First some background.
What is biofuel? Essentially using wood or agricultural products to make ethanol which can be burned in automobile engines.
It is a controversial business. Lots of nastiness associated with it.
Like what?
Well first, it is associated with rapacious pork-barrel subsidies. Rapacious pork-barrel subsidies are old ground for "ALPAC Bill Hunter", so no surprise there. Once you've fed at a trough, it's hard not to go back. However for the rest of us here is a clear warning from the OECD against biofuel subsidies and their prevelance.
Governments need to scrap subsidies for biofuels, as the current rush to support alternative energy sources will lead to surging food prices and the potential destruction of natural habitats, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will warn on Tuesday.
Second, biofuel actually consumes more energy in its production than it delivers as an output. Pretty dumb for an "energy source", wouldn't you say? Wood biomass requires 57 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced.
Turning plants such as corn, soybeans and sunflowers into fuel uses much more energy than the resulting ethanol or biodiesel generates, according to a new Cornell University and University of California-Berkeley study.
"There is just no energy benefit to using plant biomass for liquid fuel," says David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell. "These strategies are not sustainable."Third, it threatens food prices,
The recent rise in corn prices--almost 70 percent in the past six months--caused by the increased demand for ethanol biofuel has come much sooner than many agriculture economists had expected.and has been estimated to have the capacity to starve the poor according to the prestigous Foreign Affairs
The push for ethanol and other biofuels has spawned an industry that depends on billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies, and not only in the United States.So what is the future of this controversial industry in Alberta?
On the basis of the current Alberta Tories are stacked with individuals who are connected to the biofuel industry, its future looks bright. Not so for Alberta taxpayers. These connections reveal the petroleum royalty review process was a fix from the start to bias the Alberta economy towards biofuels.
Back to "Biofuels Bill Hunter".
Bill Hunter is a former director of the Board of Directors of BioProducts Alberta
Annual Report is here: http://www.bioproductsalberta.com/docs/BPA_brochure.pdf
From the above annual report:
Our initiatives focus on product outcomes and benefits such as:
• Biochemical feedstocks
• Bioenergy and biofuels
• Biomaterials and other high value consumer products
• Sustainable production of biomass
• Greenhouse gas management and carbon credits
We are confident that BioProducts West’s leadership in developing biologically based solutions for economic and environmental issues (climate change, clean air, and water) can be linked to broader issues of concern to Canadians (including energy security with new options and rural economic development).
We are linking energy and the environment into the broader themes of sustainable development.So there we have a confirmation. Bill Hunter has a connection to a corporation that is promoting a nascent bioenergy industry in Alberta. Essentially competing with petroleum. Has Bill Hunter been in conflict by heading the panel?
Hard to say; there hasn’t been any transparent financial disclosure if there are payments between the Alberta Government and his consulting company. There is a record of the feds paying him $16,050 for one month (!!!) period in 2005 for “Other professional services not otherwise specified”. Hmmm. This sounds pretty transparent. NOT, LOL. While we are on the topic of big money consulting fees I'd really like to ask Bill if I can get my "Fair Share" of those juicy consulting fees he rakes in from the public trough.
I think Albertans are owed that Bill Hunter transparently disclose to the people of Alberta on how much money he's received from various public sources since retirement from ALPAC. And from ALPAC itself since he's left that organization, too.
BioProducts Alberta has another interesting connection I noticed to the Stelmach Tories.
BioProducts Alberta Board member Neal Oberg, of ENO Farms.
This would be "Brother Neal" to one Lyle Oberg, the current Minister of Finance. This has been confirmed by a Forestburg source.
Minister of Finance. A very plum job. But Oberg really earned it. How? There is a rather huge political favour owed to him by Stelmach. Essentially Stelmach wouldn’t be Premier without him. He threw his support to distant third place contestant Ed Stelmach which somehow through voting vagarities in the leader selection process made the dark horse Stelmach Premier.
He could have possibly even won the contest to be the next Harry Strom of Alberta but for his eagerness to attack the sitting Premier Klein followed by one of the most bizarre press conferences in Alberta history.
His press conference yesterday in Calgary was, by all accounts, "unbelievable," "hilarious" and "delusional." One old scribe even wondered if Oberg was stable.But he earned the job by doing a favour for Ed Stelmach, so is therefore a good guy to make Minister of Finance. However I would concur with the "old scribe" that if he believes the Royalty Review to be fair and if implemented would represent good governance, that I too would wonder "if Oberg was stable"
Despite the crack of the pressure of the leadership race, Lyle Oberg has always been gently handled and given a favourable touch by the media. For example, having the police called in on him due to his mishandling of people concerned about healthcare:
In March of 2000, after a protest-marred sitting of the legislature during which the contentious Bill 11 (the “Health Care Protection Act”) passed into law, Dr. Oberg and a group of protesters at a pub near the legislature engaged in an argument. The pub’s staff eventually called the police. Despite the presence of several other cabinet ministers and several members of the Edmonton news media, the incident—outside of a mention on 630 CHED’s Lesley Primeau show—was not widely reported.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_Oberg
LOL, let's see this edited off of Wikipedia rather quickly! No matter, we can see who did it if there is tampering with Wikipedia.
Well nice to keep things family like, and having Brother Neal Oberg on the biofuel pork-barrel is probably just another built in fringe benefit of being an influential politician.
Perhaps the nepotism doesn't end there, either. From the BioProducts Alberta website, there is a tantalizing hint the Bill Hunter has a relative who is President of a $200 million dollar ethanol plant in Ontario.
A $200 - million ethanol plant for Loyalist Township will bring at least 50 new jobs to the region and could kickstart growth in the mostly vacant Taylor-Kidd industrial park.Interestingly, Bill Hunter's biography doesn't mention his association with BioProducts Alberta.
At a news conference yesterday, Upper Canada Ethanol Inc. president Douglas Hunter unveiled his company's plans to build a state-of-the-art ethanol fuel plant
Considering the facts outlined above, this may be a telling exclusion.
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