‘Green’ Energy is a Major Polluter

We have been told that we have to go green in order to save the planet from certain destruction, now it appears green energy doesn’t neccessarily equal clean energy.

Call it green pollution. The ethanol industry, which is marketed as environmentally friendly and has been called a “cornerstone of America’s energy policy,” is dirtying air and water supplies across the heartland, according to a Cybercast News Service investigation.

And industry watchers said pollution is going to get worse.

But it makes us feel good so it has to be good, right?

“There seems to be this mad rush toward expansion of the alternative fuels industry without sufficient due diligence,” said Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA).

Without due dilgence? I keep reading and hearing on the news that the science is settled. I hear it’s a MORAL obligation to cut down on greenhouse gasses, how can it be that the alternative is just as bad as the present?

analysis of EPA records found 73 biorefineries – more than 60 percent of those operating – were cited by state or federal agencies for environmental violations in the last three years. The vast majority involve state or federal clean air laws.

“They’ve brought the enforcement actions against a number of ethanol companies and refineries for essentially sidestepping the law,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of the non-partisan Clean Air Watch. “Ethanol refineries have the potential to pollute quite a bit.”

Most of the companies have not been fined by state or federal government agencies, though some of the biggest ownership groups have been forced to pay millions for cleanup and anti-pollution devices.

“Ethanol has been dramatically oversold as a green energy source,” said O’Donnell.