Local Couple's Veggie Oil Car Draws Fed's Attention

[Jcrowley]

State makes big fuss over local couple's vegetable oil car fuel
By HUEY FREEMAN - H&R Staff Writer
DECATUR - David and Eileen Wetzel don't get going in the morning quite as early as they used to.

So David Wetzel, 79, was surprised to hear a knock on the door at their eastside home while he was still getting dressed. Two men in suits were standing on his porch. "They showed me their badges and said they were from the Illinois Department of Revenue," Wetzel said. "I said, 'Come in.' Maybe I shouldn't have."

Gary May introduced himself as a special agent. The other man, John Egan, was introduced as his colleague. May gave the Wetzels his card, stating that he is the senior agent in the bureau of criminal investigations.

"I was afraid," Eileen Wetzel said. "I came out of the bathroom. I thought: Good God, we paid our taxes. The check didn't bounce."

The agents informed the Wetzels that they were interested in their car, a 1986 Volkswagen Golf, that David Wetzel converted to run primarily from vegetable oil but also partly on diesel. Wetzel uses recycled vegetable oil, which he picks up weekly from an organization that uses it for frying food at its dining facility.

http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2007/03/01/news/local_news/1021491.txt

[kenny blankenship]

1. Absolutely unfucking real

For running his car on recycled vegetable oil this man is being threatened with more jail time than Scooter Libby will get (and never serve).

[mconvente]

34. Unfucking believable...

Fucking police state we have...

[Eric J in MN]

2. This is backwards.

If the government is going to get involved at all with people who convert their cars to run on vegetable oil, then it should be handing out awards, not bills.

[file83]

45. Exactly. What's next, the IRS taxing bicycle riders for supplying their bikes with "muscle power"?

This is the same logic they are using against this poor old guy. It's pure insanity.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

3. Now I'm going to have to get drunk.

That is the most fucked-up thing I've read all day.

And I've read a few . . .

:nuke:

[Jcrowley]

6. Reminded me of stories by Chekov or Kafka

[CrazyOrangeCat]

16. yeah, we could use Kafka right about now.

nightmare absurdities abound . . .

[annabanana]

4. Why is Illinois picking on a 79 year old inventor?

This is ludicrous, really. He is a supplier and receiver of his own stuff and needs a license for each? Oh Brother...

[magellan]

5. Taxing and fining alternative fuel users, now I've heard it all

PARDON WETZEL!!

[razors edge]

7. Was only a matter of time.

This same thing happened in England a couple years ago.

Don't fuck with the tax man, he needs no law, just a gun.

[ninkasi]

12. Unless it's taxes on the rich

Then it's ok. What a screwed up system. I don't think it's about collecting taxes, it's about punishing people who don't pay enough to support the cronies of Bush and Cheney.

[razors edge]

18. Goes without saying, literaly,

they won't say it.

When the economic host dies, only then will the parasites leave for a new host.

[robinlynne]

8. when oil runs your country instead of your representatives....

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. By G-D! They will get THEIR freakin' money come hell or high water and

they don't give a crap what they have to do to get it! Harassing 79 year old people about using vegetable oil...$4.07 a MONTH!!!!! OMG. I honestly can't take these people anymore.:(

I don't understand what this supposed "fuel usage tax" is. WTF? I can see paying taxes on fuel you BUY, but NOT on FREE VEGETABLE OIL. Why should the state get tax money on a free item? This is complete BULLSHIT.

[kenny blankenship]

19. Well the fuel tax pays for the roads

so technically there's a good reason for licensing of fuel sellers yadda yadda and so on, but you have to wonder at the reasoning that went into sicking the revenue agents on this old man who's, after all, not accused of selling vegetable oil to other people to run their cars on. How did the Wetzels even come to the attention of the government, unless the gov't is looking to crack down on biodiesel users for the sake of stopping them? There's no way in hell it can make economic sense for the gov't to be tasking law enforcement to track down and intimidate the handful of people around Illinois who have set out to replace petroleum with recycled fry oils. It's absolutely insanely disproportionate police action.

