Energy costs are escalating and destined to spiral higher. Effects of a cap-and-trade regime, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and now before the Senate, would be damaging for the entire Midwest and Missouri in particular. Regardless of what Congress may or may not do, rising energy costs will be hard to handle. Fortunately, there may be a way to lessen the impact of the inevitable.
Old, even ancient technologies have come out of laboratories, modernized and upgraded. They're waiting in the wings, ready to be adapted to mid-Missouri needs and conditions. But we, here in mid-Missouri, must act now if we are to benefit rather than pay others who act first.
A consortium of businesses, colleges and universities, organizations and interested individuals has been proposed to accelerate application of those technologies in mid-Missouri. All of us individually will benefit, with farmers, ranchers, poultry and livestock producers, forest land owners, businesses and small municipalities first in line. In short, if you live or work in mid-Missouri and use electricity or use energy in any form, it behooves you to be informed of the proposed Thermochemical Energy Association consortium and to support its development.