Big Ethanol Strikes Back

Opposition to further federal subsidies to encourage the turning of food into fuel is growing. Now the corn ethanol industry and farmers lobby are fighting to keep every penny they drain from the taxpayers' pockets. The ethanol lobbying group, Growth Energy, is rolling out a 12-week $2.5 million national TV ad campaign that aims to persuade policymakers and the public to continue lavishing subsidies on the industry. Some pro-ethanol ad tag lines read:

 -"No beaches have been closed due to ethanol spills. America's clean fuel."

-"Ethanol has not shipped a single job overseas. America's economic fuel."

-"No soldiers have been deployed to defend our ethanol reserves. America's independent fuel."

-"No wars have ever been fought over ethanol. America's peace fuel."

-"We won't have to wait millions of years to replenish our ethanol reserves. America's renewable fuel."

-"Ethanol has contributed $0 to the governments of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. America's sensible fuel."

May I suggest some alternative tag lines which might read:

-"No carbon dioxide emissions have been cut due to ethanol subsidies. America's greenhouse fuel."

-"Ethanol tax subsidies increase unemployment by reducing consumers' incomes. America's job killing fuel."

-"Police have been deployed to put down ethanol caused food riots. America's starvation fuel."

-"Food trade wars have broken out over ethanol caused food price spikes. America's protectionist fuel."

-"We have to wait more than 100 years to pay off ethanol's carbon debt. America's global warming fuel."

-"Ethanol has contributed $0 in taxes to the federal government. America's tax subsidized fuel."

Of course, we at Reason were opposed to corn ethanol subsidies -"Congress Gets Drunk on Ethanol" - long before it was popular to be against them.

Comments

[STOP SHILLING FOR HFCS]

EOM

[GILMORE]

OK, one down.

Now how about some DISCLOSURES??

[GILMORE]

OK, one down.

Now how about some DISCLOSURES??

[Organic Girl]

Yes, HFCS is a substance developed by Archer Daniels Midland to make people addicted to soda pop. And it worked! HFCS gives people a "high" that is different than regular sugar and makes it specially addictive for people who are susceptible to that sort of thing. It's just like the tobacco companies and nicotine. And now we see the corn industry trying to suppress medical evidence of that hazards of HFCS, just like tobacco!

Personally, we only use organic honey or cane sugar (if we are really desperate). But the honey is threatened by the contamination from all the GMO corn in the area, which is killing the bees and getting GMO pollen mixed in.

[Bullshit detector]

But the honey is threatened by the contamination from all the GMO corn in the area, which is killing the bees and getting GMO pollen mixed in.

*ding* *ding* *ding*

[DanD]

Re: Your whole goddamn post

*citation

fucking

needed*

[Organic Girl]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/i.....p;aid=8436

The proof is obvious that one of the major reasons of the bees' decline is by the ingestion of GMO proteins. This is problematic, as there is such an increase of indigestible foods in humans and bees. The situation of colon cancer in humans is somewhat similar in occurrence. This is only a theory but leaves one to wonder what are we eating en mass. The external or complementary good of the bee is obviously a rise for a global concern. The long-term economical and environmental impact has yet to be completely understood.

The Ecological Impact of horizontal gene transfer and increase of rampant disease is not fully examined and if so, is kept silent by these Conglomerates. The Economic impact of the bee colony collapse would mean inflation, scarcity of agricultural commodities, and ultimately the collapse of North American agriculture.

The Environmental Impact of scarcity and increased demand for resources, will beyond doubt have severe repercussions for our long-term food security. The bio-diversity of the bees causes positive economic and ecological externalities. The negative externalities have yet to be fully grasped or understood.

[JW]

Now, THIS, this is some A+ trolling.

All of our D- trolls, watch how it's done.

[Organic Girl]

If you will read the entire article you will see that it is not trolling but is in fact a well researched and unbiased scholarly article.

They even discount the possibility that the bee deaths may be cause by cell phone radiation. (Which I am not too sure should be entirely ignored!)

Really, though, you people will only believe the corporate propaganda put out by the mainstream media.

[JW]

Yer killin' me.

[oncogenesis]

Really, though, you people will only believe the corporate propaganda put out by the mainstream media.

