Soybean Fuels

(Huron, Ohio) Democratic Congressman Marcy Kaptur wants school buses in Ohio to run on a mixture of soybean oil and diesel fuel because not doing so supports "some of the most undemocratic, repressive governments in the world."

Biodiesel is more expensive than diesel fuel, often by 6 to 15 cents more per gallon. But Miss Kaptur (D., Toledo) said it is more environmentally friendly and is a move toward helping the country end its "great addiction" to imported oil.

If school systems are going to spend even more money than they already do, I'd like to think the increased expenditure had something to do with educating the students as opposed to the mandated purchase of higher priced products. The only result of implementation of her proposal will be an increased cost to education system without any benefit to the education system.

By the way, politicians do this type of thing all the time, using school systems to test their pet economic experiments while bending over to a constituency. Democrats probably do it more often than Republicans, but both parties are guilty. It would be nice if the free market was toyed with less.