspicious nature, even when it comes to Edwards.

[Bongo Prophet]

6. "Biofuel" for Iowans probably implies ethanol. Maybe someone can ask.

Obviously, to use the word REPLACE is key here.
If he meant biodiesel, then modifications to run that would be little or nothing, and no costly replacement for new buses.
It sounds like JE is either being cynically obtuse here, or just a new-to-enviro-talk and doesn't catch the difference.

Think how effective it would be in cost/carbon just to say -ALL govt dieasels will switch to bioDIESEL, and invest in DISTRIBUTION outlets for biodiesel.
Local refining and recycling of used food oils, selling to those outlets = broad based income and jobs. Easy to start business.

Now THAT would be populist!