Then why bother? Just move along.

[Marc]

If you will read the entire article you will see that it is not trolling but is in fact a well researched and unbiased scholarly article.

Now I know you're kidding.

[GILMORE]

Organic Girl|4.14.10 @ 2:45PM|#
If you will read the entire article you will see that it is not trolling but is in fact a well researched and unbiased scholarly article.

Uh, in terms of "research" the author couldn't even SPELL "wikipedia"

e.g.

References:

Thill, John. Colony Collapse: Do Massive Bee Die-Off Mean an End to Our Food System as We Know it? AlterNet

http://www.alternet.org/module (Accessed 7/9/2007 10:06 PM)

Colony Collapse Disorder: Wikkapedia Encyclopedia Online

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Colony Collapse Disorder'

(Accessed July 12, 2007)

A few web articles and some cherry picked partisan speculation does not "research" make. It's "make believe" rhetoric where you find things that sort of already fit your preconceived point.

[Cunctator]

Sucrose (Sugar) 50% fructose.

HFCS55 (type most commonly used in drinks, etc.) 55% fructose. Actually things like baked goods use HFCS 42-42& fructose

Honey (avg) 52% fructose

Honey avg 52% fructose-

[Cunctator]

HFCS42 42% fructose

[J sub D]

Electronic clamoring for a place at the public teat.

It's nothing new but always worth calling out.

[John Thacker]

Opposition to further federal subsidies to encourage the turning of food into fuel is growing.

Yeah, but no one opposed to the subsidies would actually vote on the basis of it. Whereas plenty of people who live off the subsidies absolutely will base their vote on it.

Come on, just try to imagine someone saying, "I generally agree with Obama on healthcare and the war, but I'm going to vote for McCain because I'm just that much against ethanol, it's my number one issue."

[GILMORE]

Another angle is that, while Greenies have come to realize that Ethanol is a boondoggle, it is a boondoggle that is one of their own making - at least structurally. Its an example of the government stepping in and creating an artificial market. WHICH THEY LIKE THE IDEA OF. While most will agree the stuff is crap, its "a step in the right direction"... which is something they will hardly disavow. Cant make omelets, etc.

Then you have the right wing, "America First" types who will shrug at the economics but be enthused by the fact that its an AMERICAN WASTEFUL FUEL... aint no saudi fuel. So what if its uneconomical or unsustainable. It makes Jobs for Americans. Its rural friendly. Rural types love them subsidies. Whens the last time you saw a politician campaign on killing a farm subsidy? There's that little thing of Iowa being the first presidential primary stop... Obama made the "pledge" to them - who do you think is going to emerge and tell the corn farmers to all go to hell?

So no, i think Ethanol will take a very very long time to die.

[John Thacker]

Whens the last time you saw a politician campaign on killing a farm subsidy?

McCain. He explicitly campaigned against the sugar subsidies, the tariffs on Brazilian ethanol, etc. He voted against the farm bill during the campaign and cited the subsidies as the reason why.

There's that little thing of Iowa being the first presidential primary stop

And McCain there said that he was for ethanol, but only if high prices for oil meant that it was economical to produce ethanol instead of gasoline, with no subsidies.

And of course no one cares. The American people overwhelmingly rejected the idea of eliminating farm subsidies. At the very least, you can say that the issue just isn't that important to farm subsidy opponents.

[GILMORE]

- Whens the last time you saw a politician campaign on killing a farm subsidy?

John Thacker|4.14.10 @ 1:03PM|#
McCain.

isnt that more or less the same point? 🙂

Perhaps I should have said, "winning politician"

[T]

A sitting Senator is, by definition, a winning politician. YMMV.

[John Thacker]

Though he is a sitting Senator in a place where they don't grow corn or sugar beets or sugar.

[GILMORE]

Good point John T

[PapayaSF]

But let's be clear that the current problems with ethanol are because it's made from food (corn) and subsidized. If someone can invent a method for economically producing it from cellulosic waste (crop waste, lawn trimmings, etc.) without subsidies, that would be a major breakthrough and very good news.

[Mo]

The Brazilians have done a fine job with sugar cane ethanol. Of course, we can't really grow sugar cane in the US.

