Forget Saudi Arabia, Joe Biden should have visited South Dakota: Your letters
Biden didn't need to go to Saudi Arabia to seek fuel solution
President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia to beg for more oil seems unnecessary. He could've saved himself a trip by coming to see what's being done right here in South Dakota.
Sky-high gas prices are inflicting pain on our budgets and our psyche. However, we can do something about it, and it doesn’t require getting on bended knee before oil sheiks. We have a home-grown product that's been proven to significantly improve gasoline quality and save billions at the pump. It dramatically boosts our farmers, the environment, public health and the nation’s energy security.
Ethanol displaces more than 400 million barrels of oil annually thanks to nationwide use of 10% blend. Transitioning to a national E30 standard would reduce U.S. oil imports by a billion barrels per year. That's more than $100 billion staying here at home.
Experts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Argonne National Laboratory have concluded that corn ethanol can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 76% compared to gasoline. Other experts predict that over the next several years, high-octane, low-carbon fuels like ethanol will be classified as ultra-low carbon fuels, surpassing the greenhouse gas benefits of vehicles running on electricity produced from coal and natural gas. Higher-octane fuels would also allow automakers to dramatically increase fuel economy and reduce carbon emissions.
South Dakota Farmers Union has long supported the work of Glacial Lakes Energy in Watertown, which every day proves that E30 blends work well in vehicles. Millions of trouble-free miles have been driven on E30 fuels, and lucky Watertown area consumers have saved millions of dollars by purchasing a superior, high-octane, cleaner-burning gasoline.
Mr. President, the answer to our nation’s fuel challenge lies right here in South Dakota. We hope you can visit us soon to see it for yourself.
Doug Sombke, Conde, South Dakota Farmers Union president
No surprise that church attendance is down
Your recent article by Bart Pfankuch about declining church affiliation was very interesting, but seemed to miss a few points. Many churches, and organized religion in general, bring these consequences upon themselves.
I, for example, will occasionally volunteer in church soup kitchens to help feed people facing food insecurity. I eventually switched to feeding people in a Sikh temple, a part of community service that they call Langar, because I saw several Christian church soup kitchens turning away needy families, including children, because the parents were lesbians or gay men, and these churches weren't going to "enable" same-sex marriage. The Sikhs would never do anything like this. They feed gay people, drug addicts, prostitutes, ex-cons, all with no strings attached.
By some criteria, they are more Christian than 90% of the churches where I formerly volunteered. If my experiences are typical and reflective of Christian philosophy, then I'm not surprised that church membership is declining.
Kevin Levites, Ocala, Fla.
Local officials need to protect residents from carbon dioxide pipelines
Summit Carbon Solutions is proposing a hazardous, potentially lethal, CO2 pipeline across 18 South Dakota counties. It would be the first CO2 pipeline in the state and is unlike any other pipelines in our state. Unfortunately, there is still much on where Summit's final route will be. In addition, Summit is proposing the project with no previous experience constructing pipelines.
The pipeline is proposed to be buried 4 feet underground. We all know during rainy seasons with heavy equipment that 4 feet is not nearly enough. This pipeline will be under 2,100 pounds of pressure. Carbon dioxide is odorless and colorless, a silent killer. A pipeline leak or rupture under these concentrations could result in death in less than 15 minutes.
This year, reports from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and Accufacts back up that current regulations are inadequate. The regulations provided by the federal government are minimums. Only individual counties can set ordinances for setbacks. But why are our counties being so hesitant to protect us?
Hand County was in the lead with protecting their citizens by becoming an intervenor in the Summit legal docket and passing a resolution establishing a temporary moratorium. The July 5 agenda had no indication commissioners would be voting on removing Hand County as an intervenor and/or abandoning Hand County’s pipeline moratorium. Is this legal?
Did the state’s attorney and commissioners succumb to the pressures from Summit that they would be sued if they continue with a moratorium and/or pass ordinances? How many landowners will sue the county for its inaction to protect its citizens?
Are our elected officials, from the top down, being controlled by big corporations with deep pockets? It's up to citizens and landowners to hold each of our county commissioners and state’s attorneys accountable. What will you do?
Joy Hohn, Hartford
Why watch Jan. 6 hearings when the outcome is known?
Lots of news lately about the Jan. 6 investigation and the treasonous criminals who tried to overthrow the U.S. government by force on that date. But what does that matter? The guilty know that all they have to do is stall any legal proceedings until Republicans take congressional control six months from now and all fact-finding will stop.
And, if any are actually convicted or sentenced (highly unlikely), all they have to do is wait until Donald Trump or his appointed stooge becomes president in 2025 when they'll all be pardoned anyway. So why watch this ongoing drama when we already know the outcome.
Terry Painter, Rapid City
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Letter writers focus on ethanol, lower church attendance, Jan. 6 riots
