Business

Load of Crap? Obama Admin Invests $5M in Cow Manure

No, Really: Obama Admin Invests $5M in Cow Manure“If at first you don’t succeed, double down…”

It’s no secret that by funding various “green” energy initiatives with taxpayer money, the Department of Energy (DOE) has engulfed itself in a cloud of scandal. What with the magnificent and expensive failures of Ener1, Energy Conversion Devices, Solyndra, Solar Trust, Mountain Plaza Inc., Fisker Auto, etc., etc., the DOE, under the guidance of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, has been making quite a name for itself — and not a very good one.

So rather than dial back some of its activities, cut losses, and perform a post mortem on failed taxpayer-backed projects, the DOE is rushing forward and investing $5 million into “the construction of a ‘biogas anaerobic digester’ that will use cow manure to heat an ethanol plant and create 15 permanent jobs,” the Washington Examiner’s Joel Gerhke reports.

Western Plains Energy, LLC, a Kansas company, will use the money to “utilize waste energy resources from a local cattle feedlot to replace almost 90 percent of the fossil fuels currently used” at the plant, he adds.

And although the above sentence dresses it up a little, it’s what it sounds like: the Obama administration is investing $5 million so that cow manure can be converted into energy.

“Projects such as this are a key part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to American energy that is supporting the development and usage of renewable energy, revitalizing rural economies and creating an America built to last,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

“Animal waste from a local feedlot will be the primary feedstock that Western Plains will use for the digester,” USDA added. “Support for renewable energy projects such as these is an example of the many ways USDA is helping revitalize rural economies.”

But here’s the kicker: the USDA expects the project will only create 15 permanent jobs and 100 temporary construction jobs.

Fifteen permanent jobs? You realize what that means, right? That’s about $330,000 per job. Great investment?

“We only wish this was a joke,” Zero Hedge writes, summing up the sentiments of pretty much everyone who read the Examiner article.

Comments (135)

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  • ghostsouls
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:19pm

    Well why not, he funds so much other sh$%………….

    Report Post » ghostsouls  
    • CatB
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:49pm

      Shoud make this into an Obama campaign poster … for the R’s. ;-)

      Obama = cow manure

      Report Post »  
    • SgtB
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:05pm

      @ CatB,

      If only the R’s had come to their senses and put a decent candidate like Ron on the ticket, they wouldn’t need this crap smearing campaign poster.

      Report Post » SgtB  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:06pm

      But why pay for it when Obama produces an ample supply of B.S. every day for free?

      Report Post » Gonzo  
    • CatB
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:24pm

      OMG 2012

      baby steps .. it is easier to put in true conservatives at the local and state level .. working our way back … the progessives spent 100 years taking the country down .. we can’t bring it back in 1 or 2 elections.

      Report Post »  
    • Hollywood
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:41pm

      At least the cowchips can be used for fuel for cooking, or in a cowchip chucking contest. Bet they could go farther than a Chevy Volt on a cold day

      Report Post » Hollywood  
    • troymac20
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:01pm

      Gonzo you beat me too it. All he’s gotta do is open his mouth and B.S. just flies right out.

      Report Post » troymac20  
    • PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:14pm

      $5 million for 15 jobs. Probably for immigrants…jobs Americans won’t do? Barry S = BS. He’s buried in tons of it. Now not only are we subject to listen to it now ….grab a shovel too? I Will not Comply.

      Report Post » PIGSWILLNEVERFLY  
    • USAMEDIC3008
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:15pm

      we have to pay for the $#!T in the White house
      and now this too.

      Report Post » USAMEDIC3008  
    • Blackhawk1
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:47pm

      Wait until the nearby residents complain of the smell and they have to shut it down, or some environmentalists says it’s polluting the air. I suppose the taxpayers will have to fund the environmental impact study. Another $5 mill Obama flushed down the bureaucratic hole.

      Report Post » Blackhawk1  
    • MCGIRV
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 4:19pm

      Hear,hear!

      Report Post » MCGIRV  
    • flrick
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 4:24pm

      Why don’t they save the money and use that big piece of shiit somebody left in the oval office.

      Report Post »  
    • lbyrd26
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 7:11pm

      When I first read the headline here, I thought the story was going to be about Obama funding his reannointment campaign with tax payer dollars.