Mr. Wetzel is willing to pay up "back taxes" on his biodiesel use, but this demand for a fuel selling license and bonds and so forth is just out of control government harrassment and intrusion upon a private citizen. The Wetzels appear to have spent their two lifetimes being model citizens, which has led them to use recycled food oil as biodiesel--and the thanks they get for it from the state is a tidal wave of government harrassment. At whose behest I'd love to know is this harrassment being ordered?

[havocmom]

31. and all the roads serve to keep people using oil wastefully

instead of looking to mass transit and other means of getting around.

Government for, of, and by Big Oil. We subsidize them. We pay for wars for them

Gotta crack down on the threats to Big Oil. Those innovators have to pay!

x(

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

10. please read the link - pithy, well-written

I wasn't quite sure if it was "news" or a local columnist but I thought it was well done. Lots of information that could be boring but well-presented. Made the "authorities" look like over-reaching, badge-heavy, Neanderthals, which I think the facts support.

[Robb]

11. The BIG sentence in that article:

Wetzel wonders why hybrid cars, which rely on electricity and gasoline, are not taxed for the portion of travel when they are running on electrical power. He said he wants to be treated equally by the law.

Here we go. :D

[Kingshakabobo]

17. I think some states are already starting to plan for reduced gas tax revenue.

When you think about it, someone has to pay for maintenance, bridges, roads ....and corruption and graft and waste......though this case "shocks the conscience."

I think the same goes for people using "farmer" diesel not meant for, and not taxed for public highway usage. It's a big no-no.

[CoffeeCat]

13. ...and we all wonder why Cheney was...

...holding back an explosive smirk when Junior said that we
should decrease our dependence on foreign oil--during the SOTU speech.

I never realized, until this article, all of the barriers to producing
alternative fuels. Besides intimidation, you have to apply for permits,
pay fines and get special licenses.

Man, our government should be throwing a parade in this man's honor.
What he has done sounds amazing and very promising.

Can you imagine...if it turns out that cars can run on vegetable oil????

The PNACers would be left holding a bombed-out, useless country and a
bunch of oil that they no longer need. They'd probably make hasty
plans to invade every country that grows a large amount of corn and
soybeans.

Look out Mexico!!! You're next! What's that I see near the outskirts
of Cancun? Is that aluminum tubes and mobile weapons labs????

[keepCAblue]

33. "I never realized all of the barriers to producing alternative fuels"

You should see "Who Killed the Electric Car" ... it will open your eyes and make your blood boil.

[Solo_in_MD]

14. An some wonder why the average American is skeptical about the ability

of the Gov to do anything intelligent

[nicknameless]

15. Disgusting.

This extreme abuse may also be attributed to Wetzel's visibility with his alternative fuel car.
They're making an example of him to intimidate others out of going the same route?

David Wetzel, who has been exhibiting his car at energy fairs and universities, views state policies as contradicting stated government aims.

[Jennicut]

20. Its a conspiracy folks....

Push down the little guys with burdensome licenses and bonds, etc. and slow down or eliminate any entrepreneurial spirit. We will never run on alternative fuels in this country until we have a congress and president that support its research and use. The big oil companies want their profits to keep going and well we can't have that can we? :sarcasm: After all, alternative fuels means less money for them. If they had any brains in their heads they would help develop these new technologies so when the oil runs out they will still have jobs. Our next president must address this issue.

[politicat]

21. Okay, we desperately need to change the way we fund roads.

I can understand the road use tax part of the issue, but the licensing... that's stupid. They need to be lobbying the legislature for a retroactive law that changes that special fuels supplier and user clause to allow an exemption for producers with less than oh... 100 gallons of production and storage capacity and for personal use only. (Because, while 100 gallons of something can do damage if there's a spill or a leak, it is not going to turn the garage where it happened into a Superfund site. Anything bigger and it might.)

