Billionaire stymies sustainable industry

Photo: Henry Ford swinging an axe at his 1941 car to demonstrate the toughness of the plastic trunk door made of soybean and hemp. (From the collections of Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village.)

In her June 28th letter, Helen Schmill finished by stating that "John D. Rockefeller made gasoline, teamed up with Henry Ford and the rest is history."

That statement isn't exactly accurate. Fact is Ford originally produced tractors designed to run on alcohol. Ford reasoned that if farmers could grow and distill their own fuel, it would help keep costs down.

Around the turn of the 19th century, Ford conducted extensive bio-fuel studies at Battle Mountain, Mich. He determined that cannabis hemp stood head and shoulders above all other bio-fuel sources.

There are several reasons why cannabis was Ford's definite, No. 1 choice, starting with the fact that this hardy, drought resistant plant can produce 1,000 gallons of methanol per acre, compared to 350 gallons of ethanol per acre produced from corn. Some 60 to 70 gallons of oil can also be produced from cannabis.

Cannabis also produces nitrogen, making it a perfect cash crop rotation plant for nitrogen loving food crops like corn, potatoes, etc. In addition to all this, the leftover stock can be made into fiber, building materials, all paper products, and even rope. No part of the cannabis plant need go to waste.

Across the great pond, R. Diesel originally designed his engines to run on bio-diesel. He agreed with Ford's studies and also endorsed cannabis because it produces both alcohol and oil, the key ingredients of bio-diesel.

Now enter Rockefeller, who had discovered his otherwise waste product gasoline could also run these early engines, so he "lobbies" Congress, using the protect-the-children card, to force alcohol manufacturers to add the most expensive poison to the already poisonous methanol, thus driving its price above gasoline. And that, my friends, is the truth on how we as a nation got started on using gas and other petroleum products exclusively. In fact, the thought strikes me that it's not us who are addicted to petroleum, it's the big oil companies that are addicted to our money.

If we're really serious about breaking this addiction of theirs, reducing global warming, etc., then re-legalizing cannabis of all varieties is absolutely essential to attaining these goals. Nothing has changed, really, with Congress, unfortunately; that's one reason we're in the mess we're in.

JOE DePAUL, Casper