The Case For GMO Corn and Soybeans.

Bio-Diesel anyone?

Following President Hu's visit, it became clear as a bell sounding on a cold morning that President Bush has gambled away every single bargaining chip that was left behind by the Clinton presidency. Not one deal, not one bit of talk about the gigantic trade deficit with China, nothing about oil.

And oil is the hot topic of the day. We are a breath away from $3 gas again, when the Energy Department -- within the past two weeks -- all but stated this would not happen. Crude closed over $75 a barrel yesterday for the first time in history.

The so-called "Speaker of the House," Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert now says he wants to investigate oil company profits.

As citizens, taxpayers, and chiefly, employers of Denny Hastert, now is the time to ask him why now and why not any other time in the 20 years he has inhabited the House? Why should we believe you now, when you are on the record last year saying that record profits are fine for the oil companies? And why are you investigating their profits and not the entire system the behemoth has built on the backs of Americans?

Yesterday's news carried the projections of growing auto sales in China, where cars are beginning to sell like iPods. And that means China will make another leap in its consumption of oil so that they will better control the petroleum market.

The oil pool will reach its peak in a few years, given the increased consumption in China, and the distribution system in the U.S. is completely fucked up. Thanks to Big Oil. If ever there was a case for the federal government to seize control of an industry and straighten it the hell out, this is it.

But then, no Republican wants to be referred to as a Socialist, as they so fondly remember their historical nemesis, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the greatest president of the last century.

So let's work on diversity. This means providing consumers with alternatives to petroleum products to fuel their autos.

Bio-Diesel is beginning to take off. And its a product that could conceivably be created in every region of the country, based that region's own production of special crops, grown simply for an energy harvest. But GMO grains are banned in the U.S. That's because this Congress has no fucking clue how to separate one type of corn from another in the distribution channel.

And this is a great "in" for Democrats.

So here's something to consider (actually, a bunch of things).

• Do not allow oil companies, which already control every aspect of their product, and America's fuel supply, to even invest in this new technology. Ban Big Oil from diversifying until the playing field is even. That means until every town that already has service stations that pump gasoline and Diesel also has competition that serves up competitively priced Bio-Diesel and Pure Ethanol. And that's going to take some time.

There is no fucking sense at all in relying on Big Oil to create the next generation of fuels for us. Remember MTBE?

• Provide federal funding for research and development of GMO corn and soybeans that will allow the crops to be grown in various soils, and faster, while proving it leaves no marker in the land that would prevent the land from being used for rotation of other food crops.

• Create guidelines for the Ag Industry to create and adopt a new supply chain for GMO crops to be used strictly for fuel and non-feed purposes. This requires regulation, which Democrats should not ever be afraid to hold up as an example of how government can work for the good of the population.

GMO crop maps will need to be developed and controlled at the local or regional level. This is all possible today.

• Provide meaningful federal funding, including low-interest loans for local Co-ops and others to build Bio-Diesel and Ethanol production facilities across the land.

• Create legislation that disallows any farmer or corporate farm from contolling the entire process. This is what we currently suffer from Big Oil. Farmers and corporate farms would have to divest entirely from one industry to jump to the other.

• Get going on the next generation engines that will burn straight vegetable oils (SVOs) which burn 100% clean and provide greater efficiency that petroleum burning Diesel engines.

• Force the auto industry to immediately adopt the new engine standards which allows the consumer to make choices on engine and fuel types in every vehicle on the market. Reduce the cost of manufacture, which reduces the cost of the product, by having engines installed at the dealership. Require automakers to manufacture vehicle engine compartments and fittings that will allow any maker's engine to power the vehicle.

This will transfer jobs to areas of the country where there is little or no manufacturing being done, and will help preserve good-paying union jobs that are being lost under the auto industry's current leadership.

Any ASE-certified mechanic is qualified to make the installation in minutes right where you buy the car. The only thing preventing it is that it's a different way of doing things.

Without real leadership during this time of looming, long-term crisis, there will be no turning back from the Europeanization of fuel prices we're about to suffer.