Posted on 06/23/2008 3:48:36 AM PDT by shrinkermd
When VeraSun Energy inaugurated a new ethanol processing plant last summer in Charles City, Iowa, some of that industry’s most prominent boosters showed up. Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association and the Renewable Fuels Association, for instance, came to help cut the ribbon — and so did Senator Barack Obama.
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Election Guide More Politics News Then running far behind Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in name recognition and in the polls, Mr. Obama was in the midst of a campaign swing through the state where he would eventually register his first caucus victory. And as befits a senator from Illinois, the country’s second largest corn-producing state, he delivered a ringing endorsement of ethanol as an alternative fuel.
Mr. Obama is running as a reformer who is seeking to reduce the influence of special interests. But like any other politician, he has powerful constituencies that help shape his views. And when it comes to domestic ethanol, almost all of which is made from corn, he also has advisers and prominent supporters with close ties to the industry at a time when energy policy is a point of sharp contrast between the parties and their presidential candidates.
In the heart of the Corn Belt that August day, Mr. Obama argued that embracing ethanol “ultimately helps our national security, because right now we’re sending billions of dollars to some of the most hostile nations on earth.” America’s oil dependence, he added, “makes it more difficult for us to shape a foreign policy that is intelligent and is creating security for the long term.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Thirty percent of the corn crop for 3% of our gasoline needs sounds like a failed policy; however, for the farm states getting $ from Washington trumps any other issue.
ping
No Food for Fuel!
We need to Nationalize the Corn Industry.
This isn’t surprising. Quite a few farmers in Illinois make a lot of money selling this snake oil.
I am not a John McCain fan, but I do recall that he never really jumped on the ethanol bandwagon, even in Iowa.
I am closely linked to ethanol too. On a daily basis, just before bedtime, with some classical music.
Am I a Communist now? [emoticon]utter fear[/emoticon].
Well duh? You know how much corn they grow in Illinois?
I believe that your ethanol is subject to net taxation, not net subsidization, so you are more or less an unwilling socialist, like the rest of us. (You wouldn’t be using”Victory” brand, would you?)
I’m relieved to hear this. Since there is likely to be extremely depressed corn yields in the midwest this summer from the flooding in addition to high demand and low supply of seed milo for fall crops, perhaps the Magic Negro can guide us in deciding if we are going to feed livestock or gas their offspring this next year vs. produce biofuel.
It’ll be wonderful to have him help us understand what our nation should do. Perhaps we’ll import corn from Brazil, YES! That’s the ticket...
One other point should be made, the recent crazy weather in Iowa and Wisconsin and Illinois should remind us that it is a bad idea to make our energy availability so reliant on the weather.
God, I want a bumper sticker with that on it.
That’s what I hear when I hear No War for Oil.
Hehe -
great reply! I’ll think of it tonight when I am in ‘sipping’ mode...
There...I fixed it.
So, in order to reduce the money sent overseas for oil, B. Hussein has insisted that no more drilling take place in the continental United States. He'll do that by creating a non-existent market, using hard earned tax money, and pay farmers to not grow what's in demand in the world.
The first thing I thought was: Is that what they're huffing?
He has now.....
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