Ethanol's Failed Promise (Unintended Consequences/Reality Bites Alert!)

The Washington Post ^ | April 22, 2008 | Lester Brown and Jonathan Lewis

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Well, it certainly didn't take the lib do-gooders long to figure out that burning food for fuel was a really bad idea. Now, they want the Rat-controlled Congress, which they bullied and bluffed into passing that silly legislation, to do a complete 180 degree turnaround and repeal it after only five months. Nice.

[nikos1121]

The dumbest thing mankind has ever done, to use food for fuel when people are starving.

[rhombus]

So whose bad idea was that in the first place?

[NVDave]

Go ahead. Wave the magic policy wand and remove biofuels, subsidies, etc.

Heck, go so far as to ban them completely.

Watch as food prices continue to go up and up and up.

As long as diesel fuel, fertilizer, steel, copper, etc go up in price, food will go up in price. Bet the farm on it.

[catbertz]

Same thing will happen with fluorescent light bulbs too. They always have these knee jerk reactions, then come to regret it later, and thus causing another knee jerk reaction. Circle jerk.

[TLI]

Meanwhile, the mandates are not reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Last year, the United States burned about a quarter of its national corn supply as fuel -- and this led to only a 1 percent reduction in the country's oil consumption.

Sooo, we could redirect all of our corn and only get a total of 4% of our current fuel use? And the politicians thought this was a good idea when they passed the initiatives?

[Mygirlsmom]

They should know from past experience, however, that no bad liberal idea EVER gets undone. (and they’re usually ok with that) In fact, the usual prescription is more of the same bad medicine that got us sick in the first place. I don’t see this situation as being any different.

[tobyhill]

It was all the Do-Gooders who instead of enforcing laws around the storage of MTBE just got it outright banned. MTBE sucked health wise but if the tanks and pipes had been properly maintained then it wouldn't have been a health issue and was a better gasoline filler than Ethanol.

[dirtboy]

And the politicians thought this was a good idea when they passed the initiatives?

Politicians think it's a GREAT idea. It makes farmers happy. And the likes of Archer-Daniels-Midland happy. Keep those campaign contributions a-rollin' in. Who cares if working stiffs are paying more for bread and beef? They only vote. They don't fork over the campaign cash.

[NVDave]

We used to use cropland for “fuel” in Ye Olde Days: It was called “hay” and it was fed to draft animals in prodigious amounts. Heck, we used to have more land in hay/pasture ground for horses than we currently have in corn for ethanol.

And back in those days, wretches in what are today Third World countries starved and Americans had affordable food.

Mankind has done it before. We’ll do it again. And neither back then, nor today, nor tomorrow, will it affect how many ignorant, lazy, shiftless idiots starve in the Third World.

[Gorzaloon]

The dumbest thing mankind has ever done, to use food for fuel when people are starving.

Ethanol isn't even a fuel, as used. It's a diluent, like adding styrofoam to popcorn to reduce calories.

Fewer miles/Gallon with ehanol blends = No Free Lunch.

[chris_bdba]

How about this environuts, to replace the energy gained from using bio fuels how about we allow more drilling for oil? Otherwise no deal!

[lormand]

Using food as fuel while refusing to explore domestic sources of Oil and Gas is criminal.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Yep, by mandating the use of flourescent light bulbs, Congress solved an imaginary problem by causing a real one, with all the mercury that will now be going into the landfills from discarded bulbs.

Mark my words: In a couple of years, Congress will be demanding studies, reports, and investigations into mercury contamination at sites throughout the country, thereby breathing new life into Superfund.

[E. Cartman]

Time to buy a lottery ticket. The WaPo has written something with which for once I actually agree.

[uncbob]

I can’t believe the WashPost printed this

[from occupied ga]

The hope of using American-grown crops to fuel our cars seemed like a win-win-win scenario

I never seemd like a win scenario for anyone bu archer daniels midlands and their corn growers. Ethanol has been, is, and always will be a fraud perpetrated upon the taxpaying public to benefir a small specific sector of the economy. Bush knowingly went along with it to pay off his big republican supportes in the corn states.

repeal it after only five months. Nice.

One can only hope that they repeal it as soon as they can. The sooner the better for all of us and SCREW THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SUCKING DOWN TAX MONEY BECAUSE OF THIS FRAUD!!

[HoosierHawk]

I wouldn’t blame it all on the Rats. I’ll bet there are plenty of midwestern RINOs who worship at the altar of Agribusiness.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Agreed. Even though it was Pelosi and Reid who pushed it through, Bush signed it, and so they’re all culpable in this.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

It should have never been passed.