Energy answer? Not ethanol but algae

Our politicians said that the auto manufactures have to reach 35 mpg by 2018, and another bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass, would have to increase fuel mileage by 4 percent each year starting in 2009 for cars and 2011 for trucks. I have increased my fuel mileage on my truck already by 64 percent, and he wants the truck manufacturers to only increase their mileage by 28 percent by 2018.

Then the politicians came up with the requirement for ethanol. Ethanol is not the answer. We lost up to 30 percent in fuel mileage. To produce ethanol we subsidize the farmer to grow corn and the return is only 18 gallons of oil per year per acre and a large price increase in our food. This is bad leadership from our politicians.

I thought that when our politicians said that we should get off our dependence on oil, it meant to use other means to meet our needs instead of oil.

The politicians talk about natural gas to run our vehicles. This is wrong. Natural gas should only be used for manufacturing and heating and saved for our future generations. Using natural gas to fuel vehicles is a total waste.

Oil should only be used for plastics, fertilizers, etc., not to power vehicles. With today's technology we can produce fuel with a process of extracting oil from algae. Growing algae for fuel would only require one-tenth of the area of New Mexico to produce the U.S.'s need for fuel to be used in all our vehicles of today.

A bit of history. Remember Eisenhower's plan when he built our highway system of today. We could do the same with algae growing. This would create jobs to restore our economy and clean up the atmosphere. Read about algae on the Internet. You will find it interesting and the answer to our dependence on oil. I wish the politicians would read about algae before they make an energy policy.

Elden B. Huntling, Lebanon

There's help on restraining orders

Many thanks for publishing Judge Carol Bispham's excellent explanation of the Family Abuse Prevention Order.

The Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARDV) agrees with Judge Bispham that an abuse prevention order (also referred to as restraining order) can be a valuable tool in keeping a survivor of domestic violence safe from further abuse.

CARDV advocates are available in both the Linn County and Benton County courthouses every morning to answer questions and provide support for people seeking to obtain restraining orders or stalking orders.

CARDV can also provide the necessary paperwork if someone wishes to complete their orders in advance. Advocates are available at CARDV's administrative office in Corvallis as well as our outreach offices in Albany and Lebanon.

Call CARDV's 24-hour hotline at 754-0110 or 1-800-927-0197 for further information.

Mary Zelinka, Corvallis