John D. Rockefeller & Alcohol Prohibition
Filed Under : America, capitalism, conspiracy, energy, environment, fraud, money, oligarchy, propaganda, scam, technology, war by vemrion
Jan.10,2008I like to learn a thing or two every day, and today I learned a very interesting thing indeed.
Many people know that alcohol can be used as fuel for cars and farm equipment. It’s popular today in the guise of ethanol, but ethanol is largely a red herring. Ethanol is a ghost of what could have been had the Prohibition movement not killed alcohol fuel in its infancy.
Most people are not aware that Henry Ford’s Model T came in a variation that allowed the driver to switch the carburetor to run the engine on farm-made ethyl acohol [sic]. This allowed the operator to stop at local farms (equipped with stills) to refuel his/her car during long trips through the backcountry. After all- the gas station wasn’t exactly as ubiquitous in those days, as it is now. The Standard Oil Company and its industrialist-founder John D. Rockefeller wasn’t too happy with this arrangement. After all, Rockefeller’s company had a virtual monoploly on gasoline at this time in our nation’s development.
It kind of makes me wonder why we’re fighting an illegal war over oil in the desert, thousands of miles away, when we could probably retrofit our cars to run on domestically produced alcohol fuels (which does not have to be corn-based like ethanol).
Like William Randolph Hearst’s campaign against cannabis (marijuana), Rockefeller’s campaign against alcohol was ultimately successful… for him. Hearst and Rockefeller’s respective campaigns were horrible crimes perpetrated against America, the environment and truth, but both men were personally enriched through their scheming.
Since the late 1800′s there had been a growing Alcohol Temperance Movement developing among reformers. Rockefeller saw an opportunity in this. It is well-documented that local efforts to curb alcohol consumption were expanded to the national level when high-profile figures like Rockefeller joined in the anti-alcohol efforts. Was he so concerned with the social problems that abuse of alcohol was said to cause?No… John D. Rockefeller was not concerned with family dynamics in the working classes. But he was influential in changing the goals of the movement from temperance to prohibition. As we know, his contribution to the outlawing of the production and sale of alcohol was successful. Of course, Rockefeller and the oil companies reaped tremendous profits as a result. Remember that the period covered by the 18th Amendment (1919-1933) coincided with the huge rise in the sale and operation of automobiles. America was on the move, and all of these cars were now operated solely on gasoline. By the time that the 21st Amendment was passed, ending the prohibition of alcohol, the standard was already set and worked completely in the favor of the Rockefeller family.
While this is an excellent example of a conspiracy against the American people that is both provable and successful, there is one problem with calling it a conspiracy: Conspiracies require illegal acts, and lying to the American people is not necessarily illegal. Unethical, yes, but unless you were personally slandered there’s no chance of legal recourse against such conspiratorial campaigns.
In the end, this is an example of how rich men can ride roughshod over the Constitution and the democratic process and there’s not a damn thing anybody can do about it.
You can screech back, or trackback from your own site.
Wow. Who would’ve thunk that at one time you could run your car on grain alcohol? With the corn ethanol controversy rising, it’s surprising that more people aren’t talking about other homegrown methods of producing fuel. One option is switchgrass based ethanol, aka cellulosic ethanol, which is roughly 5 times more energy efficient that corn ethanol, doesn’t cost a bundle to produce and doesn’t emit the green house gas carbon dioxide that the corn crop exudes. This is one of the most fascinating issues taking place today and will certainly have huge repercussions as to how we travel and live in the future. < HREF="http://theissue.com" REL="nofollow">The Issue<> recently did a feature of the day on Corn Ethanol, as well as the economics of buying a hybrid car. Very interesting and insightful for those interested.Cheers,MikeThe Issue | < HREF="http://theissue.com" REL="nofollow">The Issue<>
Carbon dioxide is a simple byproduct of combustion, no matter which fuel is used, and ethanol from any source is still the same ethanol (C2-H5-OH). Basic organic chemistry 101, mate.In fact, burning ethanol instead of gasoline actually produces MORE carbon dioxide, per mile driven, than gasoline, as ethanol (30MJ/kg) contains significantly less energy per unit mass (aka energy density) than gasoline (46.9MJ/kg) [Source: Wikipedia].Thus, to go the same distance, one must burn more ethanol (by mass) to get the same energy output, producing more carbon, which in turn binds chemically to oxygen and create CO2 (and CO, and water vapor).Consider actually doing your homework before making random, spurious, and inaccurate claims.
