Soon, farmers will roll their tractors and combines into the fields as they ready themselves for the fall harvest. The big machines will be burning
expensive diesel fuel. (See
this story, from 2005, which gives you an idea of how high fuel prices can affect farmers.) Truckers,
train companies and construction companies are paying through the nose -- even
as gasoline prices fall.
A combination of new government regulations, drought (more information here) and refinery issues are adding to the problem. New diesel regulations will require the widespread availability of a new diesel blend with 97 percent less sulfur content. (More on that below.) The EPA says the effect is the same as if you removed 9 out of ten diesel trucks and buses from the road.
Oil and Gas Journal Exchange says an unusually high use of irrigation pumps and problems with refinery production are also driving up diesel demand. One irrigation pump engine, the story reports, may use 10 to 20 gallons of fuel per hour. Keep in mind that farm areas across the nation's midsection are in severe or even exceptional drought conditions.
Diesel prices rose right at the fall harvest last year, too. Here is the Energy Department's weekly fuel tracking site. The average price of a gallon of diesel is $3.02 a gallon -- up 43.7 percent from a year ago, which is nearly twice as big a jump as gasoline prices from a year ago (23 percent).
On the West Coast, diesel costs $3.22 and in the Rocky Mountains diesel goes for $3.34. Where does the money go? This is the Department of Energy's explanation:
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U.S. Department of Energy
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U.S. Department of Energy
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To check on diesel prices in your area, you might find this site useful. (Click on the pump images on the right side of the page for more.) And here are some suggestions on saving fuel for farmers, ranchers, truckers and others.
The Big Move to Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel
One big story about diesel that deserves your attention is a national movement toward ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel. (Here is a Department of Energy deep backgrounder on the new regulations for ultra-low-sulfur diesel.)
In 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) passed new rules requiring very low levels of sulfur in diesel fuel for use in trucks, buses, construction equipment, and other equipment such as farm machines. The EPA recently proposed similar rules for stationary sources like power generators and irrigation pumps. Fuel sulfur levels will be reduced this fall for diesel used in on-highway mobile sources, such as trucks and buses. Fuel sulfur levels will be required to drop again in 2007 and again in 2010 for "non-road" mobile sources like construction equipment and tractors.
Older vehicles and equipment will run just fine on the lower-sulfur fuel.
In the last month or so, refineries began producing significant amounts of "ultra-low-sulfur diesel," which, environmentalists say is as significant as the change from leaded to unleaded gasoline. Refiners have been producing ULSD since June 1, while pipelines and terminals must deliver it by Sept. 1 and retailers and marketers must sell it by Oct. 15.
Agriculture.com reports:
By 2007, U.S. diesel refineries must be producing 80 percent ultra-low sulfur for highway vehicles. For off-road, the 2008 model year of an engine 75 horsepower or less will be required to include the new cleaner emission controls. By 2010, tractor and combine fuel will be required to be at 15 parts per million sulfur levels.
Oil and Gas Journal Exchange reports:
Terminals are facing significant challenges in making the conversion as they clear older, higher-sulfur diesel from their tanks to avoid contaminating the newer grade. Useful storage capacity at terminals is reduced as tanks are drained and refilled, [the U.S. Federal Trade Commission] said.
"With a smaller amount of fuel than usual in storage at terminals during the transition to ULSD, a sudden increase in demand from causes like unusual weather may cause a terminal to run out of diesel," FTC said. "The short-run solution to this problem would be to bring in diesel by truck from more distant terminals, but the problem may be harder to solve if the demand surge is widespread and if nearby terminals are also short of stored product because they are making the same transition."
Some more resources for you:
The Storm Freakout
All of the talk about Katrina and Ernesto is freaking my kids out. The video of the hurricane damage from Katrina that ran nonstop Tuesday made my son wonder if that was the storm that was coming tomorrow.
It all gets very confusing to little folks. Here are some tips for talking to kids about trauma [PDF].
Chainsaws and Generators
The biggest danger from a tropical storm is not necessarily the wind, but may well be the folks running around with chainsaws after the storm. Here is a fact sheet on chainsaw injuries. The Centers for Disease Control & Protection says that about 36,000 people a year are treated for chainsaw injuries. The risk is highest after a disaster, such as a hurricane.
I made a trip to Home Depot Sunday to buy storm-preparation supplies, and I saw four people buy generators in the 20 minutes I was there. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has some warnings about generator use. Every year, we hear about someone who fires up a generator in his garage or tries to hook the generator to his fuse box and kills his whole family.
Living Wage Campaigns
The Religion Newswriters Foundation has some excellent resources for covering an issue that has shown up in elections around the country.
Religionlink.org sets up the debate this way:
It's been nearly 10 years since the federal minimum wage -– set at $5.15 an hour -- was changed. But the question of what it's fair to pay workers -- what it takes to live on; what businesses can afford to pay; and what, morally, is the right thing to do -- is on fire in states and cities across the nation.
In July, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would have raised the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, to $7.25 an hour. But the House tied the increase to a cut in the estate tax for wealthy Americans -- and in August, the Senate voted 56-42 not to consider that legislation.
At the grass roots, however, the issue is anything but dead. The minimum-wage question is expected to be front-and-center in this fall's congressional midterm elections.
In July, Chicago passed an ordinance requiring large "big box" retailers to pay workers at least $9.25 an hour, plus another $3 an hour toward other benefits. At least a half-dozen states expect to have state minimum-wage initiatives on the ballot this year -- among them, Arizona, Colorado, Ohio and Missouri. Campaigns to raise the minimum wage have already prevailed in 22 states and the District of Columbia, and in roughly 140 cities and counties.
In communities across the country, coalitions of labor officials, religious leaders, students and activists are pushing for higher wages. Religious leaders from many traditions say it's morally unacceptable for someone working full time to earn less than what it takes to provide their families with food and shelter.
But this is a controversial issue -- a debate, in part, over free-market forces vs. government restrictions. Some say that raising wages will mean that some of the lowest-paid workers will lose other benefits and possibly even their jobs, because businesses that can't afford the higher costs cut back or even shut down.
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Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited
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