As long as it's being used in something that goes through an emissions check, then there's a quality control. It shouldn't be sold, because the quality issue (gas stations have to sell gasoline and diesel that conforms to a lot of chemical standards; home-grown biofuel doesn't) could cause liability or other issues. And it would probably be a good idea for a small annual fee to be assessed with the tags for the alternative fuel, just so that it can be recorded as an alternative fuel on the registration, so if the car is in an accident where the tank breaks, the firefighters are using the right chemicals for the cleanup (There's a reason that diesel cars are tagged that way, and according to my fire fighter friends, biodiesel is harder to clean up in the winter than petro-diesel because it jellies differently. We have a lot of biodiesel enthusiasts in the area, and well... some of them don't manage to flock and herd well....). Still, no where near the $2500 fine level.

I can see why the bureaucracy is doing it the way they are -- the law is badly written and does not conform to current and future situations, but it's not the bureaucracy's job to MAKE the law -- it's their job to enforce it. Getting mad at the agency for following the rules we put in place is kind of silly.

Thanks for the article -- I'm sending it on to my state assembly person and suggesting that he look into getting our state laws updated for just this sort of situation.

[politicat]

22. Oh... Not feds -- State.

Illinois Dept of Revenue is making the fuss, not the IRS or the Feds. Just a point of clarification that is pretty obvious in the article.

[progressoid]

23. un-fucking-believable

[DarkTirade]

24. WTF... just WTF.

Seriously. So he is threatened because they claim he is acting as a supplier and reciever without liscence... yet he doesn't fit their OWN definition of a supplier or a reciever.
Makes perfect sense to me. :sarcasm:

[BlooInBloo]

25. Corporate welfare - gotta love it!

[earth mom]

26. Big Oil is behind this-no doubt about it.

Those evil and greedy bastards want us to be dependent and enslaved to them forever. :grr:

[Jcrowley]

27. They've done it before

Buying up rail lines etc...

[MadHound]

28. I hope that these folks get a good lawyer quick

If thei state's reasoning for getting a license is much like other states, this couple would actually have to sell their fuel to other people. If they're simply using it themselves, legally they should be in the clear.

This is being driven by those who have a vested interest in the status quo. I can see big oil being behind this, but more likely since the couple are no longer paying the tax that is at the pump. Silly thing is, by pulling out all the stops, especially if the couple fights this, the state will be paying out more for legal actions than they'll actually receive in tax revenue.

[leftchick]

29. he is so cute!

I hope the state reps take care of him. I wonder who turned him in?

[mconvente]

35. And VERY VERY sharp from what I get

Awesome to see him super sharp at 79. He is a former organic chemist, and it takes smarts to do that, so he must be very intelligent to begin with. But for 79, he seems very computer savvy. Don't mess with the Wetzels!

[Jokerman]

30. Huey Freeman H&R Staff Writer?

Apparently not the kid from Boondocks.

[neuvocat]

32. Look at it this way:

had it not been for the government's intervention then we probably wouldn't have known about the car in the first place.

[Beaverhausen]

36. All this over a $245 tax bill that he has offered to pay?

this is some fucked up shit!

[Jcrowley]

51. It's to set a precedent

This man is a bad example. Establishing personal autonomy through personal ingenuity is about the scariest and most egregious of crimes in the greedy eyes of corporate capitalism. Just like pounding small countries to smithereens if they dare establish their own economies.

Time for a peoples movement.

[Vadem]

37. Okay! Calling Durbin and Obama PDQ!.....n/t

[benld74]

38. Go Pound Sand Illinois

Now is the time for a 'good' lawyer to take this case for free for them. I guarantee the state will fold like a cheap lawn chair.

[Javaman]

39. And there you have it in a nut shell, it was never about alt fuels for moron*

it's always been about money.

I wrote these a while back check them out

Javaman (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-25-06 05:38 PM
Original message
Peak oil and states rights...
I have been pondering the various potential out comes of a post peak oil era.

One thing that occurred to me was the idea or concept of states rights.

