Area poised for role in new energy policy

Nebraska in general and Southwest Nebraska in particular should have reason for optimism following President Bush's State of the Union address Wednesday night.

With former Nebraska governor and new Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns looking on from near the front of the audience, Bush made a commitment that should be music to the local economy's ears.

As part of a call for "reliable supplies of affordable, environmentally responsible energy," the president said his budget "provides strong funding for leading-edge technology -- from hydrogen-fueled cars, to clean coal, to renewable sources such as ethanol."

With a new plant in full production at Trenton, another one being built at McCook, and others planned at Cambridge and elsewhere, and surrounded by abundant corn production, Southwest Nebraska is primed to be "ethanol central" for the region.

There's also no reason our area can't be involved in other aspects of alternative energy as well, with our abundance of wind, solar energy and the space to collect them.

On a side note Wednesday, the John Deere company announced that it will fill its new tractors and other diesel-powered equipment with B2, a 2-percent biodiesel fuel.

A company official, Don Borgman, said John Deere is promoting the fuel because it is high quality and readily available.

"If B2 were used in all diesel engines in the country, the United States could displace the equivalent of about 1 billion gallons of foreign oil per year. That could, in turn, translate into some very significant increases in the demand for crops from which biodiesel is made, like soybeans and other natural fats and oils grown right here in the United States," he said.

If all or any combination of the potential alternative energy roles pan out for our region, our economic future looks bright.

But perhaps the most important potential effect is one mentioned by President Bush:

"I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy."

All four Nebraska quarter designs are still in the running, according to Secretary of State John A. Gale, despite a committee's preference. Although the federal Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee said it preferred the Chief Standing Bear and Chimney Rock designs, another advisory group, the Committee on Fine Arts, prefers the one depicting the State Capitol.

"I'm relieved to get the clarification that the advisory committees do not have any authority to eliminate any Nebraska design," Gale said.

Gov. Dave Heineman is expected to make the final selection of the quarter design by this spring, and the U.S. Mint will issue the Nebraska quarter in spring 2006.