[John Thacker]

Yeah, but the American people overwhelmingly rejected importing Brazilian sugar cane ethanol without heavy tariffs. There's a "mandate" against it.

[MacGhil]

True, but hemp will grow most anywhere.

[SIV]

Of course, we can't really grow sugar cane in the US.

The US only produced about 28 million tons in 2008.No we can't really grow it here.It can be grown more efficiently elsewhere.

[deet]

Well, I must be imagining "Big Sugar" in down here in Florida...

[John Thacker]

Well, I must be imagining "Big Sugar" in down here in Florida...

The US price is about double the world price. If we can only produce something at twice the cost of the most efficient places in the world, then we "can't really" grow it. However, perhaps being more precise is warranted.

[Tonio]

Mango, I believe that it's methanol, not ethanol, which can be made from cellulosic waste, chicken droppings, etc.

[SugarFree]

They make cigarettes refreshingly minty with chicken droppings? Sure glad I stopped smoking.

[Big B]

Uh, that's menthol, not methonal.

[PapayaSF]

No, there really is cellulosic ethanol.

[Ska]

Had a client that developed this technology but still couldn't produce an economically viable (couldn't get to break-even) fuel. They had a heating oil grade fuel from biodegradeable waste that was close, but it was still subsidized, and it smelled awful.

We're just not there yet.

[dbcooper]

Check out the stuff Novazymes have been doing with Danisco.

http://blog.bioenergy.novozymes.com/

[dbcooper]

Novozymes

[ramsey]

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Democracy just doesn't work."

Kent Brockman

Once people realize that they can vote to fill their own pockets the party is over.

[Kent Brockman]

I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

[JW]

"No one has ever been fed using ethanol."

"Ethanol. The higher food prices you pay for civilization."

"Ethanol is a net positive CO2 producer and a net negative fuel source."

"Fat. Happy. Rich. Today's American corn farmer."

Ethanol: The agricultural-industry complex."

[Ron Bailey]

JW: LOL. About being "fed" - well, there is always single malt scotch. 🙂

[JW]

Ah, the gentleman's diet. McAtkins approved!

Does this make an ethanol-drinking game redundant?

[GILMORE]

You irish.

[been there]

JW, as someone who knows a LOT of corn farmers, I'll tell you that they are most definitely NOT rich. Land rich maybe, but often not even that, thanks to skyrocketing land costs and exorbitant inheritance taces.

[JW]

Maybe so, but I do know that they're several 10's of billions dollars richer than I am.

[robc]

taces

Is that a typo for taxes or tacos. Because inheritance tacos is very funny.

[Bender]

"No one has ever been fed using ethanol."

Bite my shiny metal ass.

[J sub D]

Ethanol - Because Archer Daniels Midland just doesn't get enough of your tax dollars.

[kc]

+1 LOL

[bob]

Ethanol proves midwestern Republicans are full of shit.

[PicassoIII]

Errr.....

Drink?

[bob]

Ethanol: Supporting murderous regimes by buying there natural gas fertilizer instead of their crude oil.

[sage]

That's a good point. The hairpit environuts should lobby that corn for ethonal be produced organically.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

If someone can invent a method for economically producing it from cellulosic waste (crop waste, lawn trimmings, etc.) without subsidies, that would be a major breakthrough and very good news.

I'll get right on that.

Just as soon as I finish spinning this straw into gold.

[PapayaSF]

Many people are working on it, and it can be done, just not economically as of yet. But there's no theoretical reason why it can't be done economically, so it makes sense to do the research. There is a huge amount of cellulosic waste created every year in the US, and turning it into fuel would reduce waste, cut energy imports, and be carbon neutral. It's well worth pursuing.

[Mo]

"No soldiers have been deployed to defend our ethanol reserves. America's independent fuel."

I know false advertising suits aren't popular around these parts, but I wonder if you could sue ethanol producers for false advertising with this blatant falsehood. Lots of petroleum goes into ethanol production.

[bob]

Ethanol: Go fuck yourself America. We could buy it directly from Brazil where it's cheap and plentiful but we'd rather put on tariffs and give your money to farmers.

