McCain Favors End To Ethanol Subsidy As Food Costs Soar

Investors Business Daily ^ | Monday, April 28 2008 | Jed Graham

[Jacquerie]

Most politicians have been swept up by the notion the U.S. could supply a good portion of its energy needs from Midwest farms, instead of from unfriendly regimes in the Middle East and elsewhere. In December, Congress overwhelmingly passed, and President Bush signed, a new energy bill dramatically raising renewable fuel mandates.

But that consensus will be open to debate in the presidential election with John McCain as the GOP standard bearer. He’s one of the few politicians who oppose handouts to the ethanol industry.

[Cobra64]

Correct. That’s why I put the word “free” in brackets.

[cpdiii]

The solution to the energy crisis is not an engineering problem nor is it a lack of energy sources in our country. The problem is political.

1. We have 200 to 300 years of energy available in the form of shale oil and coal. These can be converted to useable liquid fuels and in particular diesel fuel. The environmental leftist block this.

2. We can supply every watt of electrical energy we need from nuclear power. The environmental leftist block this.

3. We have a great deal of oil that we can get on line from the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska if we can drill it. This oil can be brought on line quicker than the shale and coal. The environmental leftist block this.

The conversion of corn to ethanol is very inefficient and has a very marginal effect on our total energy consumption and has driven up the cost of basic foods and is thus starving and killing people in the third world. THE ENVIROMENTAL LEFTISTS SUPPORT THIS.

Global warming theory (The environmental leftist support this) is only a theory and the data of the last ten years says it is not true. The last ten years have shown the greatest percentage of increase in Co2 per year in the last 100 years or more. The global temperature has dropped in the last ten years.

The country that is the greatest user of coal and the largest polluter (if you think global warming is true) is a left wing country and a communist country called China. THE LEFT WING ENVIROMENTALIST SAY NOTHING ABOUT THIS. I wonder why? Actually I know why. The environmentalist movement is not a movement concerned with the environment but a political movement concerned with their political power.

[lesser_satan]

Add 100 new nuclear power plants to the equation and we have a winner.

[Steamburg]

This alone could give McCain a huge lever toward the White House if he will play the Unintended Consequences of inexperienced lefties failing to think things through. Hopefully, no one will recall his blunders.

[samtheman]

I like your ideas, though you left out drilling off-shore and ANWR.

Also, I’m a bit skeptical about your last point. I wouldn’t worry so much about speculators. I’d focus on increasing over-all supply.

[RightWhale]

McCain is talking some lately. Brain seems to be still functional, which is a positive sign.

[samtheman]

Twilight Zone? Maybe. I’d call it the Pander Zone. Pander to the bias of the press. Pander to the latest leftist fad.

[lesser_satan]

[deport]

He’s one of the few politicians who oppose handouts to the ethanol industry.

---

At some price the ethanol industry should be able to stand on its own without major subsidy grants. I’d think the time is near or here with gasoline in the mid $3.50 gallon range and oil over $100 bbl and expected continue upward. Let the corn boys stand on their own.

[HereInTheHeartland]

McCain has always been against ethanol. Here in Iowa that has traditionally been a very unpopular position for a presidential candidate; and his support showed it.

But I have admired his principal in holding this position knowing the results for him.

[rabidralph]

According to WindAction.org, Federal subsidies for energy doubled between '99-'07.

[plain talk]

Stop worrying about whether or not it might have been posted before. Except for a couple of really anal retentive posting police who ought to go become liberals they are so fixated on their own self importance, most of us are happy to see it all, and seeing it twice really is no problem.

Finally - someone posts exactly what I have been thinking!

[mek1959]

You are dead right. Just finished reading Milton Friedman's “Free to Choose” and we are sooo far from a free market economy, it's hard to believe. Time to split the country in my view, let the libs have the east and west coast and we'll take the south and Midwest. Let's just imagine which country would be more successful, libs or conservatives.

[bpjam]

BINGO!!!!!

And add to that....Increase the minimum margin requirements for commodity trading accounts to flush out the speculators and let the air out of the oil/corn/wheat/rice/soy/gold bubble.

[NoLibZone]

Stop PAYING to set aside an area almost as large as available ag land in Kansas as “no till”.

Watch prices fall big time.

[ConservativeMind]

I agree with him on that, and I come from the middle of Illinois corn country.

[ConservativeMind]

That’s a pretty good list.

[muir_redwoods]

This is a note of sanity and a reason to vote for the bastard

[Amendment10]

Because of ethanol-related concerns like the one presented in this thread, I keep an eye on the development of ethanol-related technologies like this.

No corn ethanol

[Finny]

Let me second that. Many of us don't have the luxury of scrolling through hundreds of posts all day long. The more often an article is posted, the better.

AMEN!