Mitch Daniels

It is rare that you find me praising a Republican, but I do believe in giving credit where credit is due. Republican Governor of Indiana, Micth Daniels, is doing something that Bush has only given lip service to: working towards energy independence. As the newly elected Congressional Democrats from Indiana are working with the Democratic majority in Congress for energy independence, Governor Daniels is taking a small step on a local level.

As portrayed in a recent Current TV segment, Indiana has chosen one small town, Reynolds, Indiana, and declared it "Bio-Town" (locally called "Turd-town" for reasons that will become apparent) in an attempt to show America how local solutions can turn America energy independent.

With government help (the step Bush ignores but Daniels recognizes as critical), Reynolds is going through a three-phase transition to achieve the following goals:

* Developing homegrown, local energy production to become independent from foreign sources

* Creating a cleaner environment

* Implementing solutions to animal waste management issues

* Developing new markets for Indiana agricultural products and byproducts

The main thrust seems to be biofuels, as one might expect from an agricultural state. I want to emphasizez that biofuels are not as good as, for example, wind energy, but let's not kid ourselves. Local solutions mean local solutions, and for an agricultural state, biomass made from sewage and animal waste (hence Turd-town) and ethanol from crops are a reasonable and probably necessary way to go.