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By Mike Barnett
Editor
Who'd have thunk we'd ever look back fondly on $2 a gallon gas and diesel prices and wish for the good old days.
Reminisce only to the beginning of this summer for those grand times if the current spike in energy prices holds. Seems like we've reached a new energy plateau, with $60-plus a barrel oil the norm and gas and diesel prices inching—no, let me rephrase that—galloping towards $3 a gallon.
Although high energy prices have yet to strangle the overall economy, farmers and ranchers are gasping as fertilizer and fuel prices skyrocket and their pocketbooks take a direct hit. It's hard to pencil in even a break-even when oil prices have nearly doubled over the last year.
Now for more bad news. There's not much cause for optimism that prices will go down.
Used to be, big oil producers such as Saudi Arabia could turn off the spigot in an attempt to control prices when oil demand slipped, and turn that spigot back on when demand rose.
However, new, big players in the global economy—India and China—have changed the picture. Those emerging economies, growing at a rapid clip, are adding so much to the demand factor that the big oil producing countries are struggling to meet the energy needs of the world. Energy prices are spiraling out of control, with no end in sight.
You can listen to economists spin all day long and hear that adjusted for inflation, energy prices continue to be cheap. Try selling that "cheap energy" scenario to the farmer that's struggling to keep his head above water, and he'll counteroffer some oceanfront property in Arizona.
Call me crazy for speculating, but there could be a silver lining for agriculture in higher energy prices. Alternatives to petroleum based fuels have lagged for years because they could not compete. Oil was cheap and plentiful and other energy sources sat on the sidelines.
Not too long ago, $40 a barrel oil looked expensive. Economists say many of the renewable sources are feasible if oil prices hang at $50 a barrel. With prices at $65 at the time I write this (Aug. 23), investments have started pouring into alternative energy sources.
Things have started hopping on the biofuels front, both in Texas and across the nation. Three companies have announced plans to build ethanol plants in the Panhandle. Another company is building a plant near Amarillo that will turn cow manure and cotton gin waste into ethanol. High oil prices are also stirring other renewable prospects across the state.
At $2.50 a gallon for gas, ethanol is now competitive with its petroleum- based cousin. The problem, especially in Texas, is one of distribution.
Long-term, higher energy prices will spur the demand for alternative, renewable fuels. Increased feasibility will mean ethanol "gas" stations will be built. And farmers will have a new market for their crops.
Will renewable fuels solve the energy crisis? No. I may be optimistic for the long run, but I'm not a fuel fool. Renewables can, however, take a significant bite out of our future energy needs. And maybe, just maybe, they will provide a handle so farmers can hang on and survive this wild, roller coaster energy ride.
Letters...Letters...Letters...Letters...
Well, I'm back from the Summer Ag Institute, and I have had a little time for the dust to settle and the Dublin Dr Pepper to digest and figured it was time to jot a few lines to express my gratitude for selecting me to attend your WONDERFUL program.
Your Summer Ag Insitute was the most informative educational experience I have participated in since beginning my teaching career nine years ago. Although I have a strong agricultural background, and have applied that in my classroom to some degree, the Summer Ag Institute has now equipped me with so many valuable resources with which to expose my 2nd grade students to the world of agriculture and how it relates to them DAILY. I like what our graduate student, Don Eddleman, said: "Without ag, they need to know they'd be naked and starving."
I genuinely appreciate the opportunity Farm Bureau afforded me by participating in the Institute and applaud your joining forces with Tarleton State to promote such an outstanding program to equip teachers to educate this generation of children about the role agriculture plays in their lives.
In return for my personal experience, I hope to support Farm Bureau by sharing my new knowledge with my students, fellow teachers and the general public. Please let me know how I may serve you.
Rhonda Hooper
Time to
ban fireworks
To the Editor:
Many of our neighbors and friends suffer from the trauma of "July 4th, Will Anything Be Burned This Year?" problem. Every year, many people pour out of the cities, which issue firework bans, and increasingly burn hundreds of acres of our business property, our beloved homesteads (full of family memories and love), destroy our livelihoods, devastate our livestock and pets, plus put our safety and our childrens' lives in danger.
With few fire hydrants, understaffed volunteer fire departments, long distances from the stations, and many calls at one time, things are destroyed and the fires spread before anyone can even begin to respond. Many of our counties had 200 to 300 fires the week before the 4th, because of the drought. Those stressed and left few funds for our fire departments, which we have to fund because the cities and counties that the "fun" seekers fled, do not take responsibility for our losses caused by their citizens.
It is time to call for protection of our lives and property with a state bill calling for a firework ban for the entire state. With many commercial fireworks displays with competent people working them, around the state that are free or inexpensive, there is no need to endure the horror of devastation, fear, and injuries caused by stupidity. Once, firing a firearm into the air was considered a right, but as many people were killed and injured, the sanity of passing a ban resulted in the saving of many lives. No one misses this practice.
Surely, many of the organizations that now sponsor fund raisers with firework stands have enough intelligent people with other ideas of methods to earn funds. Methods that do not destroy nor cost so much money for innocent people and their counties would make more sense. We cannot afford the loss of even one fire department or hospital that is overloaded by the destruction caused by fireworks each and every year and getting worse every year.
Please contact all people who have influence to make our nightmares finally end.
B.J. Bratcher
