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 SUNDAY PROMOReturn to index of stories... |
Hear the story of five brothers from Claremont who fought in World War Two. What it was really like in battle during World War Two. |
| MON @ 7:30 Promo Return to index of stories... |
The stories of two New Hampshire World War Two veterans. One with haunting memories of life as a POW. Another remembers the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp. The stories of two New Hampshire World War Two veterans-- Including one with haunting memories of life as POW. Plus, details of the Veterans History Project. The stories of two New Hampshire World War Two veterans-- Including one with haunting memories of life as prisoner of war. |
| NEXT PROMO!! Return to index of stories... |
New Hampshire's World War Two stories continue. Hear from a veteran with haunting memories of life as a POW. Next. With more World War Two stories, including a local vet who remembers life as a POW, next. |
| Show # 1438 Return to index of stories... |
1:00 over at 27:46 |
| Preshow #1 Brothers Return to index of stories... |
What it was really like in battle during World War Two. Hear the story of the brothers from Claremont who all fought for their country. |
| Preshow #2 shipyard Return to index of stories... |
Homefront memories from Portsmouth. Former Navy yard workers remember building the submarines that helped turn the tide of war. |
| Preshow #3 wright Return to index of stories... |
Growing up in World War Two America. Stories from the homefront. on display at New Hampshire's Wright Museum. |
| Hello/Intro Brothers Return to index of stories... |
It's been more than half a century since the end of World War Two. With each passing day its estimated some one-thousand veterans of that war die. Acclaimed filmmaker and Walpole resident Ken Burns captured some of their stories in his new PBS documentary, "The War." Hello, I'm Beth Carroll. Welcome to this special edition of NH Outlook where we explore New Hampshire's war stories. I'm here at the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro. Later, we'll see how it preserves the history of World War Two. But we begin our program in Claremont with a family who made an extraordinary commitment during the second World War. As Outlook's Phil Vaughn shows us the Zullos family sent five of their sons into battle. |
| War Brothers Return to index of stories... |
War Brothers Script update Larry walking to war memorial - looking at names N1- Just across the street from Larry Zullo's Newport home is a reminder of yesterday's lost soldiers and today's.. Larry is a war veteran -- a WWII Marine who refuses to forget. Dissolve to Larry walking through cemetery Larry 4323 "When a veteran dies in the Newport area, I gather the guys together and give the person a real military funeral." N2- Several years ago, Larry and his guys helped bury an old soldier named James Wright. Larry 4322 "He served in WWI. He served in France and it was important that we gave him a military funeral. His family really appreciated it." Shot of grave site Fade to black Shot going in to house and greeting people. N3- This evening, like every Thursday evening, Larry goes out for dinner. He's with three of his brothers at the home where they were born. Larry 3040 "If we didn't get together every Thursday, we'd probably see each other once or twice a year." N4- This house on Belding Street in Claremont is where Larry's parents lived. They moved from Italy and raised a family here. Rocco 2630 "My parents had 14 kids - 2 died so we ended up with six boys and six girls." N5- In the late 1930s, Claremont was a busy town building its economy. It was a very different world from Asia and Europe where people lived in the dawn of war. It was at that time when Mr. and Mrs. Zullo received a request from Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. Larry 3445 "There was a letter from Mussolini to my dad, to move him back to Italy, for free. My father wouldn't go, he said he wants my sons for his army, he said no sir if they are going to fight, they are going to fight for America." Shot of boys in uniform N6- Five of the Zullo boys got that chance. Larry 1940 "I felt sad, I felt bad cause I was leaving, I left the street here and looked up the street and said this is the last time I'll see this street. I'm going off to war I figured I wasn't going to come back." N7- None of the boys really knew what they were about to face. Rocco 3450 "I was a single man then and gun-ho." Footage of USS Hancock N8- Larry was aboard the USS Hancock. He was 19 years old and at sea off the coast of Japan. Larry 3538 "You know I kept saying, I'm going into combat, I'm going to kill as many of those guys before they kill me because I felt your chances of surviving are almost zero." N9- His first mission was to destroy Japanese airfields on the island of Formosa, now known as Taiwan. It was a successful strike, which drew retaliation. Larry 3630 "Late at night the Japanese are coming at us with biddy bombers. They came over the fleet and dropped flares and it was like daylight and this is my first combat