      Report Post »  
    • PASSIONFORCHRIST
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 7:46pm

      Hey everyone THEY ARE ALREADY DOING IT, IN VERMONT! Two brothers did this to save their farm they bought a few years ago. There is literally no waste, everything is recycled and used. They run their farm and over 100 homes around the farm. The electric company is PAYING THEM for energy. NOW WE KNOW TWO IMPORTANT REASONS WHY THE GOVERNMENT IS BUYING UP FARM LAND! FOOD & ENERGY! THEY WANT TO BE THE ONLY CAPITALIST, US AS THE SLAVES!!! GOOGLE THIS!!

      Report Post »  
    • MAMMY_NUNN
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 8:25pm

      He needs it to use as a decoy to lure the flies away from the piehole that’s really spewing the manure.

      Report Post »  
    • SLAPTHELEFT
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 9:44pm

      I’m calling BS on the stewardship of our tax dollars.

      In other news they created two shovel ready jobs for encinom and jzs. Congrats boys!

      Report Post » SLAPTHELEFT  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:10pm

      Do they even realize the toxic nature of the methane fumes created by the rotting cow manure? THEY MAY HAVE JUST INVENTED THE 21ST CENTURY GAS CHAMBER! I hope every employee has a good gas mask, or the 15 permanent jobs may be coming open several times a year in the least!

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:15pm

      @CatB
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:24pm

      OMG 2012

      baby steps .. it is easier to put in true conservatives at the local and state level .. working our way back … the progessives spent 100 years taking the country down .. we can’t bring it back in 1 or 2 elections
      ***
      I‘m thinking as certain as b o is out and A B O is safely ensconced in power that it’s time to do some serious talking about either replacing the Repub establishment or replacing the party with a Conservative party!

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
  • EqualJustice
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:18pm

    I thought they didn’t like CATTLE and were going to charge for COW “GAS” emissions? What a bunch of idiots.

    Report Post » EqualJustice  
    • RJJinGadsden
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 4:32pm

      Never be concerned with the product when it comes to 0bama’s involvement. It’s just another program to funnel money to cronies who will return a good percentage to his re-election campaign. In 0bama’s opinion, it is money well spent. The company will be bankrupt within 6 months.

      Report Post » RJJinGadsden  
  • SpeaknUp
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:17pm

    First of all, if you’re going to TALK about a feed lot, you ought to SHOW a feed lot and not some innocent grazing cow in a field… these are two entirely different pictures. Right now, nobody knows what to do with feed lot manure — it’s a big problem that ends up polluting the waterways. My solution would be to go back to grazing cattle in actual fields, but that’s not likely to happen in my lifetime. Because in farms where cattle eat renewable grass like they’re supposed to and the chickens follow them around and break up the manure patties (something they really love to do), there’s no manure problem. Lots of lush green grass (provided the farmer rotates the grazing) and happy cows (and healthy meat), but no manure problem. So if the feed lot industry can turn that nasty manure problem into energy, why not?

    On the other hand…if it really is a practical solution, then why do they need $5 million of our tax money to do it?

    Report Post » SpeaknUp  
    • JimL
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:24pm

      Check out a dairy farm a week or two prior to corn planting.

      Manure that has been stored is allocated by soil /crop/manure nutrient management (N & P & K) and best management practices.

      Report Post »  
    • jhrusky
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:48pm

      You need to get your **** straight:
      Chickens do not follow around cows on grass-fed farms.
      Chickens follow cows that are being fed corn.

      Report Post » jhrusky  
    • kaydeebeau
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:54pm

      There in lies the rub – if it was so practical to do, the feed lots would have done it already to save money and increase profit margin. Since it can‘t be done without a subsidy it can’t be cost effective and another waste of money like everything else O spends my money on

      Report Post » kaydeebeau  
    • SgtB
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:10pm

      Cows weren’t bred to eat American grasses or corn. They were bred to eat grains from Europe. A much better idea is to replace our current beef stock with bison which were designed by nature to eat the grasses of the American plains. Bison don’t need supplements, vaccines, or attending nurses when they birth young, and they taste better IMHO with less fat than a equivalent amount of beef. Oh, and they have excellent hides for leather. So why do we still use cows?