[Jeffersonian]

Indeed we could. Just don't try to start your car if it gets colder than, say, 50 degrees out. I had a couple of alcohol cars when I lived in Brazil, and they sucked in cool weather.

[R C Dean]

Corn. Its not just what's for dinner. In fact, you probably can't afford it for dinner any more.

[John Thacker]

Ethanol: Sure, you might not like the subsidies, but there's always something more important to base your vote on, so we're not worried.

[Gray Ghost]

Ethanol economics question I wonder if y'all have the answer to:

IIRC, "Oil" can be made straight from coal at around $150 a barrel. We've got gobs of coal, so in a perfectly rational world, oil would never have a long-term price above that.

Now, without subsidies/tax breaks etc, and taking into account the cost of the energy required to harvest/dry the biomass to make ethanol, is the price per BTU for U.S. ethanol ever cheaper than that for coal-to-oil?

[Organic Girl]

My boyfriend and I's volkswagon bus is powered by vegetable. We purchase only organically grown of course. But I have heard that biofuels aren't as environmentally friendly as they are cracked up to be. Just a big scam by the agri-mega-corps.

We are going to switch over to this divce that will make our van run entirely on water. The big oil companies have been suppressing it for decades.

[bleek obummer]

When you're out and about this weekend, pick up a dictionary and a guide to grammar.

[JW]

My boyfriend and I's volkswagon bus is powered by vegetable.

Don't you get tired of pushing?

[Michael Kelso]

Her? I don't.

SCORE!

[ChicagoTom]

We are going to switch over to this divce that will make our van run entirely on water

So this dvice will turn your van into a boat?

[Organic Girl]

Sorry, I meant to say vegetable OIL. Biodiesel.

And device.

Yeah, it converts water into hydrogen or something. I heard about it at the rainbow gathering. Supposedly some guy invented it in the 60s and the oil companies bought it up and suppressed it for decades. All of this stuff is coming out now because of the internet.

[Jeffersonian]

Uh, right. Let us know how that works out for you.

[Organic Girl]

Oh I know someone who tried it, and it worked, but his van's battery is dead right now.

[T]

This is perhaps the funniest bit of trollery to come along here in months, if not years.

[Marc]

I can't tell if it's trollery or just spoofery, but it's hilarious either way.

[Big B]

Agreed.

[sage]

She's just shilling for big wet.

[Solanum]

Dan T, if you're reading this, this is how it's done. [clappy hands]

[Steff]

Best. Satire. Ever.

[GILMORE]

Ok, now I'm convinced this is some serious troll work.

"rainbow gathering"?

I mean, come on. Thats funny. There's no way this is a real person.

[Cunctator]

Let me understand.

Water engine=HUUUUUUUGE profits for those that make/sell them.

Oil companies would rather deal with all of the bullshit regarding drilling, refining, etc. so they suppress the invention.

Makes sense.

[Big B]

Yeah, why would the oil companies want to make money off of both oil and the sale of water engines when they can just dig for oil.

Ignoring that, why would a guy invent a water engine and then sell it to the oil companies? Don't you think maybe GM, Ford, Honda might be interested and a better outlet?

Ignoring that, don't you think that maybe, just maybe, Ford, GM (ok, not GM) Honda, BMW, Toyota might, with all the engineers they have working on engines, just maybe have stubbled upon this invention in the last 50 years?

Nope. We are to believe that this one guy, working on his own, came up with it, sold it the highest bidder without regard to his own popularity or what might become of the technology, that the highest bidder was somehow was an oil company despite all the interested parties, that the oil company ignored the profits available to it, that the motor companies never caught wind of this or discovered it themselves, and that despite this super cheap source of energy the idea, while apparenlty on the Net, hasn't gone absolutely batsh!t viral?

Or we could believe the water engine is a hoax.

Occams razor.

[Cunctator]

Why hassle with drilling for oil when they could profit by licensing the water engine and everybody would love the

[sage]

My boyfriend and I's volkswagon bus is powered by vegetable.

Huh. So the vegetable's wheelchair pulls the bus?

[Ted S.]

I think the wheelchair is powered by gravity.

[Pip]

"Opposition to further federal subsidies to encourage the turning of food into fuel is growing."

