Posted on 05/13/2008 8:47:22 AM PDT by dvan
Well, I’ll be doggoned. I never thought I’d see such outspoken opposition to ethanol from such unlikely sources – such as many of the politicians who helped create this monstrous and expensive fraud in the first place.
Last Friday, a group of Republican senators, including presidential candidate John McCain, urged the Environmental Protection Agency to hold off enforcing legislation to increase ethanol production. There goes the Farm Belt vote!
Even the August New York Times – which has never failed to support a government solution to every real or perceived problem on the planet – now says “it is time to end an outdated tax break for corn ethanol.” Will wonders never cease?
All I can say is, it’s about time. It may not be true that ethanol will ultimately be recognized as “the largest scam in our nation’s history,” as one energy expert has declared. (See Gusher of Lies by Robert Bryce.) But any objective review of the facts will force one to concur with economist Walter Williams, who wrote that “politicians, corn farmers, and ethanol producers know they are running a cruel hoax on the American consumer. They are in it for the money.”
Think that’s too harsh? Let’s look at the facts.
Far from being energy efficient, ethanol may be the most energy inefficient fuel ever devised. First, corn is expensive to grow. It takes 1700 gallons of water to produce the corn to make one gallon of ethanol. Next, ethanol is expensive to ship. Because of its high water content, it corrodes pipelines. Thus, it must be carried to its destination by truck or rail.
By the way, this same high water content means ethanol will also cause more damage to automobile engines than regular gasoline – something to consider the next time you fill up. Ethanol is also 20-30% less efficient than gasoline, thus making it more expensive for every mile you drive.
When you consider everything necessary to produce one gallon of ethanol, it turns out that it takes more than a gallon of fossil fuel (oil and natural gas) to do it. Is that absurd, or what?
It’s no wonder that ethanol requires massive government subsidies for those who produce it – and government mandates to force us to use it. This year, ethanol subsidies amount to 51 cents per gallon. With seven billion gallons of ethanol scheduled to be produced this year, that is a $3.5 billion pot of payola for the hucksters.
No wonder that more than 30 million acres of U.S. farmland are now devoted to ethanol production. That means fewer acres to grow wheat, soybeans, or other crops – and thus higher prices for those grains, too. Of course, when grains go up, so do hundreds of other products, from bread and beef to chicken and cheese.
The insanity of our ethanol policies also means that U.S. food exports are declining – and the prices for everything we do send abroad are climbing. When the price of corn doubles in the U.S., so does the cost of tortillas in Mexico. When we begin rationing rice (as Costco and Sam’s Clubs did recently), it means there is less to sell abroad. (Did you know that the United States is the fourth-largest exporter of rice in the world? Until I began researching this piece, I didn’t.)
Current law will require the U.S. to produce (and us to burn) nearly five times more biofuel by 2022 than we do today – from 7.5 billion gallons to 36 billion gallons. Some 33 new ethanol plants are under construction today, with 60 more on the drawing boards, to meet these requirements.
But it ain’t gonna happen, folks. For once in my lifetime, the truth (that ethanol is an expensive fraud) is catching up with the lie. Even stricter government mandates and more expensive government subsidies won’t be enough to force this absurd concoction down our throats … or in our gas tanks.
It may be too early to celebrate victory for the free market – Uncle Sam will undoubtedly mail out millions more subsidy checks before that happy day arrives.
But I’m happy to report the ethanol tide is definitely turning.
Ethanol Madness is self curing. When your food bill is more than you can afford, people suddenly get “cured”..............
Plus, all those distilleries can use switchweeds, refuse and ag byproducts to brew their moonshine, no need to use OUR FOOD.
Environmental laws limiting domestic drilling
Law restricting refinery expansion
Laws requiring expensive and inefficiant ethanol
Federal taxes
Federal monetary policy driving down the value of the dollar.
A smart politician could run as a real Maverick and promise to work for substantial change in some or all of these areas. Or he could promise to fight Global Warming.
E85 is nuts, but smog is evil, MTBE is poison so now what?
After being roundly chastised by some Euroweenie on this forum for taking the immoral position that the free market should determine the viability of alternative fuels, I can now delight in saying, “I told you so!”
It would be interesting to know the names of the behind-the-scenes operatives who spearheaded the ethanol debacle (such debacles always have people pushing them hard). What federal departments do they work in? What representatives and senators do they work for? What lobbying firms do they work for? Etc.
One of the other hand, isn't this a way to solve the problem of obesity?
Whether ethanol as a transportation fuel is a good idea or a bad idea, this author has a horribly poor grasp of the facts.
Ethanol has no water content.
Ethanol (produced from corn) has a 1.7 : 1 energy exchange. (It takes 1 unit of energy to produce 1.7 units of ethanol).
The company I work for is starting to produce ethanol blends. Mostly pressured by the envirowhackjobs that say gasoline is causing global warming, etc.
Ethanol...don't use it, don't want it. I'll convert to biodiesel before going to ethanol.
What does a good grasp of the facts look like?
This is a messy world, and anyone who thinks that anyone, any group of persons, can create a totally rational system that will produce justice for all, is a fool. We must not forget that “Utopia.” translates as “Nowhere.”
When your gas tank is half full, what is in the other half?
water?
Environmentalism is a religion, and we know from history that when the elites convert to a religion, they will use whatever force is necessary to impose it on the rest of us.
Another reason would be that all the media and financial cable channels is hyping the oil prices. Every time the news is turned on it's "oil reached a new record high today", or if it isn't a new record, it's "oil prices fell today, but the gas prices remain high due to...". The more they talk the more it's going to get worse. Same with global warming, Barack Obama, etc.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.