When economic activity is guided by demand and the pursuit of profit, everything is forced to make sense; resources are allocated in the most efficient way possible. When economic activity is guided by political ideology and government coercion, everything is forced not to make sense; here’s what you get:

A cargo train filled with biofuels crossed the border between the U.S. and Canada 24 times between the 15th of June and the 28th of June, 2010; not once did it unload its cargo – yet it still earned millions of dollars for its owner, Bioversal.

How was this possible, you ask?

Each time the train crossed the border, its cargo earned the company Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), which are awarded by O’s Environmental Protection Agency to “promote and track production and importation of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.”

Only on Planet Obama.

In this particular case, Bioversal accumulated over 12 million RINs from the 24 trips, worth between 50 cents and $1 each, which it could then sell to oil companies that haven’t met the EPA’s renewable fuel requirements. Sounds like a reverse version of Al Gore’s “carbon offset” charade, doesn’t it?

Is it just me, or does this whole thing remind you of the unintended consequences of central planning under the former Soviet Union?

The decline of America continues, folks.

Categories: Energy, Green Energy, Liberal Lunacy, Obama's America, Oil and Gas, You Can't Make this Stuff up

Tags: Canada, Renewable fuels, Renewable Identification Numbers, United States, United States Environmental Protection Agency