HEMP, VEGGIE OIL POSSIBLE ENERGY

At a recent National Coal Group meeting, Sen. Robert C. Byrd told
audience members that coal needs to play a part in America's new
energy policy in the coming years. During this past State of the
Union, president Bush outlined a plan that would begin to phase out
our reliance on foreign oil and look to more renewable resources.

Coal, however, is also a non-renewable resource and is just as bad
for the environment. Coal has also been an energy staple in America
since the beginning of the 20th century. How then can it be part of a
"new" energy policy when it is a dinosaur from the old energy policy?

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss," is nothing new to Byrd,
who has used coal to get and retain power, and to look like a
crusader for worker rights while keeping the status quo in place.

Now he is trying to use coal to look like an advocate for alternative
fuels. If he were really interested in alternative fuel systems, Byrd
would look at the possibilities of vegetable oil and hemp.

Used vegetable oil is gaining popularity as a way to power diesel
vehicles while the possibility of hemp mobiles could really transform
the automobile industry. The possibility of hemp-powered cars is
nothing new. Henry Ford built the first hemp mobile in 1937. The
federal government, however, impounded the car and threatened to jail
the auto-maker if he continued his research.

The genius of industrial hemp is it can be grown virtually anywhere
at low cost. Industrial hemp bio-diesel is produced from hemp seed
oil. Industrial hemp only contains tiny amounts of THC, unlike
marijuana, which is a close plant cousin.

Oil must come from the Middle East and coal is mostly owned by out of
state interests. The black diamond also releases mercury and arsenic
into man-made sludge lakes during the refining process. Industrial
hemp, on the other hand, could be grown and refined by and for West Virginians.

If it were legalized, hemp could boost West Virginia's economy and
keep money in the state instead of letting outsiders fleece it.
Senator Byrd does not want to help West Virginia. He just wants to
maintain the status quo.