A Look at Rep Jerry Weller (R-IL)
To Rep Jerry Weller , all we have to say is what are you talking about? You point to a study about your local area that describes the daily commute as one of the worst in the country. Somehow you connect this to a growing ‘biofuels’ industry that gives ‘hope’ to commuters. If you believe that the gridlock greatly increases fuel consumption, we would like to point out that consumers choices over the years on what they drive and how much they drive has much more to do with fuel consumption than gridlock. The city/highway mpg ratings have been suspect for years. But even if you trust them, perhaps a loss on that 30 minute drive is at most 25%.
Point is Jerry, the discretionary driving and a nation of SUV’s and other higher fuel consumption vehicles has much 
more to do with our energy problems than a half hour commute each work day. And your follow up connection to a 2005 energy bill that became law has little in it to cause excitement. Who are you trying to impress?
If you investigate further, you will find much to be concerned about in terms of alternative fuel choices. For instance, your praise of E85 ethanol or any other corn substitute we have seen consumes more energy to produce than the energy you get out of it. There is also concern about raising other costs by diverting more corn to fuel production. The list goes on and the only real benefit we see is to those involved in a new industry, not the consumer or anything related to energy independence.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com
Rising Biofuels Industry Gives Commuters Hope (Rep. Jerry Weller)
May 9th, 2007 There’s a new study found in the recent edition of U.S. News and World Report that shows Americans are spending more and more time on the road to get to work. People in Will County, Illinois, in my district, have among the longest commutes in the nation. All of this puts the issue of gas prices into sharper focus, because increasing travel times and increasing fuel costs are a bad combination –- for consumers’ pocketbooks, and for the environment.
But we’ve seen a ray of hope as a result of our 2005 energy bill.