0kie88, (9/7/2009 6:00:37 AM)

Let's see...I am currently subsidizing corn farmers and ethanol refiners who make ethanol to put in gasoline. Not only does it get worse mileage, but the alcohol-tainted gasoline dissolves plastic parts and corrodes aluminum parts in the fuel system in my car. I have had to replace the fuel lines on my weed eater and chainsaw. I am driving 6 miles extra and paying a 20 cents per gallon premium to buy non-ethanol gasoline. Now I am reading that my U.S. Agriculture Department is spending my tax dollars to figure out a way to produce even more ethanol that I don't want. This government is out of control and it isn't getting better.

my view, Sand Springs (9/7/2009 6:56:59 AM)

Culled watermelons huh.

Depending on the amount of money paid; We could very well end up with a watermelon shortage along with higher prices for the fruit.

Eagle 4, Tulsa (9/7/2009 8:23:32 AM)

Will the seeds cause backfiring? Hey, this could be the cure for tailgating!

Four Sixteen Rigby, Tulsa (9/7/2009 8:56:59 AM)

Yeah, culled watermelons. Geez. Talk about selling snake oil. Slowly repeat after me:

"Ethanol. From. Food. Crops. Is. A. Bad. Bad. Idea."

The analysis here is not hard. Using food crops for fuel makes the cost of fuel and food both go up.

Do you suspect that maybe for some people that is a feature and not a bug?

golfwife, (9/7/2009 9:13:19 AM)

Slow news day.

oldrustytulsa, Tulsa (9/7/2009 9:59:32 AM)

Hemp is the better plant of convert to fuel, and Oklahoma has a larger Pot harvest than Wheat.

mayor_maynot, Tulsa (9/7/2009 10:42:56 AM)

That makes melons even sweeter mmmmmmmm. As for tailgating. It's a persistent event. The most notorious tailgaters are guess who. Yep you guessed it Cops. Failure to enforce. It's a law with no teeth because of the lack of enforcement. To protect and to serve WHAT yep you guessed it DONUTS.

okie ridgerunner, Small Country Town State Line (9/7/2009 12:54:52 PM)

The gas pumps may someday may say corn or watermelon.

Few Clothes, Austin, Texas (9/7/2009 12:57:41 PM)

They should be researching if they can turn poop into ethenol. People, animals, birds, and reptiles could fuel a lot of automobiles.

owen, Tulsa (9/7/2009 2:09:21 PM)

I hope they can keep the great smell of watermelons when they make the ethanol. That would be great to drive along smelling watermelon.

Norm, (9/8/2009 11:23:19 AM)

Or - a better idea is: we quit putting engine/mileage killing ethanol in our fuel altogether!

hardball, (9/8/2009 12:49:24 PM)

Wayne Fish, a chemist with the U.S. Agriculture Department's research service laboratory in Lane, has discovered that the sugars in the juice from cull or discarded watermelons can be turned into ethanol???

Wayne needs to discover something intelligent.