Going back in our history, our civil war was fought for many reasons, the obvious one was over slavery, however, the slavery issue was prompted by a cry from the southern states regarding their own states rights and who gets to decide or enforce them. They were angry that the federal government, in flexing it's muscles, were treading over these rights. Prior to the civil war, individual states looked upon themselves almost as the various European nations looked upon themselves prior to the formation of the EU. Individual state nations that were part of a larger organizations. After the civil war, that debate was ended and a true united states was born. Where upon, states rights no longer superseded the will of federal law, but was in fact now reversed.

Much of this resentment lasted many many years well up into the 20th century. Huge sections of the U.S., mostly the hard to reach areas, still looked upon the north and the federal government in general with resentment and would still not recognize federal law.

These still areas were brought under "control", if you will, via rural electrification. Once you can bill, track a person and their various power needs, they suddenly become easier to control, follow and check up upon. And the person receiving the electricity, now has one thing less to complain about. Thus pacifying another section of the U.S.

That is going to change.

When we are beyond peak oil and the price of a barrel of oil no longer becomes cost effective for the average person to use in its various broken down components, the rise of the local power authorities offering alternative methods to heat and power their homes will take hold.

No longer will the traditional power grid be the norm for the nation. As different parts of the country use various types of alt fuel and power suited to their regions, the federal control of the nations power resources will diminish.

Coastal communities will look to biomass, wave and wind power, central regions, to wind, solar and perhaps a form of ethanol. The list goes on and on, but the picture becomes clear that there will be no one type of power generating source, such as oil and natural gas were, to keep the nation humming.

Now what does this have to do with states rights?

Given the fact that many of the states in this nation have large areas of land to which they can exploit for various power generating means, there will be many questions raised regarding those smaller states that do not have that ability.

Many of the larger states also have huge populations and the various governors of these states will think of their states needs before they think of what is good for the nation. Hence the question of states rights, especially when the federal government begins trying to federalize these various energy producing sources. Or at least try to engineer it so only a few of the wealthy control the vast alt energy resources, thus holding leverage over the many who don't.

Unlike oil, many alt energy resources are available to anyone who has the means to exploit them. As a result, will a future situation arise where it become illegal for the private person to install solar panels on their homes with out federal or state approval? Will laws be enacted that keeps people from freely using what nature has provided us? wind and solar power?

In steps the states.

Will the states that have these large areas suddenly not only share it's additional energy with other states but also ignore the federal governments laws when they feel their rights to their state born resources are infringed upon?

Will the once again lead to the question of who owns that energy that is generated by the alt means? And will that in turn lead to a bigger issue of how far into the states will the federal government reach in order to control the populous via energy distribution?

As the smaller states band together to form various energy agreements and the larger states become their own energy providers, where does this leave the federal government in this new found energy landscape?

Will the Federal government force the states into an agreement under the lofty statement that this is policy to maintain the good of the nation? Or will it us force to keep various states in line? Or a combination of the two?

Will, as many sci-fi writers have proposed, many of the western states simply ignore a weak federal government, itself strapped for and in need of a new form of energy, form their own break away nation or federation based upon their ability to be self sufficient of Washington's needs and wants?

I have proposed a lot of scenarios and some possibly outrageous situations, however, we must, as a nation, come to realize that we are, we have become, we exist because of oil.

Our future as a country, if we wish to maintain it as a union, must be based upon cooperation between states. Unless some sound energy policy is presented within the next 5 years, the little baby elephant that sits in the corner looking all cute, will grow into an adult male bull and will seek out a way to leave the house and go out on it's own. It will be very hard to control it at that point.

Our nation will not only be presented with an energy emergency of a proportion I can hardly imagine, but the political fall out as a result will be just as devastating.

AND

Javaman (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-19-06 09:09 PM
Original message
The rise of the Ethanol Giant...
Edited on Wed Apr-19-06 09:32 PM by Javaman
As gas prices at the pump begin to sky rocket, moron* and his* room full of dopes begin ranting about the benefits of ethanol, we need to stop and think about what he* is saying.

