Recently I caught a video on either PBS’s Motorweek or cables “How It’s Made” or one of the similar shows showing how they were introducing a variety of green innovations into their product line. One of these innovative moves was in the use of soy based foam for use in the padding used in its seat cushions and dash assembly’s where they had been using petroleum based polyurethane. What gets me is do the people at Ford think this is something that’s new for the company. Do they even realize that their founding father, Henry Ford had used numerous eco- friendly concepts back in the 20’s and 30’s prior to the Marijuana Act of 1937?
Yes, Mr. Ford had developed processes for using different byproducts of the hemp plant for use in the vehicles that were made back then. He was using cloth made from the plants fibers in his seat cushions and cloth roof covers, he had developed a gasoline engine that could run on the ethanol that came from the plant and in 1941 he manufactured a plastic body that was used in the construction of the vehicles making them lighter for better fuel economy. And the body was 10 xs stronger than its counterparts and was impact resilient. (Federal Hemp Bank)
But thanks to industrialist’s like William Randolph Hearst and E.I. DuPont and financier’s like Andrew Mellon who at one time ran the U.S. Treasury these eco-friendly processes disappeared. Blocked by an era of industrialism that disallowed for the use of natural products only to be replaced by elements brought forth through the process of petroleum based carbons which we have now found to be hazardous to our health. As a country we developed a dependency on those petroleum byproducts and now we are paying the price. One thing we must look at is country’s that did not allow for total dependence on such products. For example, take a look a Germany during World War II, they had little petroleum base refining capabilities, yet they were the major force during the war. They fueled their war machine on ethanol power engines that were manufactured from a variety of natural based and easily sustainable plant based crops. Documentation that was captured during the war shows that the German nation could and would have been able to sustain themselves on the technology of the era. And when we gained control of that technology we inherently allowed our capitalistic business leaders to squelch that technology. But one thing that is odd is that since man learned of the fermentation process, and of making grain alcohol and its use as a fuel; certain entities have consistently tried to block its use as an alternative fuel source. It is only now that we as a race have began looking at the destruction that we have caused since we actually became “industrialized”. Our government needs to back down on some of the restrictions that it places on small business and allow them to develop the technology that will move America forward.
I, myself; along with many others believe that the growth and use of cannabis sativa should be allowed in a limited format. I don’t believe that it’s growth should be allowed for recreational usage, but as a medicinal it has its advantages. And as a product used in the industrial and agricultural sector it also has certain advantages. Plastics can be made from its oils that would be bio-degradable, the pulp and fibers derived from the stalk of the plant can be used to make paper and clothed based material goods, the seed can be used to feed live stock, much less alone, the fact that it like all other plant live be transformed into ethanol as an alternative fuel. The main issue is that as a plant it takes less time and fewer nutrients than most plant based material to develop and harvest.
Second, while it takes only a few months compared to hundreds of years for the same plant life to breakdown and become crude petroleum why wouldn’t we be better off seeing it as a natural material that cannot harm the planet like petroleum based products.
If we look at things in a real since, petroleum or crude oil is the final waste product in natures own system and is nature’s own means of gathering its waste in centralized areas which often has its problems when it comes to extracting this valuable resource from within the planets inner core. So why shouldn’t we use a material that is cleaner and easier to obtain than crude oil.
