Corn Ethanol Hoax
Walter Williams has written an excellent column on the corn and ethanol hoax. His column is so good and so full of truth, that it should be required reading of every American.
Here are few nuggets, but I highly recommend that you read the whole thing.
Ethanol contains water that distillation cannot remove. As such, it can cause major damage to automobile engines not specifically designed to burn ethanol. The water content of ethanol also risks pipeline corrosion and thus must be shipped by truck, rail car or barge. These shipping methods are far more expensive than pipelines.
Ethanol is 20 to 30 percent less efficient than gasoline, making it more expensive per highway mile. It takes 450 pounds of corn to produce the ethanol to fill one SUV tank. That’s enough corn to feed one person for a year.
And, it takes 1,700 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol. On top of all this, if our total annual corn output were put to ethanol production, it would reduce gasoline consumption by 10 or 12 percent.
Ethanol is so costly that it wouldn’t make it in a free market. That’s why Congress has enacted major ethanol subsidies, about $1.05 to $1.38 a gallon, which is no less than a tax on consumers.
There’s something else wrong with this picture. If Congress and President Bush say we need less reliance on oil and greater use of renewable fuels, then why would Congress impose a stiff tariff, 54 cents a gallon, on ethanol from Brazil? Brazilian ethanol, by the way, is produced from sugar cane and is far more energy efficient, cleaner and cheaper to produce.
Ethanol production has driven up the prices of corn-fed livestock, such as beef, chicken and dairy products, and products made from corn, such as cereals. As a result of higher demand for corn, other grain prices, such as soybean and wheat, have risen dramatically. The fact that the U.S. is the world’s largest grain producer and exporter means that the ethanol-induced higher grain prices will have a worldwide impact on food prices.
It’s corporate welfare pure and simple. Not only do we subsidize these big farms and agricorps, and drive up the price of food, but we impose a tariff on a better, but similar product produced in South America.
And how do they get away with this? Thank the global warming hoax for that one.
“how do they get away with this? Thank the global warming hoax for that one”
Baloney. Ethanol became a fuel additive back when people were more concerned with the energy crisis than with global warming. It springs from the massive corn subsidies instituted in the 70s. What Williams doesn’t mention is that corn shouldn’t be used as a cattle feed either–they can’t digest it– and wouldn’t be in a “free market.” Subsidized corn is one of the more destructive public policies of the last 30 years and none of the global warming “alarmists” I read support corn-based ethanol.
P.S. I haven’t registered as a Democrat but I’m much more likely to vote for Obama than for the man that I know you’ve been dying to vote for your whole adult life–John McCain.
http://www.amconmag.com/2008/2008_03_24/article.html
Oh Clark. You know that’s nonsense. I did support him in the 2000 Primary though. He was a lot different in those days.
Clark is right about the ethanol/global warming non-relationship. Sort of. Corn and soy subsidies are, in fact, one of the worst domestic policy failures in recent history, and those subsidies have more to do with it than anything else. However, one cannot deny that the “big corn” lobby has seized upon global warming as an excuse to push corn ethanol a lot more aggressively.
All that said, the push for corn ethanol really hasn’t come from environmentalist circles, so it’s hard to blame it entirely (or even mostly) on environmentalists. Were it not for global warming, they’d be pushing it in the interests of “national security.”
Bottom line: I’m not going to defend either corn/soy ethanol or US farm subsidy policy as it currently exists today. On that much, at least, we can agree. Even if you are unabashedly full of shit when you claim global warming is a “hoax.”
Good enough. I’ll settle for that.
Of course, it’s not exactly unheard of for a big-money interest to seize on something legitimate in an illegitimate way, for their own gain.
Corn ethanol is the dumbest idea ever. Dumb at ever level. But the Chicken Little’s love it because it will save the planet.
Another proof of the mass hysteria of Global Warming. The sky is falling, again.
Your not paying attention #9. Global warming Chicken Littles hate corn-based ethanol because it makes the problem worse. Politicians, farmers & corporations are the ones pushing this.
Your not paying attention #9. Global warming Chicken Littles hate corn-based ethanol because it makes the problem worse.
Proof please. It does make the problem worse, but I have seen no recognition of that from the Goracle types.
Number 9:
You are the one who made the allegation that “Chicken Little” global warming-believing environmentalists, as a group, support corn ethanol. Therefore the burden of proof is on you to provide evidence in support of your allegation. Nice try, though.
Wow, just listen to those Chicken Littles over at the Sierra Club sing the praises of corn ethanol. Not. The NRDC argues aggressively for biofuels, but they argue for switchgrass, not corn.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=GGLJ%2CGGLJ%3A2006-48%2CGGLJ%3Aen&q=chicken+little+global+warming+corn+ethanol
Better?
By Clark…”P.S. I haven’t registered as a Democrat but I’m much more likely to vote for Obama than for the man that I know you’ve been dying to vote for your whole adult life–John McCain.”
Tennessee doesn’t require party registration, Clarke. I routinely vote Democratic for my State Rep., and for any Democrats who grade well on the NRA’s scorecard. Unfortunately, there’s not many of those. I voted for Al Gore for U.S. Senator in the ’80’s. Before he was hijacked by the leftists who now control that party…
I’m anxiously awaiting to hear the NRA’s verdict on John McCain, which I expect to hear much more about in May at the convention in Louisville.
We also keep a scoresheet on useless organizations, corporations, journalists and the Hollyweird empty heads who are flaming anti-gun.
Yes, I’m a registered NRA member, a strong, lifetime supporter of the NRA-ILA, and most of my votes are heavily influenced by their recommendations. That’s my party, baby.
Number 9:
Funny how none of the links in your Google search involves an environmentalist arguing in favor of corn ethanol. If Glen frees it from spam filter hell, you’ll see a comment I posted in which I link to one of the biggest environmental lobbying groups in the country, the Sierra Club, actively arguing against corn ethanol. Ditto for the NRDC, who argues for switchgrass.
Ask and it shall be given. Knock and the door shall be opened.
In other words, it’s released.
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