Carbon dioxide is a simple byproduct of combustion, no matter which fuel is used, and ethanol from any source is still the same ethanol (C2-H5-OH). Basic organic chemistry 101, mate.In fact, burning ethanol instead of gasoline actually produces MORE carbon dioxide, per mile driven, than gasoline, as ethanol (30MJ/kg) contains significantly less energy per unit mass (aka energy density) than gasoline (46.9MJ/kg) [Source: Wikipedia].Thus, to go the same distance, one must burn more ethanol (by mass) to get the same energy output, producing more carbon, which in turn binds chemically to oxygen and create CO2 (and CO, and water vapor).Consider actually doing your homework before making random, spurious, and inaccurate claims.
Follow-up:“Biofuels make climate change worse, scientific study concludes” http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/biofuels-make-climate-change-worse-scientific-study-concludes-779811.html
Anybody who advocates government intrusion into the market is a Socialist, not a Free Market Capitalist, regardless of how he made his money.Therefore, the people about whom you speak are not Free Market Capitalists.A Corporate Socialist, a Marxist Socialist, a Stalinist Socialst, or a National Socialist is still a Socialist.Socialism is not the answer, it’s the Problem.
fallout11 writes “Consider actually doing your homework before making random, spurious, and inaccurate claims.”Physician heal thyself. Ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Period. Ever consider the carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and many volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). Moreover, unburnt gasoline exiting your tailpipe is converted by sunlight into very harmful photochemical smog (including peroxyacyl nitrate, ketones, dicarbonyl compounds, aldehydes, and more).So, fallout11, be a brighht guy. “Consider actually doing your homework before making random, spurious,” simplistic, and VERY MISLEADING claims.
fallout11 writes “Consider actually doing your homework before making random, spurious, and inaccurate claims.”Physician heal thyself. Ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Period. Ever consider that gasolines produces carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and many volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). Moreover, unburnt gasoline exiting your tailpipe is converted by sunlight into very harmful photochemical smog (including peroxyacyl nitrate, ketones, dicarbonyl compounds, aldehydes, and more).So, fallout11, be a bright guy. “Consider actually doing your homework before making random, spurious,” simplistic, and VERY MISLEADING claims.
Absolutly Amazing.Someone needs to write a well-documented and conclusive report on this and then get in out to people in government, the auto and oil industries, and the american people in general.
Someone already did. It was a series scheduled to air on KQED public television after the OPEC crisis. After the first episode, chevron(the primary sponsor)contacted KQED and vowed to withdraw funding if the series aired. The series and the book were shelved. This issue is complex and it is important that one understand the role of corporations like Monsanto before taking a stance on corn ethanol. Anyone claiming to understand the true nature of fuel(in America and eventually the world) needs to conduct fastidious historical research. Unless, of course, they are just asking questions.
that book you speak of that was shelved, is now available at alcoholcanbeagas.com
It is phenominal. There is so much lost history when it comes to alcohol fuel. The series is still locked up in a vault, but look up David Blume on google video. there are some very thorough presentations.
Gasoline is made from oil which is a bunch of carbon and hydrogen molecules that are sequestered underground away from the atmosphere. So when they are dredged up by drilling and refined and burned in an internal combustion engine, they are creating carbon dioxide compounds that would not naturally exist in the atmosphere. It is a new source of greenhouse gases. Ethanol is made from plants which collect carbon out of the air and build cellulose with it. When you ferment these plants and distill the alcohol from it to use as a fuel, the carbon dioxide that is released is equal to or less than the amount collected by the original plants to make the fuel. So in effect, it is a closed loop that doesn’t add any new greenhouse gases, it just cycles them through the system of plants to fuel to CO2 back to plants.
Furthermore, it will most likely sequester CO2 from the atmosphere into the soil because the roots of the plant will have CO2 in them and will be left behind when the plant is harvested allowing the roots to decompose and release the CO2 into the soil. Even if you’re harvesting sugar beets (a root crop), you’ll never be able to get all of the root tendrils out of the soil, so it may seem minor, but large fields of plants could sequester a large amount of CO2. And Luckless Pedestrian makes a great point about alcohol as a fuel emitting CO2 and H2O out the tailpipe vs gasoline which is a nearly endless list of nasty chemical compounds to wreak havoc on the natural world and human health.
We are choking on the farts of prehistory.