Camelina hits the big time: oil's well that ends well

Camelina is not a rock singer, not even a drunken celebrity. She's a one-name hottie that has some old men tittering in the halls of Congress and chuckling over lite beers in some western American states. She is one of the hottest little oil seeds in the crowded fields of the biodiesel "revolution." And she's hit the big-time. Or at least she gets a name-check.

Along with huge sudsidies for corn, soybreans, cotton and their friends, the U.S. Senate is now proposing to add camelina to the short-list of favored and subsidized crops in America.

If you have European ancestors, it's likely that about 3500 years ago they were growing or eating humble camelina's seeds. Good for you, too. Not just your diesel vehicle.

The proposed camelina sudsidy is only a million dollars, but it's got lots of vocal support thousands of miles from Washington D.C. A humble start is all those cameliniacs desire. Here's one typical newspaper piece from Montana. So Iowa may get the first presidential caucuses and gazillions in corn subsidies, but now Montana anticipates a bit of camelina cash.