HOWARD, Ohio — Energy and finding new sources of energy for Ohio are key issues for U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, (D-Ohio). Strickland, who currently represents Ohio’s largest district with 631,000 residents, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, is a candidate for governor in 2006.

Strickland, the son of a steel worker, told members of the Knox/Licking Ohio Farmers’ Union that he is proud of the fact that he is one of a hand full of members of the house of representatives who has ploughed with a team of horses and milked a cow by hand, on the family’s 16-acre farm. Knox County dairy producers Dale and Duane Grassbaugh hosted the meeting.

“Agriculture is both a business and a science,” Strickland said. “In order to be successful, you have to know about the economics of agriculture.”

Strickland said the United States has a tremendous thirst for energy, but at the same time, we are much too dependent on foreign oil. Agriculture, he contends, is at a disadvantage compared to other sectors, but at the same time, it also opens up a host of opportunities to find alternative sources of energy.

“Ohio is probably the third largest ethanol user in the country, but there are no plants here in the state,” he said. “I would like to see Ohio become a leader in solving the ethanol issue. Ohio has the capacity to grow corn and expand the use of ethanol.”

Ethanol is going to be a concern because the use of an additive called MTBE has been banned, according to Strickland. This not only benefits agriculture, but it will help the environment; it uses a renewable resource, and it will reduce the country’s dependency on foreign oil.

Other energy sources such as wind power, solar power, coal and even nuclear energy could also prove to be feasible, according to Strickland.

“It makes sense to use coal as a source of energy,” he said. “The problem is that high sulfur coal contributes to global warming and increases the amount of carbon in the environment. We need to develop ways to make coal compatible with the environment.” Strickland said the country needs to have the broadest possible portfolio of energy sources available.

“We need to continue to do research on energy sources,” he said. “There are a lot of things that we can do to meet our energy needs rather than buy from the Middle East.”

Strickland also discussed the veteran’s issues, country of origin labeling, CAFTA and the country’s deficit.

“We need to do a better job of protecting domestic farmers by requiring the labeling of food products brought into this country,” he said. “In many cases, people don’t even know where their food comes from. Consumers have a right to know, if they are given the choice, they will make better choices. This is not protectionism, this is consumer information.”

Strickland said that he is concerned that veterans are being short changed on their health care when they return from serving with the armed forces overseas.

He said that in addition to visible injuries such as the loss of a limb or broken bones, one in five veterans show signs of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

He believes that there is a disconnection between what being said by the administration and what is being done to support the veterans.

“The budget for the new fiscal year is three billion dollars short of what is needed to provide adequate care for veterans,” he said. “A lot of Americans don’t understand this. They need to contact the veterans groups to have them lobby to change this."

Strickland said that he was disappointed with the passage of CAFTA.

“It passed with only a two vote margin and as a result, jobs are being sent out of the country and workers are being exploited,” he said. “The only ones who will benefit will be the multi-national companies who don’t care about the American farmer or worker.”

He contends that the American people are losing a sense of security as things that they could depend on during their working lives are going away.

“We can’t go much further down the road before we pass the point of no return,” he said. “Most Americans are struggling to meet the basic standard of living, if we don’t reverse the trend, we will continue to see the middle class diminish. The character of the country will be changed forever. The children of the future will inherit a country with a tremendous amount of debt. We are living irresponsibly as a country, we are not planning ahead.”

Strickland said that the deficit is getting bigger as the congress approves borrowing money that it can’t pay back, as public education is under funded and health care diminishes. On the plus side, according to Strickland, the rural communities haven’t lost their sense of connection that some areas have, which in turn has contributed to an “every man for himself” mentality.

“We need to take personal responsibility not only for ourselves, but for our neighbors and the country as a whole,” he said. “If we value agriculture, we should look for unique ways to enhance agriculture.”

Strickland shares many of the concerns of Ohio Farmers’ Union, including biofuels, international trade and education, according to Joe Logan, president of the organization.

Logan explained that Farmers Union is a national, nonpartisan, grassroots organization, with the goal of generating value for commodities and creating viable rural areas.

“We have dramatically different views on important agricultural issues than other organizations,” he said. “All of our policies are grass roots driven.”

“We see a great deal of potential for the future,” Logan said. “But we think that the processing facilities for ethanol or wind power need to be decentralized and located around the state so that the local community benefits. That is the key to revitalizing the rural areas. The state and national Farmers’ Union leadership is committed to that.”

Logan added that while the United States is in a global market place, the rules that govern trade needs to be respectful of local society.

“American trade negotiators need to make decisions that help manufacturers and producers be successful,” he said.

Logan added that it is essential for all entities to keep in mind the importance of the local food production system.

“We are sitting in a very productive area,” he said. “We need to revitalize the local markets so that we are able to generate as much value as possible for local producers.”

In the area of education and school funding, Logan said that farmers’ union proposes that moneys collected across the state be pooled and redistributed equally to all districts.

“Education is essential,” he said. “”Public education is not well funded or managed. This is a priority to keep local communities viable.”

Ohio Farmers Union is also concerned about “factory farms”, according to Logan.

“We have asked the state for a moratorium on issuing additional permits for Confined Animal Feeding Operations until the state has conducted an impact study on how this operations affect the environment and the use of tax dollars in the community.