mission and I'm telling you I was so scared my teeth were chattering. The guns in the task group are firing like crazy, the guns on the port side firing like crazy, and I'm on the starboard side listening to all the action." N10- By morning, Larry's first taste of war was over. The Hancock sailed away shaken but unscathed. Fade to black Battle of Bulge footage N11- Fred Zullo was in Belgium, along the German border. One of the war's deadliest battles was underway. Fred 2947 "I was a tool maker in a shop and got deferred. I had four brothers in the service so I quit my job and was drafted." Sound of battle Larry 3030 "They sent him to the army and he ended up in the Battle of the Bulge." Fred 3155 "We made a drive at night. And when we got to the pill box the Germans were down at the end of the field. They opened up on us with machine guns. It was about one in the morning. I was hit in the leg and hip and a mine knocked me out." Larry 3050 "He didn't tell you but his division was wiped out. The Germans knocked the hell out of him." Larry 5200 Phil - HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT HAVING SO MANY BROTHERS FIGHTING IN DIFFERENT AREAS AND NOT KNOWING? I'd get letters from them now and then, the one I felt bad for was my mother and father, how'd you like to have that many sons in the armed forces?" Shots of church N12- Around the corner from the family home, Mrs. Zullo found sanctuary. Everyday she prayed for the safe return of her sons. Rocco 2735 "She had a candle for each of us and if any one of us was wounded, she knew it." N13- Rocco put his amateur boxing career on hold and enlisted in the Marines. His Company was the first to land at Guadalcanal. Rocco 933 Phil - "What was the fighting like? Vicous. They took no prisoners and we took no prisoners. The Japanese used to cruise up and down the island and shell the living daylights out of us." Footage of fighting Rocco 830 "Yes it was kind of scary. We knew that we couldn't lose that island because if we did we'd be killed or taken prisoner, we knew that so we were fighting to the last man and the kids from Texas were saying, 'Remember the Alamo!'" Larry 3000 "He was telling me one night he was shot up bad and a Jap crawled in to his foxhole and he had a knife his brother made when he was in the machine shop. He said he pinned that Jap to the ground." Rocco 1740 Phil - "Do you remember that? I don't want to remember that. I don't want remember things like that." Rocco 1903 Phil - "Do you remember the first time you killed an enemy soldier? Asking someone if they killed another person, I don't think anyone wants to answer that question." N14 - Larry witnessed death before his 20th birthday. While cruising the Pacific, Japanese suicide pilots - Kamikazes were at work and the USS Hancock was a large target. Larry 2030ish "When we got hit by the kamikaze I thought oh boy this is it. The plane came right up over the flight deck, the 40mm get about 2 or 3 rounds off and they came right over and they got a few shots at it, but it was too close. Oh it hit the deck, it dropped the bomb and hit the planes on the back of the ship. He accomplished his mission the whole ship was on fire. I had two sailors die right at my gun mount and they were screaming help me help me. I unbuckled myself to help them and the sergeant says get back in the gun we're under attack." Larry 4200 Phil - "WHAT WAS THAT LIKE EXPERIENCING YOUR FIRST WAR DEATH? Tears, that's all you can do. You say good bye to them and there's not a thing you can do. You say it could have been me, and when you see the bags floating on the ocean, oh my god, tear you to pieces." Fade to black Street scenes of Claremont N15- By 1945, the Zullo brothers returned home to Claremont one by one. There was great relief but no celebrations. Larry 4700 "When I came back I was the only one to get off the train, there was nothing said, nothing to do." N16- The war took them as boys and returned them as men. Now, sixty years later, four brothers get together. Thursday nights have been put aside to share dinner, stories and thanks. Time, they know, is running out. Photo of Rocco's Marine company Rocco 3214 Phil "How often do you think of these guys? Often. Not as much now - I used to think of them quite frequently. I feel very fortunate to be here. All I can say is good thing for the young, American manhood." Shots/sound at dinner table Larry 5048 "That's my medicine for post traumatic stress. So for veterans to talk about their combat experiences - it helps a lot. Yes." N17- For NH Outlook, I'm Phil Vaughn. |
| Intro Shipyard Return to index of stories... |
The Wright Museum illustrates the war's impact on New Hampshire life. As you'll see in this next story, communities around the Portsmouth Navy Yard played a big part in the war effort. Submarine forces were critical to America's naval defense and the Navy Yard built more subs than any other facility. Outlook's Richard Ager introduces us to two shipyard workers who shared their memories of how New Hampshire's men and women worked together to win the war. |
| Tag Shipyard Return to index of stories... |