But that's just what our bodies do. How can anyone oppose that?

[lunchstealer]

-"No wars have ever been fought over ethanol. America's peace fuel."

Nobody's ever heard of the Whiskey Rebellion, I take it?

[dave b.]

You shouldn't be eating corn anyway. Where's Warty when you need him?

[STEVE SMITH]

STEVE SMITH EAT CORN. MAKE SHIT ALL LUMPY.

[Warty]

Corn is the one grain I enjoy. Mmmm, cornbread 'n ham...

[Mike]

Would everyone please stop calling ethanol made from corn "food." Has anyone ever seen the corn that's grown that's used for ethanol? Right out of the field? It's hard as a rock, NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. So unless you're talking about higher costs for corn fed beef or soda (high fructose corn syrup), two things which this country could use far less of, it's utterly ridiculous to claim ethanol is starving the world or causing higher food prices (added link to USDA study as backup).

I'm already anticipating your next argument. "But what about all the extra corn acres we need to grow in the U.S.?" During the price gouging in the Summer of 2008 when everything went up the grocery store - U.S. total wheat and soybean acres were at their highest level in 10 years, and corn (while higher than 1998) was still well below it's max. So maybe it was $150 crude oil, and not the $0.05 worth of corn in your Corn Flakes which caused prices to climb.

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB/.cmd/ad/.ar/sa.retrievecontent/

[The Gobbler]

Every acre that is planted with "hard as a rock" corn is an acre that's not being planted with wheat, soy beans, or Swiss chard.

[Mike]

But if we had an oversupply of wheat and soybeans in the U.S. during 2008 when they took acres away from corn, why did their price still increase?

[ChicagoTom]

It's hard as a rock, NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that hard as a rock not fit for human consumption also used as feed for livestock?

Wouldn't that technically still be food -- whether we eat the corn or the animals that we feed the corn to?

[SugarFree]

Dent corn (hard as rock!!1!) is also the basis for corn meal. Apparently polenta, grits, cornbread, and corn tortillas aren't food.

[Mike]

Corn torillas made mostly from white corn, not used in ethanol.

[SugarFree]

Way to dispute a tiny portion of my argument.

[Mike]

I'm sorry, I missed the massive demand for grits and polenta.

A lot of corn bread is made from white and blue corn as well.

[SugarFree]

Only the most expensive corn tortillas are made with white corn. So the corn to to make the inexpensive ones are instead being used for ethanol.

But don't let facts intrude.

[Mike]

Facts being snide comments not backed with hard data, or your other smart ass remarks?

How about the link I sent to the USDA report which said only 3% of the increase in our food costs during the Summer of 2008 was linked to ethanol. Are those enough facts?

[JW]

A report from from the USDA on how its farm subsidies aren't causing price flucuations has about the same magnitude of truthiness as a report from Krustyco that the recycled Chinese tire mulch used in Krusty burgers isn't causing all benign tongue tumors in its customers.

[Mike]

I understand where you're coming from, but then what do we trust? If corn is only a small portion in the foods we buy (aside from candy, soda, generally things unhealthy), wouldn't it follow that it's only a small portion of the increase?

[JW]

I'm sure there is a technical term for this kind of crop substitution.

And also, the *only* reason you need to oppose ethanol subsidies.

[PapayaSF]

only 3% of the increase in our food costs during the Summer of 2008 was linked to ethanol

So we spent tax money to subsidize ethanol, and got higher food prices as well? Such a deal!

[T]

I seem to recall this caused a bit of a fuss south of the border where corn is a staple food. But I must have been imagining that.

[Mike]

That was due to flour and corn tortillas from white corn meal, which isn't use for ethanol.

[Mike]

Corn is fed to livestock, but are we talking about our steak dinners being too much or food in general? Either way distiller grains, a bi-product of ethanol production from corn replaces corn not being fed direct. So the livestock still get their corn (albeit corn with higher protein and less sucrose, which actually means leaner meat = less money for the cattle farmer which why they don't like ethanol).

[SIV]

"Ethanol contains less energy than gasoline. America's lower MPG fuel"

[SugarFree]

Ethanol: When fucking you with a corn cob just wasn't enough.

