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Ethanol Could Go on GOP Chopping Block
Capitol Confidential ^ | 11/11/2010 | Jarrett Skorup

Posted on 11/11/2010 8:16:36 AM PST by MichCapCon

When the Republican majority is seated in the House of Representatives this January, many have high expectations that they will cut government spending as many of the candidates promised on the campaign trail. But the tricky question now is: Where to cut?

Some energy and environmental experts say they should begin with energy subsidies; specifically for ethanol.

Ethanol is a biofuel made mostly from corn in North America and can be used as an additive to gasoline. In many states, there is a mandated 10% blend with gasoline; the idea being to lower the amount of oil needed.

But many experts say this doesn't work.

"Contrary to popular belief, ethanol fuel does little or nothing to increase our energy security or stabilize fuel prices," wrote Kenneth Green, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "Instead, it will increase greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollutant emissions, fresh water scarcity, water pollution (both riparian and oceanic), land and ecosystem consumption, and food prices."...

(Excerpt) Read more at michigancapitolconfidential.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: environment; michigan
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1 posted on 11/11/2010 8:16:46 AM PST by MichCapCon
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To: MichCapCon

Make it so


2 posted on 11/11/2010 8:18:48 AM PST by Uncledave
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To: MichCapCon

It should. It really has few benefits.


3 posted on 11/11/2010 8:20:02 AM PST by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: MichCapCon

Ethanol is pure scam, and if the GOP can muster the backbone to cut this subsidy, God Bless them.


4 posted on 11/11/2010 8:20:31 AM PST by brownsfan (D - swift death of the republic, R - lingering death for the republic.)
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To: MichCapCon

It should. It really has few benefits.


5 posted on 11/11/2010 8:20:31 AM PST by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: MichCapCon
The ethanol mafia has to go.
6 posted on 11/11/2010 8:21:15 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum ("Government has no other end, but the preservation of property." --John Locke)
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To: MichCapCon

Was it chopped by the great commission as well? If not, that certainly says something about the commission.


7 posted on 11/11/2010 8:21:27 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: MichCapCon

Ethanol is nothing but a FARM SUBSIDY that is having a big effect on the price of food.

A REAL DRILLING PLAN would do far more for America, than any amount of ethanol would.


8 posted on 11/11/2010 8:21:27 AM PST by tcrlaf (Obama White House=Tammany Hall on the National Mall)
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To: MichCapCon

Ethanol also reduced mileage and damages engines that are not specifically designed for it.


9 posted on 11/11/2010 8:23:05 AM PST by Fresh Wind
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To: Uncledave
Make it so Pictures, Images and Photos
10 posted on 11/11/2010 8:25:34 AM PST by KC_Lion (Lord help our Armed Service members that they not become pawns in Hussein's quest to destroy America)
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To: MichCapCon

Ethanol destroys food sources.


11 posted on 11/11/2010 8:26:31 AM PST by madison10
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To: MichCapCon

If John B can get this done(remember there is alot of corn grown in Ohio too) I will support him for a White House bid in 2012!


12 posted on 11/11/2010 8:26:35 AM PST by US Navy Vet
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To: MichCapCon

What to do with all that corn likker?


13 posted on 11/11/2010 8:29:14 AM PST by bkepley
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To: MichCapCon

I’d be for the ethanol subsidies IF I thought they reduced gasoline consumption and defunded terrorist states. But our mpg dropped 10% with 10% ethanol. So we aren’t burning any less gasoline, we are just filling up 11 times to drive the same miles we used to fill up 10 times for.

If other people’s results are the same as ours, the program should be killed.


14 posted on 11/11/2010 8:29:55 AM PST by DannyTN
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To: MichCapCon

EXCELLENT!!!!


15 posted on 11/11/2010 8:31:55 AM PST by Buckeye Battle Cry (Conservatives want a CHOICE not an echo - No more RINOs!)
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To: MichCapCon

There’s a safety issue here as well. Many experimental aircraft (and their numbers are growing all the time) use converted auto engines for powerplants, allowing the use of relatively inexpensive auto fuel instead of very pricey avgas. Ethanol has an affinity for holding water in suspension, resulting in airborne power loss or engine failure should this water freeze while flying.

Draining the tank sumps during the preflight does no good. The water stays hidden in the ethanol until it’s too late.

But hey. What’s a few more dead pilots and passengers when you can subsidize the corn industry instead?


16 posted on 11/11/2010 8:36:50 AM PST by Tigerized (pursuingliberty.com)
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To: MichCapCon

What’s the difference between burning corn and burning wood? If someone was to propose setting aside millions of acres of farmland to grow trees so that they could be burned in a wood-burning electrical power plant, that person would be run out of town on a rail. Yet, that scheme would actually be more efficient than ethanol, because the entire tree could be burned. You wouldn’t have to extract oil and then refine it into fuel.


17 posted on 11/11/2010 8:38:04 AM PST by Question Liberal Authority (Worst. Post-Racial. And Post-Partisan. Agent Of Hope And Change. EVER.)
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To: MichCapCon

That’s one.


18 posted on 11/11/2010 8:40:04 AM PST by bmwcyle (It is Satan's fault)
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To: Question Liberal Authority

How about the Dept of Energy and the Dept of Education?
Why do we need them?


19 posted on 11/11/2010 8:42:24 AM PST by nikos1121 (Praying for the big -20 today all the way to Nov 2nd)
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To: MichCapCon

Time to phase out all farm subsidies, at 25% per year. We should all be thankful to the farmers for their very hard work, but being paid to not farm is corruption.


20 posted on 11/11/2010 8:46:06 AM PST by lurk (A)
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