Though Percy Whitney returned to the shipyard, Eileen Dondero got married, and went on to become Eileen Foley, mayor of Portsmouth, just like her mother. |
| Intro Wright Return to index of stories... |
The Wright Museum pays tribute to the common experiences of the World War Two generation. It was founded by David Wright, the son of a World War Two vet, whose family summered here in the Lakes Region. The museum tells the story of the War from the frontlines to the homefront. And, through the eyes of museum volunteers we learn what it was like growing up in World War Two America. |
| Wright Museum Return to index of stories... |
Broke into broadcast and said Pearl harbor had been attacked. That common purpose and shared sacrifice are embodied in many of the exhibits at the Wright Museum. 1:30:29 When I first came in with my husband saw soda fountain. Just broke down I guess I was a wreck all the way thru…everything reminded me of my teenage years:51 I grew up during depression and you have tendency to come into museum …my mother had one of these, or grandmother had one of those 1:49:13 Wright- tape 1 Dodie: NATS: HI FOLKS A trip to the museum often evokes forgotten memories. well before I was drafted….during the 2nd ww.member of civil defense. artifacts and memorabilia: 1:15:47 these are samples of cd helmets. That is an example of the one that I wore ***** lightening bolt on it 1:15:58 SOT: Amazing a lot of vets won't talk about things until they get in like this and jog the memory and start talking to you about what happened to them and where they were. TRK4: Air raid drills were common -- and so were scrap metal drives. 1:45;40 there were no metal toys. made of wood etc.wasn't the same:51 1:45:54 what boy doesn't want a metal truck.and you couldn't get one. TRK5: Even cooking fat was saved. .that was to make nitroglycerin. Everyone supported our troops. By doing everything at home we were able to provide them the things they needed to fight the war, There were a lot of sacrifices. TRK6: Some …bigger than others. I had a friend in h.s. whose bros lost in airplane on Norway.he was one of the first killed in action, they never found his body TRK7: Families lived in fear of the blue star in their living room window turning gold. 11:02-:08 My brothers wife…her brother got killed in England 1:48:40- 1:49:17 I had my dad in the army air corps.he was a gun runner on a b-24 bomber…shot down over france and was taken prisoner…and 3 different camps he went to… 13 months as pow…did he talk about it… not for awhile …and I just listened : As members of the greatest generation pass on their taking their stories with them, umm I understand that a thousand WWII veterans die each day, that's a thousand stories that are lost to us. 53:41-50 My main purpose tonight is to tell you a story that might have been lost. TRK: Through its lecture series & exhibits the Wright Museum Seeks to preserves those stories. |
| Web/Goodbye Return to index of stories... |
Hearing from those who witnessed the war first hand, whether on the frontlines or on the homefront, is all part of NH Public Televisions War Stories Project. We hope the stories you heard today will inspire you to participate in the project. Just go to our website, nhptv.org where you can share "your" story, record the story of someone you know, or if you're a student participate in our "War Stories Student Documentary" project. You can also connect to national and local veterans resources. That does it for us here at the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro. I'm Beth Carroll. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time. |
| Tag Brothers Return to index of stories... |
Larry told us that several of his cousins, who were drafted into the Italian military, were captured during the war. They spent time as prisoners of war in North Carolina. |
| Web Promo Return to index of stories... |
VERSION ONE: Did you know that New Hampshire Outlook is available online on demand at nhptv.org? We've been streaming our broadcasts since the program premiered in September 2000. Whether you want to watch this show again, email it to a friend, search and watch past programs or get more information on thousands of stories and topics, you'll find it all at nhptv.org/outlook. VERSION TWO: Would you like to watch this show again? Maybe you want to email it to a friend? Are you looking for more information about our New Hampshire stories and interviews? You can do all that and more at nhptv.org/outlook. VERSION THREE: Would you like to watch this show again or email it to a friend? You can do all that and more at nhptv.org/outlook. |
| Intro Bataan Survivor Return to index of stories... |
INTRO: A former POW relates his journey to hell and back. |
| Tag Bataan Return to index of stories... |
TAG: Onfury said he'd never go back to the Phillipines. But in 2002 he did.retracing his steps on the Bataan death march. It took 40 years for Bill Onufry to be awarded the silver Cross --for gallantry in action. |
| Bataan Survivor Return to index of stories... |
