With the groundbreaking of the wind farm in Boone County Wednesday, Nebraska is positioning itself to be one of the nation’s leading alternative, renewable energy producers.

A psychological lift  was given to Nebraska’s efforts to be a national renewable energy leader on Wednesday when the Environmental Protection Agency rated a draft environmental impact statement for the pipeline as “inadequate,” its lowest rating, according to an article in the Omaha World Herald.

According to the story, in a letter, Carolyn Giles, the EPA assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, said the statement should be revised to address several concerns.

Among the concerns is the potential for harm to the Ogallala Aquifer, which underlies the Sand Hills and provides drinking water for almost 80 percent of Nebraskans.

The pipeline, 36 inches in diameter, would more than double the capacity for shipping tar-sand oil to the United States.

The EPA said possible conflicts between the pipeline and the Niobrara River’s status as a national scenic river also need further analysis.

In general, the agency said, the draft statement was inadequate in addressing these points:

* The purpose and need for the project.

* Potential greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project.

* Air pollutant emissions at the receiving refineries.

* The pipeline’s safety and spill response.

* Potential impacts to minority communities, wetlands and migratory birds.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has expressed concerns to the State Department about the safety and environmental effects of the pipeline.

The psychological boost by stopping this pipeline is it emphasize the need for renewable energy more. The more we wean our economy off a  near dependence on fossil fuels, the better the incentive to replace that energy with alternative and renewable sources. A cold turkey approach would be disastrous.

 Ethanol, biodiesel, wind, solar and other alternative and renewable forms of energy will prosper better in an era where we begin to become more dependent on these types of energy. Not total dependence, but building the needed infrastructure to increase these altnerative and renewable energy viability as dependable energy resources that adds to a diversified mix of energy resources.

Through conservation and diversification of the nation’s energy resources, we will still depend on fossil fuels, but at a far lesser degree. Adding more fossil fuel sources into the mix, at a huge environmental costs, is just not the right strategy at this time to pursue.

Along with taking a hard look at the necessity of expanding fossil resources, the EPA needs to quickly approve the 15 percent blend of ethanol in gasoline. But let’s not stop there. What’s stopping every car produced in the United States from being able to run on 85 percent ethanol or 100 percent ethanol, like in Brazil.

This could be a huge boost, not so much for farmers, but it will trigger a technological aftermath of new innovation that will allow renewables to become an even bigger part of the America’s energy mix. This will be one of those events that changes the direction of society. It won’t be overnight, but it will lead us down a path where going back to the old ways would be more costly and ineffective.

Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, said that iincreasing the use of ethanol in our cars will only benefit the country as it would create more than 136,000 new jobs in the U.S., reduce our dependence on foreign oil by 7 billion gallons, reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 10.5 million cars from the road, and revitalize our rural communities.