After reading several editorials/opinions/scientific stats on here regarding ethanol and basically that its production of ethanol isn't cost effective, but yet is still being pushed by moron*,I thought to myself, who exactly would benefit from this?

It's interesting, ethanol can be used in conventional gas engines, however, it doesn't get the same bang for the buck in mileage. So thusly, a person has to buy more of it to get from point A to point B.

Now the production costs of ethanol will be subsidized. But exactly who will be getting the benefits of those subsidies? The average family farmer? Hell no, it will be the Agra-corps.

Since it's the crops that get the subsidies in this nation and not the farmer (as it is in Europe), the Agra-corps stand to make billions on this issue. Then when they have reaped all the money they can stuff into their greedy pockets at the expense of the American driver, the plug will be pulled because the gov't will state that it's taking a huge hit in providing subsidies. And once again we will be right back where we started.

But what really scares the crap out of me regarding all of this is: These Agra-corps hold the patent on many seeds (completely unconstitutional, but that's for another discussion). So this means, even though oil companies hold their drilling rights and leases to certain lands around the world and they along with OPEC control the spigots, there are always one or two nations that don't go along and the oil keeps flowing, abate expensively. However, if one of the big Agra-corps gets all pissy about the price of ethanol, all they have to do is stop harvesting. Sue anyone that uses their seed. Fuel production comes to a screeching halt.

You think OPEC has the U.S. by the balls now? I fear for our future, the one held by the Ethanol Giants.

[Javaman]

40. I'm not the least surprised by this

I wrote about this a while back...

Javaman (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-25-06 05:38 PM
Original message
Peak oil and states rights...
I have been pondering the various potential out comes of a post peak oil era.

One thing that occurred to me was the idea or concept of states rights.

Going back in our history, our civil war was fought for many reasons, the obvious one was over slavery, however, the slavery issue was prompted by a cry from the southern states regarding their own states rights and who gets to decide or enforce them. They were angry that the federal government, in flexing it's muscles, were treading over these rights. Prior to the civil war, individual states looked upon themselves almost as the various European nations looked upon themselves prior to the formation of the EU. Individual state nations that were part of a larger organizations. After the civil war, that debate was ended and a true united states was born. Where upon, states rights no longer superseded the will of federal law, but was in fact now reversed.

Much of this resentment lasted many many years well up into the 20th century. Huge sections of the U.S., mostly the hard to reach areas, still looked upon the north and the federal government in general with resentment and would still not recognize federal law.

These still areas were brought under "control", if you will, via rural electrification. Once you can bill, track a person and their various power needs, they suddenly become easier to control, follow and check up upon. And the person receiving the electricity, now has one thing less to complain about. Thus pacifying another section of the U.S.

That is going to change.

When we are beyond peak oil and the price of a barrel of oil no longer becomes cost effective for the average person to use in its various broken down components, the rise of the local power authorities offering alternative methods to heat and power their homes will take hold.

No longer will the traditional power grid be the norm for the nation. As different parts of the country use various types of alt fuel and power suited to their regions, the federal control of the nations power resources will diminish.

Coastal communities will look to biomass, wave and wind power, central regions, to wind, solar and perhaps a form of ethanol. The list goes on and on, but the picture becomes clear that there will be no one type of power generating source, such as oil and natural gas were, to keep the nation humming.

Now what does this have to do with states rights?

Given the fact that many of the states in this nation have large areas of land to which they can exploit for various power generating means, there will be many questions raised regarding those smaller states that do not have that ability.

Many of the larger states also have huge populations and the various governors of these states will think of their states needs before they think of what is good for the nation. Hence the question of states rights, especially when the federal government begins trying to federalize these various energy producing sources. Or at least try to engineer it so only a few of the wealthy control the vast alt energy resources, thus holding leverage over the many who don't.

Unlike oil, many alt energy resources are available to anyone who has the means to exploit them. As a result, will a future situation arise where it become illegal for the private person to install solar panels on their homes with out federal or state approval? Will laws be enacted that keeps people from freely using what nature has provided us? wind and solar power?