      Report Post » SgtB  
    • HorseCrazy
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:42pm

      all of our local dairies plant trees along the river line to prevent the waste from entering the river. my state is trying to get rid of my beef cows. they are trying their best to get rid of all of us cattle folks and have succeeded in putting many out of business and using their land for wind farms. one of my ranches currently has its view destroyed by a disgusting awful ugly wasteful windfarm. I use all my manure for my crops I get really tired of the beef and dairy haters of america. farmers need a thanks for feeding everyones families not more garbage from folks who buy their beef at the store with no idea where it comes from or no concept of ag people or our ag communities.

      Report Post »  
    • Blackhawk1
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 4:43pm

      SgtB

      Because I don’t want to be the one to try and milk a Bison. Besides Europe had the mad cow disease thing going on not that long ago. Thanks to the idiot Europeans I can never donate blood because I was over there from 1988 to 1991.

      Report Post » Blackhawk1  
  • adayrider
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:15pm

    Where I come from (Ohio) we us it to fert the fields. What will we use to feed the plants?

    Report Post »  
  • FightingBear
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:15pm

    I find it very apropoe that Obama and his administration would invest in cow shlt. Everything that man has touched since taking office has turned to shlt.

    Report Post »  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:25pm

      @FightingBear
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:15pm

      I find it very apropoe that Obama and his administration would invest in cow shlt. Everything that man has touched since taking office has turned to shlt
      ***
      Is that ANYTHING like the imfamous “MIDAS TOUCH” in reverse?
      BLAZE! WE REALLY DO NEED A LIKE BUTTON ON THIS SITE!!!

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
  • Dde13
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:08pm

    Is this another attempt at “shovel ready”?

    Report Post »  
    • pammy2U
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:15pm

      lmao truth

      Report Post »  
    • Smokey_Bojangles
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:20pm

      With the left over cow poop the DOE can use it to refill what Obama and Chu have for brains.

      Report Post » Smokey_Bojangles  
    • 83plus
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:26pm

      It‘s probably the most ’shovel ready’ job so far, workers just have to start scooping the stuff.

      Report Post »  
  • Sirfoldallot
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:54pm

    Another fertal investment.

    Report Post » Sirfoldallot  
    • jkjk
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:08pm

      They should now dump all the crap into the oval office while goofy’s having a meeting. Oh wait, this guy doesn’t meet! Dump it on him as he golf’s like a girl.

      Report Post » jkjk  
    • disastros
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:49pm

      Can anybody stop this guy i don’t have any more money?

      Report Post » disastros  
  • Wyatt's Torch
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:53pm

    I wonder how long until the cows file for bankruptcy and give their bovine CEOs a bonus?

    Report Post » Wyatt's Torch  
  • possom
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:52pm

    15 job’s = 1 person to supervise and 14 to shovel it.

    Report Post » possom  
    • 83plus
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:06pm

      Well, it is a ‘shovel ready’ project.

      Report Post »  
    • JimL
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:13pm

      Ratio is inverted: 14 to process grants and attend free lunches and 1 to shovel (1 operator).

      Report Post »  
    • RamonPreston
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:01pm

      Sorry. 15 supervisors and 1 worker

      Report Post » RamonPreston  
    • Madmilo
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 4:25pm

      You got that backwards. 14 to supervise and 1 to shovel.

      Report Post » Madmilo  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:29pm

      i wondered what they intended to do with biden after the election!

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
  • airportengineer
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:52pm

    Let me get this straight…Taxpayers will pay $5million to heat ETHANOL!
    Ethanol is already subsidized!! We are now going to pay to Subsidize the Subsidized??
    We should get the Nobel Prize for Most Insane Country!

    Report Post » airportengineer  
    • OhSuzieQ
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:56pm

      What the hell???!

      Report Post » OhSuzieQ  
    • oldguy49
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:57pm

      didn’t they use pig crap in beyond thunderdome

      Report Post »  
    • HorseCrazy
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:44pm

      yes I love that post. I am sick of this manure pun intended. Its better pay to grow ethanol corn as opposed to feed corn and now the cows they are doing everything to outlaw are going to be used for this instead of fertilizer? great wait for those costs to go up

      Report Post »  
  • 83plus
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:51pm

    Really, I thought the bull version was better. I guess it was too similar to what the plan is here.

