Blume and PBS spent two years making the series. After the first three segments, thousands of people called to order the book Blume wrote to accompany the series. But immediately after the fourth segment aired, PBS abruptly canceled the book, which was already at the printer.
And 120 other PBS stations had already agreed to run the series, but the San Francisco branch inexplicably canceled the distribution of the series. It was not shown again anywhere.
What could have caused PBS’s sudden change of heart? Especially after seeing the series’ obvious popularity?
Blume discovered later that Chevron, a generous donor to PBS, threatened to pull their support unless PBS canceled the series.
In this and many other ways, the oil industry prevents a widespread awareness of its primary rival fuel (alcohol) and actively campaigns against it as it has done since 1933 when petroleum organizations mounted a media propaganda campaign against the growing alcohol fuel industry.
The oil industry is still at it today. They give grants to universities and fund studies that show food prices are influenced by the ethanol industry or how alcohol will lower fuel efficiency in cars, etc.; they pay teams of lobbyists and public relations people to keep up a stream of propaganda against ethanol or any alternative fuels. They donate money (to PBS, for example) which gives them the ability to influence programming. They buy advertising in print media and television, which also gives them the power to influence what the public learns. And so on.
Here are a few of the misleading ideas the oil industry has successfully inserted into the mainstream belief system:
1. If we use corn for fuel, people will starve, food prices will go up, and Amazon rain forests will be bulldozed.
2. It takes more energy to produce ethanol than you get out of it.
3. There isn’t enough farmland to make enough ethanol to replace petroleum.
4. It is bad for the environment to grow crops for fuel.
5. Alcohol fuel is bad for car engines.
6. Alcohol reduces fuel efficiency.
All of these statements oversimplify and misrepresent the issue and have effectively turned a lot of people against an industry that could bring us true energy independence, greatly increase our national security, strongly boost the American economy, produce unexportable American jobs, and all while benefiting the environment. It takes a lot of money to accomplish such a thing. But they’ve got money to burn.
The misleading ideas on the list above help maintain oil’s monopoly over transportation fuel and prevent the possibility of our greatest hope for salvation — fuel competition.
But fuel competition is still possible and could be accomplished. In fact, you and I personally can establish fuel competition in our car. If you don't already have a flex fuel car, get a conversion kit and begin immediately to give your fuel money to oil's most available competition (E85). And get everyone you know to do it too.
This is urgent. Every day we are hemorrhaging our wealth to the enemies of freedom, making us weaker and them stronger. Every day women without rights in oil-producing countries are being abused. Small families are living in poverty, unable to afford schooling for their children in developing countries because they cannot make a living as rural farmers.
America is in the unique position of being able to end all this. Let us begin.
Adam Khan is the co-author with Klassy Evans of Fill Your Tank With Freedom and the author of Slotralogy and Self-Reliance, Translated. Follow his podcast, The Adam Bomb.
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