The are things I drew so I wouldn't forget. This is where they dug their own graves and they shoot em. 85-year-old Bill Onufry was 18 when he enlisted in the Air Force. He wanted to be a pilot. Being stationed in the Philippines was a "choice" assignment - or, so he thought until Dec 7th 1941. Our battle cry is Japan's treachery…remember Pearl Harbor. we were attacked by Japanese about 6 hours after Pearl harbor The bombing came without Warning. Allied troops were unprepared for battle in the Philippines and within months -- ammunition, food and medicine ran out. They were sick. still fighting. Of couse, they couldn't fight anymore when there were 30 Japanese to one of us how are you going to fight? On april 9th 1942 -- Onufry's Commander ordered Allied forces to surrender to Japan. Soldiers, near starvation, were forced to march to a prison camp in scorching heat -- with no water. Those who fell behind… were executed. I was on the road for about 10 days I had stopped to help a few fellas that were in my outfit and tried to help them along a little bit. In fact there was one I had him lean on me while we walked. He finally quit. He gave up and said he couldn't go any further: I told him you gotta keep going…you know what will happen if you don't. He said I don't care…I can't go any more.and the Japanese guard came and jabbed me with his bayonet -- my friend from my outfit he just fell right there and the Japanese jabbed me to go on with the rest -- and I wasn't up road 300 feet and I heard 2 rifle shots so… we KNOW what happened to him. we lost more men on the march then we lost in the whole fighting time we were there:25 That was only the beginning. Those who survived the march - were herded into steel and wooden box cars, where many suffocated. If you got into one of the steel ones there were all metal hard to breathe put 125 men in each little box car --and so you couldn't get enuf air. Fortunately I was in a wooden one so I did get the air I needed the other ones in the steel cars by the time we got to where we were going with that train…we had to pull out some dead ones there then we had to march another 8- miles I guess it was to Camp O'Donnell which of course was a hell hole. Is this camp O'donnell. Yeah It was just a place that looked like if you stayed there very long you'd die 4:55:29 **** TAPE 1 Bill: 4:55:31-:39 there were thousands of men there and we had no water and no food no sanitary facilities. their idea of feeding us was 4 oz of rice a day:56 and, then of course some of the rice we got I couldn't eat it.i'd give it to somebody else they'd go wild over it I didn't like those little black eyes staring at me bus and worms in it. They told us if anybody tried to escape they'd take 9 others and shoot em any 9., walk by you you you. that stopped a lot of trying to escape. To get out -- Onufry volunteered for a work detail at Clark Field in the Philippines. He was there 2 years. When Navy bombers started coming in -- pow's were shipped out. I thought the death march was bad. This was worse to me it was worse. they marched us into a big hole in lower part of the ship. 600 men in forward hole, 600 men in the stern. started to get pretty hot, of course very little water in beginning, finally sent down some but some of the men in the corners didn't get it. Some of them needed water pretty badly…had idea next partner had some, some awful screaming in night and awful beatings and fighting…next day one of the chaplains on our ship -- says.check the man next to you to see if he's dead & some were. I buried a lot of people on that ship - just buried them at sea threw them over the fan tail This is where I used to throw them off the stern …just like that one after the other. Thousands would perish at sea. Had it not been for his boy scout training Bill says he might have been one of them. I was taught to take little stone and put it in mouth, roll it around when you get real thirsty.I'd take buttons off my shirt and that's what I'd do with them. Take a button roll it around my mouth while we were on the ship waiting and hoping for water but we didn't get any by time I got to end of that trip I didn't have any buttons left. Does it stave off thirst…it does -- it actually really does. Sometimes I can't believe I'm here. I thought it would be a miracle that would bring me home.nothing but a miracle It is a miracle -- hell I'm 85 years old. Onufry spent 3 ½ years in captivity before being liberated when the Japanese surrendered. this is letter from Harry Truman. welcome back to native shores. Like many returning solders Bill would marry his hometown sweetheart & try to put his POW years behind him. I felt personally myself that I let my country down.-- and done nothing. I was captured, it was kind of a shame to be a captive. So, that's the main reason most of us didn't talk about it I'm sure. I used to have a lump in my stomach so tight of anger It would take a trip to Japan 40 years later to ease the pain. When I landed in Japan -- you could see that old Mt Fugiami,.I had to cry a little. but then I saw school children in uniforms and it hit me those aren't the people I'm angry with…. something released just like that as far as anger is concerned. Today, Bill Onufry talks openly about his experience. . 1:40:59-:09 had we known what we would have to go thru to survive we might have stayed to the last man. Onufry also takes the Bataan death march story to the classroom. Onufry says those who died in service of their country deserve to be remembered. the ones I threw over at sea …who's got them who knows about them. I think its something that shouldn't just die out like it is. It's not part of our history …and it should be. |