In steps the states.

Will the states that have these large areas suddenly not only share it's additional energy with other states but also ignore the federal governments laws when they feel their rights to their state born resources are infringed upon?

Will the once again lead to the question of who owns that energy that is generated by the alt means? And will that in turn lead to a bigger issue of how far into the states will the federal government reach in order to control the populous via energy distribution?

As the smaller states band together to form various energy agreements and the larger states become their own energy providers, where does this leave the federal government in this new found energy landscape?

Will the Federal government force the states into an agreement under the lofty statement that this is policy to maintain the good of the nation? Or will it us force to keep various states in line? Or a combination of the two?

Will, as many sci-fi writers have proposed, many of the western states simply ignore a weak federal government, itself strapped for and in need of a new form of energy, form their own break away nation or federation based upon their ability to be self sufficient of Washington's needs and wants?

I have proposed a lot of scenarios and some possibly outrageous situations, however, we must, as a nation, come to realize that we are, we have become, we exist because of oil.

Our future as a country, if we wish to maintain it as a union, must be based upon cooperation between states. Unless some sound energy policy is presented within the next 5 years, the little baby elephant that sits in the corner looking all cute, will grow into an adult male bull and will seek out a way to leave the house and go out on it's own. It will be very hard to control it at that point.

Our nation will not only be presented with an energy emergency of a proportion I can hardly imagine, but the political fall out as a result will be just as devastating.

AND

Javaman (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-19-06 09:09 PM
Original message
The rise of the Ethanol Giant...
Edited on Wed Apr-19-06 09:32 PM by Javaman
As gas prices at the pump begin to sky rocket, moron* and his* room full of dopes begin ranting about the benefits of ethanol, we need to stop and think about what he* is saying.

After reading several editorials/opinions/scientific stats on here regarding ethanol and basically that its production of ethanol isn't cost effective, but yet is still being pushed by moron*,I thought to myself, who exactly would benefit from this?

It's interesting, ethanol can be used in conventional gas engines, however, it doesn't get the same bang for the buck in mileage. So thusly, a person has to buy more of it to get from point A to point B.

Now the production costs of ethanol will be subsidized. But exactly who will be getting the benefits of those subsidies? The average family farmer? Hell no, it will be the Agra-corps.

Since it's the crops that get the subsidies in this nation and not the farmer (as it is in Europe), the Agra-corps stand to make billions on this issue. Then when they have reaped all the money they can stuff into their greedy pockets at the expense of the American driver, the plug will be pulled because the gov't will state that it's taking a huge hit in providing subsidies. And once again we will be right back where we started.

But what really scares the crap out of me regarding all of this is: These Agra-corps hold the patent on many seeds (completely unconstitutional, but that's for another discussion). So this means, even though oil companies hold their drilling rights and leases to certain lands around the world and they along with OPEC control the spigots, there are always one or two nations that don't go along and the oil keeps flowing, abate expensively. However, if one of the big Agra-corps gets all pissy about the price of ethanol, all they have to do is stop harvesting. Sue anyone that uses their seed. Fuel production comes to a screeching halt.

You think OPEC has the U.S. by the balls now? I fear for our future, the one held by the Ethanol Giants.

[KansDem]

41. We've come a long way since Henry Ford's Model T

...and his desire to have farmers brew their own fuel for it.

The car's 10 gallon (38 litre) fuel tank was mounted to the frame beneath the front seat; one variant had the carburetor modified to run on ethyl alcohol, to be made at home by the self-reliant farmer. Because fuel relied on gravity to flow forward from the fuel tank to the carburetor, a Model T could not climb a steep hill when the fuel level was low. The immediate solution was often to drive up steep hills in reverse. In 1926 the fuel tank was moved forward to under the cowl on most models

Wikipedia

[taught_me_patience]

42. Not surprised at all...

You see its illegal to use any form of untaxed fuel in a motor vehicle.. You cant make your own ethanol, you cant substitute home heating oil for diesel,and when you put used fryer oil in your car you are evading the governments "Fuel Tax" or "Road tax". The article illistrates the fact that what the real reason of the personal visit by revenue agents was to get the story into the papers and get the message out to everyone who is thinking about doing likewise... DONT.

