GOP Congressman: There Are 40 Barrels Of Oil In Every Tree

Idaho Congressman Bill Sali has been participating in the current GOP Cuddle Party For Oil. But no one will listen to him even though he knows everything! In fact, he could solve the entire energy crisis in one hot minute if people paid any damn attention, because he knows that there "could be up to 40 barrels of oil" in a single tree. Ha ha, look at what you've really been hugging all these years, you filthy liberal hippies: a filthy casket of crude oil. Unless somehow Sali doesn't know what he's talking about?

Here's a bit from Idaho state rep. Byron Yankey's "blog," reporting on a conversation he had with Sali:

Congressman Sali informed us that a solution to the high price of gasoline was to make petroleum from "all those trees in our forests." Stunned by the comment, I suffered a momentary regret for not taking that high school chemistry class those many years ago. He continued by saying there '"could be up to 40 barrels of oil " in a single tree.

 Think Progress notes that Sali was probably referring to cellulosic ethanol, which is "derived from the stalks and stems of plants." Maybe he was using crude oil as a metaphor for the vials or crack or whatever that cellulosic ethanol would come in. But maybe he's an idiot, too? In 2006:  

“Forty percent of the mass of every tree in the forest is crude oil,” he said. Going after that, he said, “could put Idaho in the oil business for the first time.”

This is the perfect way to develop clean, responsible alternative energies: chop down as many trees as possible. If the choice is between oxygen or oil, you know where America stands.

 Rep. Sali: 'There Could Be Up To 40 Barrels Of Oil In A Single Tree" [Think Progress]