| KEY: War / Veterans Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 5/25/2008 HOST: Beth Carroll Length: 10:00 What it was really like in battle during World War Two. Hear the story of the brothers from Claremont who all fought for their country. Homefront memories from Portsmouth. Former Navy yard workers remember building the submarines that helped turn the tide of war. Growing up in World War Two America. Stories from the homefront, on display at New Hampshire's Wright Museum. It's been more than half a century since the end of World War Two. With each passing day its estimated some one-thousand veterans of that war die. Hello, I'm Beth Carroll. Welcome to this special edition of NH Outlook where we explore New Hampshire's war stories. I'm here at the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro. Later, we'll see how it preserves the history of World War Two. But we begin our program in Claremont with a family who made an extraordinary commitment during the second World War. As Outlook's Phil Vaughn shows us the Zullos family sent five of their sons into battle. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Phil Vaughn NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Rocco Zullo\WWII Veteran, U.S. Marine Corps, Larry Zullo\WWII Veteran, U.S. Marine Corps, Fred Zullo\WWII Veteran, U.S. Army |
| KEY: History Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 5/25/2008 HOST: Beth Carroll Length: 10:00 What it was really like in battle during World War Two. Hear the story of the brothers from Claremont who all fought for their country. Homefront memories from Portsmouth. Former Navy yard workers remember building the submarines that helped turn the tide of war. Growing up in World War Two America. Stories from the homefront, on display at New Hampshire's Wright Museum. It's been more than half a century since the end of World War Two. With each passing day its estimated some one-thousand veterans of that war die. Hello, I'm Beth Carroll. Welcome to this special edition of NH Outlook where we explore New Hampshire's war stories. I'm here at the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro. Later, we'll see how it preserves the history of World War Two. But we begin our program in Claremont with a family who made an extraordinary commitment during the second World War. As Outlook's Phil Vaughn shows us the Zullos family sent five of their sons into battle. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Phil Vaughn NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Rocco Zullo\WWII Veteran, U.S. Marine Corps, Larry Zullo\WWII Veteran, U.S. Marine Corps, Fred Zullo\WWII Veteran, U.S. Army |
| KEY: War / Veterans Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 5/25/2008 HOST: Beth Carroll Length: 9:00 What it was really like in battle during World War Two. Hear the story of the brothers from Claremont who all fought for their country. Homefront memories from Portsmouth. Former Navy yard workers remember building the submarines that helped turn the tide of war. Growing up in World War Two America. Stories from the homefront, on display at New Hampshire's Wright Museum. It's been more than half a century since the end of World War Two. With each passing day its estimated some one-thousand veterans of that war die. Hello, I'm Beth Carroll. Welcome to this special edition of NH Outlook where we explore New Hampshire's war stories. I'm here at the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro. The Wright Museum illustrates the war's impact on New Hampshire life. As you'll see in this next story, communities around the Portsmouth Navy Yard played a big part in the war effort. Submarine forces were critical to America's naval defense and the Navy Yard built more subs than any other facility. Outlook's Richard Ager introduces us to two shipyard workers who shared their memories of how New Hampshire's men and women worked together to win the war. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Percy Whitney\Former Shipyard Worker, Eileen Foley\Former Shipyard Worker |