[rac3rx]

+1

[I, Kahn O'Clast]

-"Runoff of fertilizers used to make corn grow in what would otherwise be, at best, a grassy plain, have created a huge algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico. America's "Dead Zone" fuel."

[Slut Bunwalla]

"Ethanol is laughably inefficient. America's useless fuel."

I go out of my way to buy 100% gasoline as often as I can. It costs a bit more per gallon but I get more mileage out of it. I hate ethanol.

[JW]

Where can you find it? Every pump I see has the UP TO 10% ETHANOL sticker on it.

[turtle]

America's ripoff fuel.

Ethanol energy content: 84000 Btu/gal
Gasoline energy content: 125000 Btu/ gal
85/15 Ethanol/Gas: 90150 Btu/gal
Only 72.1% of the energy content of straight gasoline. But E85prices.com show that you pay 82.2% of the price of straight gasoline.

[Cab]

Ron, that was a great post.

[Hacha Cha]

one way to get around the problems with the current US ethanol scam would be to allow people to grow hemp. seriously, think about it, hemp can be grown in areas where most food crops can't be grown. it wouldn't effect the food industry because the seeds could either be separated for food, but even if not, hemp seed food is currently not produced by the US, so the current hemp producers would still be producing the same amount of food. there is also the added benefit of first pressing the oils out of it and making biodiesel and using the leftover hemp to make ethanol. of course no one will listen to reason so look forward to higher food prices and more subsidies.

[MacGhil]

Hemp is magic.

"Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country."
-Thomas Jefferson

"Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere."
-George Washington

[Organic Girl]

Thanks! I never thought of using the hemp oil for biodiesel. That's a new one. Perhaps next time I visit my friends pot farm, I will suggest it. I local collective already has enough clothes and macreme.

It will be really hard to make enough to run a bus on, but maybe one could start off making hemp lamps from hand-blown glass. Some big company might discover the benefits of hemp oil and get it legalized!

[JW]

I hear it can be used to power baths and other water sources used for shaving too.

[Marc]

I local collective already has enough clothes and macreme.

I have to admit, I am finding you utterly charming.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Ethanol would go away, all by itself, if there were no Congressional mandate for its addition to gasoline.

It doesn't make sense.

[P Brooks]

So maybe it was $150 crude oil, and not the $0.05 worth of corn in your Corn Flakes which caused prices to climb.

Ethanol didn't make sense even at $150/bbl oil; it sure as hell doesn't make sense now.

[Sidd Finch]

"Ethanol economics question I wonder if y'all have the answer to:

IIRC, "Oil" can be made straight from coal at around $150 a barrel. We've got gobs of coal, so in a perfectly rational world, oil would never have a long-term price above that.

Now, without subsidies/tax breaks etc, and taking into account the cost of the energy required to harvest/dry the biomass to make ethanol, is the price per BTU for U.S. ethanol ever cheaper than that for coal-to-oil?"

What you're talking about is Fisher-Tropsch. Basically you heat coal and water to around 700F to form syngas (H2 and CO). From there you can make pretty any fuel you want. The problem is that it's hard to do well. The Nazis were using synfuel more than gas IIRC before we bombed their FT plants. I don't think their fuel would be clean enough to operate in modern engines though. There's also a company in South Africa that's been operating continuously for 20 or 30 years.

To speak to your question directly, FT requires a lot of backwork for pulverizing, heating, cleaning etc. Corn ethanol is a joke from what I understand, but I can see plenty of scenarios that sugar cane or switchgrass ethanol would be cheaper than synfuel. If someone does some specific research or has some links, I'm interested.

[Gray Ghost]

Thanks for the synopsis.

[capitol l]

"Police have been deployed to put down ethanol caused bar fights. America's beer muscle fuel."

Come on people, where are all the drinky-drunk funnies about ethanol. We really can do better than the one that I saw.

[Big Corn]

We will not stop until every American is fed, fueled, clothed, and housed by corn, and only corn.

[leron1427]

I'm not saying ethanol today is the best answer to replacing current gasoline, however there is ongoing research to make ethanol more efficient both at the distilling level and in car engines (up to 30 percent) see below for link.

