Once again the politicians take the easy way out, without considering the unintended consequences of their actions. When inflation heats up, steak is double what it is now, corn flakes are $6 a box, who will stand up and say they screwed up?
Ethanol from corn is not a food or fuel proposition - it's food AND fuel. One of the resulting products of the corn/ethanol process is...get this...are you ready? Animal feed. There goes one of your stupid hypotheses...
I wonder how many politicians in Washington ever took physics and chemistry.
Alternative fuel. A load of crap. It is a money-grubbing scheme to feed the makers of ethanol which would raise our costs across many fronts. A major cop-out to not stand up and DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR AMERICA which is to open up oil exploration and drilling.
Such political stupidity and such a sham upon Americans.
I can't wait for the farm state politicians (Democrats) like Harkin from Iowa and Turbin Durbin from Illinois to start hearings about Big Corn and the steep rise in a box of Corn Flakes and Tortillas. I just can't wait for the round the clock coverage those would get too. It's going to be fun.
COAL and Nuclear. Anything else is just plain stupid.
ping
corn price is up,
from 2.40 to 4 bucks
the US was insane to export corn at 2.40
the upside, is that keeping a raghead alive a year
costs $1.00 more for Madrasssas
downside, red meat cost a dime more
Question to anyone who knows?
Does ethanol have to be produced from corn?
Is there a non-human consumable plant that might substitute for corn?
Thanks in advance.
Ethanol's likely impacts
1) Increase the price of corn
2) Farmers plant more corn, to the exclusion of soybeans. Soybean prices rise.
3) Farmers plant too much corn (someday, if you can predict when, there's a $1M+ bonus in it for you) and the bottom falls out of the market.
4) Ethanol reduces gas mileage so much that higher imports of oil are required.
5) Ecowackos on the coasts feel good about using ethanol, forming a major component of the Ethanol Lobby.
6) Farmers make lots more money planting corn because of all the ethanol subsidies. Big checks arive in the mail. Plains states farmers form a major component of the Ethanol Lobby.
7) Ethanol Lobby has control of virtually all Senators, since the Dem ecowackos on the Coasts are pressured to fund ethanol, and farm state Senators know a good cash flow when they see one.
8) Huge transfers of wealth from the coasts to the center of the continent occurs as corn is shipped from the center to the edges. Plains farm economies take off. Land prices rise. Farmers buy more new Case / Deere / Etc. equipment.
9) Food prices rise. Soybean and alfalfa displacement and corn consumption by ethanol increases the price of virtually all feed. Meat and Milk prices particularly rise. Ranchers harmed attempt to put more pasturage into corn.
10) Farmers plant corn on corn, elminating the bean cycle, reducing nitrogen in the soil, reducing crop output per acre. Soil quality suffers.
11) Marginal farmland goes into production. Farmers cut down windbreaks to free dirt for corn.
12) Pheasant populations explode, making hunting more productive and simultaneously more expensive, as what little cover that remains becomes highly valuable. Land prices rise in the Dakotas as East Coast wealth buys hunting preserves.
13) China experiences an increase in Soybean prices, since we don't plant as much and ship it to them cheap.
14) Brazil doubles down on soybeans, because they use cane for ethanol. There isn't an allowance for cross border shipment of ethanol, because it is essentially a protected industry in every country, throwing cash at farmers from the cities. Brazil becomes the soybean country, America becomes the corn country.
15) Commodity prices become highly volatile. Huge spring corn planting in the U.S. means nobody knows what the outcome will be for a price. Hedge funds start playing ethanol factories against farmers, and wide price swings occur until the crop is in and counted.
Endpoint: Ethanol is a foregone conclusion, politically. Billions of dollars are being bet all over the place as a result. Many bets will be huge payoffs, others will be busts. The only sure thing is that urban economies will be poorer, and rural economies will be wealthier.
Wish I owned a Deere dealership in the Dakotas.
I agree with you. They may as well call this the Farm Bill version 2.0, since this is nothing more than a sop to major agribusiness interests.
I like the idea of relying on American technology and innovation. W never has liked our technology sector.