Welcome!  This site originally arose to disseminate information about a proposed ethanol plant in the Town of Elba.  Back in December, our rural Township was stealth attacked by a large corporation ramrodding a huge ethanol plant.  Many local citizens immediately opposed the plans for a variety of reasons, including the covert and suppressive tactics of the Town, County and corporation; land use and planning abuses;  and health, public safety, and quality of life issues regarding the siting.  Initially, most of us had only a vague knowledge of the ethanol industry. However, in the process we were surprised, no, we were shocked, by what we learned about the industry in general.

Town officials and proponents of the plant have painted the opposition as 'new-comers' and 'anti farmer'.  The fact is, many of us are long-term residents.  Many, if not most, of us own farms, and a substantial number are active farmers, so the claim that we are anti-farmer is simply wrong.  However, we do generally view industrial factory farms as undesirable, and these are the real beneficiaries of the ethanol industry (aside from the ethanol corporations and their subsidized politicians).  It's no coincidence that the most outspoken proponents for the plant are the owners of Dodge counties largest 'animal factories' (according to WISPIRG); unfortunately, these are the ones who have the politicians' ears (or pocketbooks).

We have been shocked to discover the extent to which the ethanol industry, through the efforts of giant corporations such as ADM and Cargill, has manipulated the media and public perception of corn ethanol.  The ethanol lobby describes ethanol as a 'clean burning fuel', but the fact is that the best scientific evidence to date can show little, if any, benefit to air quality from requiring reformulated gas with ethanol.  In fact, the many environmental groups are concerned that ethanol increases air pollution!  It is equally misleading for the ethanol lobby to state that ethanol is 'renewable energy' or leads to 'energy independence' or is favored by informed environmentalists.  Although this might be the lay public's perception, those who have studied the issue from an objective perspective don't agree.  The following quote is typical:
 

Bob Warrick, chairman of the national Sierra Club's agricultural committee, said ethanol does little to clean up the environment because it takes so many resources to produce and raise the corn. "All in all it is a wasteful use of agricultural resources," Warrick said. "You're using nonrenewable fossil energy resources and then distilling  it to produce ethanol. It's a loser."
(from the Grand Island Independent, 3/7/2000).

If you would like to learn more about these issues, please go to:

Issues surrounding the proposed Elba site

Economic and environmental issues, including sustainable agriculture