One problem I do have though is people claiming that ethanol is causing food riots and starving millions of people. Yes it is true that ethanol does increase the price of corn, wheat and soybeans but if people would actually understand just how small a part grain actually makes of the overall cost they could make better choices.

Take this example: One bushel of wheat is capable of making 100 loaves of bread. Before the surge in commodity prices in 2008 wheat was worth $4-5 a bushel, and bread was worth $1.75 - $2.50 a loaf. This works about to 4 or 5 cents of wheat in each loaf of bread. Then 2008 came around and wheat prices went to $10 a bushel so an increase of another 5 cents per loaf of bread. Why was it then that the price of bread went up close to 1$. It certainly wasn't because of the price of wheat. Maybe it was because large food processors now had an excuse for raising prices.

Another point, now that wheat prices have come back down, and those rich farmers you talk about are receiving $5 per bushel why haven't bread prices come back down. I think you know the answer.

I know ethanol is not the perfect solution, however I can't stand it when people blame it for food price spikes and say we are going to starve.
The U.S has plenty of food, and crop yields are going nowhere but up. (take a look at last years corn numbers, or even ask a farmer). So don't blame the "rich" farmers for the food riots. Take a look at the large corporations whose profits only go one way and you will see who really controls the price.

http://industry.bnet.com/energ.....m-ethanol/

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_.....l_of_wheat

[bob]

next time you meet a farmer ask them why the gubmint pays 75% of their crop insurance, why they get direct payments from the USDA, why we have ethanol tariffs, floor prices for commodities, low interest loans, hundreds of publicly funded schools doing research for them, no tax on off road diesel, sugar tariffs, the list goes on and on.
Farming: Welfare for White Folks

[Hacha Cha]

not all farmers use crop insurance, government subsidies, get payments from the USDA, or are responsible for the bs legislation. stop trying to stereotype farmers, just because some of them benefit, encourage, and work for the system doesn't mean they all do.

[Ivan]

Check it out. Zoom in on Manhattan.
http://farm.ewg.org/sites/farm.....;type=Road Map

[Marc]

Indeed WTF? Is there some interpretation of this that isn't insane?

[Bill Bryson]

Food vs fuel is a myth
The oil industry is subsidized on so many levels (US military for one), the ethanol subsidy is a drop in the bucket
the myths are busted here:
http://www.permaculture.com/node/490

[PapayaSF]

*The* Bill Bryson? If so I let me say I love your books, though your politics often makes me roll my eyes.

As for the linked article: if #1 is true, then there's no need for any subsidies, correct? And I question the figures in #5. AFAIK, oil doesn't get "subsidies" the way ethanol does, unless you stretch the meaning of the term out of recognizable shape.

[Russ Finley]

To see Bill Bryon's busted myths busted, go here:

http://biodiversivist.blogspot.....myths.html

I also parsed out the ethanol ads and created my own anti-propaganda propaganda film to go with it:

http://biodiversivist.blogspot.....fires.html

[gas station equipment]

Ethanol is not the solution for this. And there are many reasons for that.

[bufflot]

what if we turn ethanol in corn ethanol and produce corn gas lol and get rid of gas which prodece more cheimcals in the air way rise if you ask me

[Nicholas Hollis]

Check out the Ethanol Transparency Project (ETP) for more active ideas to expose the "ethanol scam"

[Nicholas Hollis]

New York Times reports automakers are now urging EPA to delay decision on increasing allowable ethanol blends (from current 10% to 15%) citing new tests proving more ethanol will likely cause irreparable engine damage on older cars. With more ethanol slipped into the gas - we'll be walking sooner or later according to GM manager of biofuel implementation - C. Coleman Jones. (See Matthew Wald's article in New York Times, May 5, 2010)

[vivyan]

This is my great pleasure to visit your website and to enjoy your excellent post about ethanol in industry and farmers . I found many valuable things to learn in this ethanol article. Please keep on posting such quality articles. Thank you for sharing this article to all of us.

[vivyan]

This is my great pleasure to visit your website and to enjoy your excellent post about ethanol in industry and farmers . I found many valuable things to learn in this ethanol article. Please keep on posting such quality articles. Thank you for sharing this article to all of us.