| KEY: History Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 5/25/2008 HOST: Beth Carroll Length: 9:00 What it was really like in battle during World War Two. Hear the story of the brothers from Claremont who all fought for their country. Homefront memories from Portsmouth. Former Navy yard workers remember building the submarines that helped turn the tide of war. Growing up in World War Two America. Stories from the homefront, on display at New Hampshire's Wright Museum. It's been more than half a century since the end of World War Two. With each passing day its estimated some one-thousand veterans of that war die. Hello, I'm Beth Carroll. Welcome to this special edition of NH Outlook where we explore New Hampshire's war stories. I'm here at the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro. The Wright Museum illustrates the war's impact on New Hampshire life. As you'll see in this next story, communities around the Portsmouth Navy Yard played a big part in the war effort. Submarine forces were critical to America's naval defense and the Navy Yard built more subs than any other facility. Outlook's Richard Ager introduces us to two shipyard workers who shared their memories of how New Hampshire's men and women worked together to win the war. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Percy Whitney\Former Shipyard Worker, Eileen Foley\Former Shipyard Worker |
| KEY: War / Veterans Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 5/25/2008 HOST: Beth Carroll Length: 7:30 What it was really like in battle during World War Two. Hear the story of the brothers from Claremont who all fought for their country. Homefront memories from Portsmouth. Former Navy yard workers remember building the submarines that helped turn the tide of war. Growing up in World War Two America. Stories from the homefront, on display at New Hampshire's Wright Museum. It's been more than half a century since the end of World War Two. With each passing day its estimated some one-thousand veterans of that war die. Hello, I'm Beth Carroll. Welcome to this special edition of NH Outlook where we explore New Hampshire's war stories. I'm here at the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro. The Wright Museum pays tribute to the common experiences of the World War Two generation. It was founded by David Wright, the son of a World War Two vet, whose family summered here in the Lakes Region. The museum tells the story of the War from the frontlines to the homefront. And, through the eyes of museum volunteers we learn what it was like growing up in World War Two America. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Beth Carroll NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Dolores Stephens\Museum Volunteer, Robert Roy\Museum Volunteer, James Ross \Museum Outreach Volunteer, Robert Foster\WWII Veteran, Wendell Harris\Museum Visitor, Mark Foynes\Executive Director, Wright Museum |
| food & fuel 1 Return to index of stories... |
Ethanol could fuel price hikes Posted Saturday, March 31st 2007, 4:00 AM An ethanol-fueled boom in prices will prompt American farmers to plant the most corn since the year the Allies invaded Normandy, but surging demand could mean consumers still might pay more for everything from chicken to cough syrup. Corn is a key ingredient in many foods, from corn syrup found in candies to feed used in meat production. With more corn being used for ethanol production, that could raise prices in other areas where corn is used. Farmers are expected to plant 90.5 million acres of corn, according to the Department of Agriculture's annual prospective plantings report released yesterday. That would be a 15% increase over 2006 and the most corn planted since 1944. The move to plant corn is in large part due to a rush to produce corn-based ethanol, which is blended with gasoline. The corn rush was sparked by President Bush's initiative for support of flexible-fuel vehicles and his administration's plan to cut gas consumption by 20% in 10 years. The Associated Press -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| West ethanol Return to index of stories... |
n New West Energy Grok ‘Ethanol Binge’ Hikes Corn Prices By Richard Martin, 3-23-07 Last week US BioEnergy had a ground-breaking ceremony at a new ethanol plant in Dyersville, Iowa, bringing to 78 the number of ethanol plants under construction, with 113 already operating. And that’s not good news for the ranchers and poultry farmers of the Rocky Mountain West. Amid the “ethaphoria” currently gripping agribusiness and certain parts of the nation’s capital, a growing chorus of voices is pointing out an unintended consequence on the reliance on corn and grains as the raw material for ethanol production: prices for feed fo livestock are rising, sending prices at grocery stores up as well. “This ethanol binge is insane,” Paul Hitch, president-elect of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assn., told BusinessWeek. Corn prices have doubled over the last year, reports the Earth Policy Institute, while wheat futures are trading at their highest level in 10 years. The diversion of corn to fuel ethanol uses “is creating unintended consequences throughout the global food chain,” a Bloomberg analysis finds – not to mention increased use of pesticides and fossil fuels to grow all that corn. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has slapped a 54-cents-per-gallon tarrif on ethanol from Brazil – which is grown from sugarcane. Wonder what’s going to happen to rum prices. In other energy news: -- In a man-bites-dog story, Xcel Energy has applied to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for an electricity rate decrease of $13.6 million thanks to lower costs of fuel, such as natural gas, and purchased electricity predicted for upcoming months. If approved by the PUC, the new rates would take effect April 1 and continue through June 30. Meanwhile, the Colo. attorney general has announced his support for HB 1208, which would alter the state’s Unfair Practices Act to allow big chain stores to offer big gas discounts. -- As Colo. Governor Bill Ritter’s legislative package to boost renewable energy, and increase oversight of the oil and gas industry in the state, moves closer to signing, Big Energy is faced with a dilemma: oppose the measures, and be seen as obstructionists and anti-environmentalists, or swallow hard and go along? So far the Colorado Petroleum Association is against House Bill 1341, which would reform the board of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, while oil giant BP—the state’s No. 1 natural gas producer—says it will take a wait-and-see approach. -- Earlier we reported that, despite the Bush Administration’s ambitious goals for technology to produce cellulosic ethanol from organic material other than corn, the research budget for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, which is leading the way on cellulosic science, had flatlined. That’s no longer the case: the Energy Department announced Friday that the NREL will get an additional $99 million in funding this year, a 47-percent jump. Comment By dukeco1, 3-23-07 Big Energy is not accustomed to going along. They are, in Colorado at least, accustomed to getting their way. They just need to sidle over and make room for all their chickens moving back in to the roost. Comment By Hal Herring, 3-23-07 Brazilian ethanol tariff shows the world that all our free market talk is just like all that talk about WMD. How much more credibility can we stand to lose? As we pump out the last aquifers to water the chem-corn.bust the last prairie for the GMO variety, importing as much oil as we can to drive those tractors that make the corn ethanol binge.keep those Wahabbis happy, don't you know, keep the money flowing to them as leaders pretend to "get off the product," wreck the land, keep the annuities for the families of the Islamic suicide bombers healthy, line some US pockets, and witness the end of the greatest nation on earth. Dang. Hal Boy, it ain't a pretty picture is it? Comment By Chris, 3-23-07 Not only that, but the plants that make the stuff are awful-smelling blights too. Last week I was working literally in the shadow of an ADM plant in Cedar Rapids, IA, that processes corn syrup from corn, and is in the process of building an ethanol plant. I don't know what was in the exhaust belching into the sky, but it sure smelled raunchy. I wouldn't wish that in anyone's backyard. Comment By pete geddes, 3-23-07 When we subsidize things that trade in the market, we benefit the well off and well organized at the expense of the most vulnerable members of society. This holds true whether in Bozeman, Boston, or Birmingham. Princeton Ph.D. George Will said it well: “The world is divided between those who do and do not understand that activist, interventionist, regulating, subsidizing government is generally a servant of the strong and entrenched against the weak and aspiring.” Comment By Francesco DeParis, 3-23-07 I think we should start supporting cellulosic ethanol in the same manner we support corn-based ethanol. There will come a point when corn prices are too high to consider this an economic alternative to petroleum. I comment about cellulosic ethanol onEnergy Spin: Alternative Energy Blog For Investors Served Daily Cheers, Francesco DeParis Comment By bearbait, 3-25-07 One result of NAFTA was that corn from USA was so cheap and available that it drove tens of thousands of small Mexican farmers off the land and to town to find work. Now that corn has doubled in price, tortillas have also doubled in price. The poorest in Mexico now have a harder time eating, and more incentive to move north. The end result, of course, is how much energy independence do you gain by having your country supporting another million or more illegal aliens in need of medical, financial, housing and education subsidy, all of which come with energy demands? Corn ethanol comes with costs, many of which are hidden. Again, a hero move supported by liberal midwestern politicians financed by MegaAg companies, comes with unintended consequences. The ones in Mexico have happened, and the ones here are on the conveyor belt to realization. Meat prices will have to rise, and we all will pay that price. Even the vegans will pay a higher price as soy beans are replaced by corn in the farm fields. Comment By cc, 3-26-07 That Xcel Energy news item relates to the monthly ECA which adjusts, up or down, for the commodity cost of natural gas feedstock, primarily. Thus, it is not that unusual to see a downward ECA result in an overall decrease in electrictiy rates for the following month. Incidentally, the same mechanism is found on the natural gas bills but it is called a GCA. Thus, this is not a "man bites dog" story, but something that occurs when natural gas prices decline. 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