    Report Post »  
  • airportengineer
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:48pm

    Let me get this straight?! We are going to pay $5 million to heat ETHANOL?
    We are already subsidizing Ethanol, and now we are Subsidizing the Subsidized?

    Report Post » airportengineer  
    • HKS
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:51pm

      Is this a great country or what, subsidizing the subsidized.

      Report Post » HKS  
    • TomFerrari
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:58pm

      We could probably get that much heat by burning the printed copies of obamacare!
      Not to mention the mountains of paperwork that will be required of government run healthcare.

      Report Post » TomFerrari  
  • IMCHRISTIAN
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:48pm

    Nothing like breaking a Country in money and spirit before he gets kicked out of office. Maybe he can get job cleaning out the residue on this farm when he retires.

    Report Post »  
  • christos
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:47pm

    That is all they will have left once we are Raptured out,,,is a load of CRP. just a reflection of who they are.

    Report Post » christos  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:47pm

    No suprise there, if they utilized all the hot air generated by DC they could power the nation. This is just one more example of pure waste on behalf of our ever growing more tyrannical government.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • HKS
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:42pm

    Wow, were back to burning chips for fuel, can‘t say this administration hasn’t done it’s part to move us backwards a couple of hundred years on all the fronts. Now that takes some talent.

    Report Post » HKS  
  • justangry
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:41pm

    That reminds me. I need to get a truck bed full of some horse waste for the flower beds.

    Report Post » justangry  
    • txn4justice
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:47pm

      You gotta watch out for them cow farts!

      Report Post »  
    • TomFerrari
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:53pm

      I’ll sell it to you half price!
      Only$1,000,000.00
      Where can you beat that???

      What I want to know is, once michelle has us all eating tofu instead of BEEF,
      where are they going to get the BS?!?!

      Report Post » TomFerrari  
  • HKS
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:40pm

    With their track record, $333,000 in cost per job is quite an improvement. The real trick is making it last for more than a year or so.

    Report Post » HKS  
  • elosogrande
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:39pm

    Fifteen permanent jobs? How many of the jobs are really necessary? Fifteen people to run an operation used to heat an ethanol plant seems like a lot. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just have the local gas provider run a pipe to the furnace in the plant and heat it that way. Forbget that the jobs cost $333,000.00 each. There will be fifteen PERMANENT EMPLOYEES operating a special plant to provide fuel for this operationat a PERMENENT, CONTINUING COST of $750,000.00/year or more – PERMENENTLY, rather than having no employees providing fuel to heat the plant, other than the guy who opens the gas valve once a year each fall.

    I smell something, but it isn’t cow manure. I think I smell something fishy.

    Report Post »  
  • monkeyoffmyback
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:39pm

    Another O’-lympdyck Cover-up!

    News Flash !……………Tons of manure found in and around prez and !st mamma’s boudoir —-Though, No contraceptive were found—————News Flash !

    “Everything is done by hand in there”, quoted a White House source.

    Report Post » monkeyoffmyback  
  • StormRider
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:38pm

    Okay for you DOE genuises. How does the manure get to the plant? I think it will be trucked there. Anybody want to bet, the trucks use more energy than the boondoggle produces?

    Report Post » StormRider  
    • CatB
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:20pm

      But of course .. it is the ‘thought” that counts .. not the outcome … we have seen that with our short bus President Obama

      Report Post »  
    • RJJinGadsden
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 4:44pm

      Neither apply. It is a cronie front to funnel campaign funds back to 0bama. The company will be bankrupt, gone, and forgotten a few months before the election.

      Report Post » RJJinGadsden  
  • MiCurmudgeon
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:37pm

    If they could capture the crap and hot air from this administration we would be energy independent.

    Report Post »  
  • Tri-ox
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:32pm

    obama = load of crap

    Report Post » Tri-ox  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:31pm

    You do realize, that when Obama was an Illinois senator, he was upside down in his condo and virtually bankrupt….. Explains a lot !

    Report Post »  
    • txn4justice
      Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:34pm

      Nah, can’t be true! Really, he is doing such a great job!

      Report Post »  
  • txn4justice
    Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:28pm

    Sounds like a load of……..

    Report Post »  
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