Now now you see why the government is all aboard on the ethanol thing and not proponents of electric vehicles... How do you tax electric as a road fuel? How do you prove the electric was used to get to work and not do laundry?

They can talk all they want about "Americans need to break their addiction to foriegn oil sources", However the real story is that actually "Government needs to break their addiction to Oil Tax Revenue first".

[sarcasmo]

43. The Government does not want to stop using Gasoline. Look at the tax it generates.

Kick and Nom a great story and another great American MR. Wetzel.

[happydreams]

50. Very good point. Thought provoking.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

44. When you want to remember how otherwise reasonable people...

...can be Republicans, go back and reread this article.

This is a story about an out of control state bureaucracy persecuting someone for something that shouldn't be illegal in the first place. And if you think that's bad, imagine if the poor guy had actually helped a friend convert his car too.

Mind you, Republicans have strayed very far from their original small government ethos. They're now the Plutocratic Party, rather than the small-government one. But many voters still haven't caught on to that fact - although with Bush's popularity in the 20s - it looks like some have.

I would strongly suggest that the Illinois Democratic leadership get out ahead of this story. This was a major screw-up by these agents.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[Vinca]

46. The Wetzels deserve medals, not state-sponsored harassment.

This boggles the mind.

[Mugu]

47. When the Illinois Department of Revenue is finished with him,

the Federal highway taxes are still owed. Then there’s a little problem with the EPA. Vegetable oil is not an approved engine fuel, and as such anybody using it in a motor vehicle is subject to a daily fine. I don’t remember what the fine is, but it’s a whopper (Something like $2500 a day.)

Regards, Mugu

[ContraBass Black]

48. Fed's Attention?

These are Illinois State agents.

[happydreams]

49. This shit was probably instigated by the oil companies. They want to

destroy the incentives for developing alternatives to oil.

We must nationalize oil and other fossil fuel co.'s

[Turn CO Blue]

52. Freaking bean counters -- they only think in

terms of black and white and will step over stacks of dollars to pick up a penny!!!

My apologies to any bean counters here.

[Turn CO Blue]

53. I want to know how they converted the car to run on used veg oil

How is that done? Where can it be done? How much does it cost? There's a lot of fried food in this nation so there must be a lot of used veggie oil.

[Jcrowley]

55. Here ya' go

http://www.dieselveg.com/

http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2005/03/17/umbra-svoschool/

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_svo.html

http://www.veggiepower.org.uk/qshowmuch.html

And to convert a bus:
http://bus.getdave.com/Infrastructure/Vegetable-Oil/

Happy travels.

:hi:

[BattyDem]

54. How can they charge him a fuel tax for vegetable oil?

Vegetable oil is not SOLD as a fuel, so how could it possibly be TAXED as a fuel? :shrug: They're trying to impose a GASOLINE tax on a food product! The Wetzels already pay a fuel tax on the diesel they buy. There is no law that says every person is required to pay a certain amount of fuel tax per year. You're taxed on what you buy ... period. If the Wetzels aren't buying gasoline, why the hell should they be taxed for it? Should we tax every person who walks, rollerblades, rides a bike, etc? This is bullshit and whoever is responsible for harassing these people should get fired!

The bigger issue is this:

How is it that a 79 year old man managed to figure out a way to use vegetable oil to power his car, yet companies with billions of dollars in R&D haven't come up with a damn thing? :grr:

The Wetzels should be given TAX CREDITS for NOT adding to the pollution problem. :patriot:

[sarcasmo]

57. It's actually a Road usage tax. Ask any truck driver they know about Road usage.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

56. Weirdest situation I think I've ever read.

:silly: Those poor people!!! This is just,...gross!!!! :grr:

[roamer65]

58. Never...ever...let these people in your home without a warrant.

Period.