Source: huffingtonpost.com
Henry Ford always believed that autos could and would run on hemp ethanol.
The US government encouraged Hemp Production during World War II.Beware of Alternative Facts
The United States has been meddling in the Middle East since at least the 1950’s, when it forced out the elected leader of Iran and replaced him with the Shah. The militarization of our policy in the region goes back at least to President Carter. All of this attention to the Middle East is because the oil companies were able to use their leverage to have automobiles run primarily on oil and not ethanol.
The latest manifestation of our failed Mideast policy is President Trump’s recent ban on immigrants from largely Muslim countries. It clearly does not seem to be based on history. The most dramatic recent historical threat has come from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Of the 9/11 cowardly thugs called terrorists, 15 were from Saudi Arabia and four from Egypt.
One has to ask if President Trump is so focused on vetting Muslims, why has he neglected to include the two countries whose citizens wreaked the most harm on this country? Mr. Trump claims he saw thousands of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey after the fall of the Twin Towers, but he apparently missed the newsflash that the terrorists who brought down the Twin Towers were from Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
It looks like Mr. Trump has the same concerns as George W. Bush when it comes to Saudi Arabia. You may recall that after 9/11, even though there was a no-fly order, the Bin Ladin family was allowed to leave the U.S. by air. It couldn’t be clearer that the fighting in the Mideast and the U.S. involvement there, going back at least 60 years, is all about oil, not global stability.
Now if it weren’t for the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, the U.S. certainly wouldn’t be spending precious treasure and lives fighting for oil in the Mideast. Henry Ford always believed that autos could and would run on ethanol. His preferred ethanol source was hemp ethanol. In the late 1930’s Ford produced a prototype car made essentially out of hemp, and run on hemp ethanol.
Now if it weren’t for the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, the U.S. certainly wouldn’t be spending precious treasure and lives fighting for oil in the Mideast.
Lamont DuPont was likely the point man for the petrochemical industry attack on hemp in the 1930’s, and why not? DuPont had a lot to lose. DuPont not only was the producer of cellulose products, such as cellophane and nylon, but also the largest shareholder in Ford’s chief competitor, General Motors.
A new hemp harvesting device threatened to make hemp and hemp products much more competitive not only with cellulose products but, petrochemical products. Hemp ethanol is biodegradable and the supply of hemp is a reasonable resource. Oh, it’s also a fiber and could once again challenge cotton and cotton would no longer be king.
Some say the Vietnam War had a lot to do with controlling the oil reserves in the Spratly Islands. In the Vietnam era, an anti-war button read, “War is Good Business. Invest Your Son.” We are still dealing with the oil oligarchy efforts to discourage use of renewable fuels and their support of fighting for oil in the Mideast. Oil likely led to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. George W. Bush’s ill-advised military adventure into Iraq set off destabilization in the region that continues to this day.
We are still dealing with the oil oligarchy efforts to discourage use of renewable fuels and their support of fighting for oil in the Mideast.
Mr. Trump’s recent action, amounting to a religious ban, is only the latest of a long string of ineffective efforts to protect American access to Mideast oil. Because the Muslim “ban” is so at odds with American values and the U.S. Constitution, it is likely to fail and likely make matters worse for conflict in the Mideast. There is an almost unlimited opportunity to make ethanol from hemp here in the U.S. What a relief not to have to rely on the Mideast.
We were fed alternative facts about cannabis in the ‘30s. Let’s take care not to fall for any alternative facts this time around.
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