His stance on ethanol sets Cal professor apart

Contra Costa Times ^ | 9/26/5 | Judy Silber

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

The knee-jerk response of invoking Marx on your opponent is only worthy of liberal "racist, sexist, homophobe" type ad hominem attacks, and should be discouraged.

Give me a break. You're over reacting. Marx's analysis was taken seriously in both the 19th and 20th centuries. I can remember a time when capitalism was a dirty word. Smith's invisible hand metaphor was invoked to distinguish between socialism's central planning and the free market's dependence on the aggregate of free people making free choices. Perfect? No. But a lot better than central planning.

[markman46]

Not to worry; the statists have thought of that, and are planning on taxing us per mile.

I have been hearing that,don't know why they just don't make us all drive on toll roads!!

[radioman]

you can make cheap, clean biodiesel in your garage

The petroleum monopoly has convinced people that the internal combustion engine requires petroleum. Nothing could be further from the truth. Petroleum became popular because it was cheap. Alternative motor fuels will not be developed unless government restrictions on producers and sellers are lifted. The tax man wants you to use petroleum.
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[B Knotts]

I actually wouldn't mind one of those (with the 3 cylinder diesel engine) for commuting.

But, I wouldn't want it forced on me by the government.

And, FWIW, I live in a rural area, and have a full size pickup. I don't drive it much...mainly to the feed store, to pick up hay and feed. You might not be able to see the stuff in the bed from a car, but it's in there.

[antiRepublicrat]

I'm sure all the true costs are included in what we pay for gasoline

The latest energy bill was like Christmas for the oil industry. Of course, it was full of cash for ethanol too.

[markman46]

I don't know where you live, but here in calif you have to drive to go any where, and people do like of travel! just check out a hwy/fwy at 3:00 in the afternoon, Sorry but you are wrong!

[Mr. Lucky]

Would the University of Chicago's Argonne National Laboratory be OK with you?

http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/TA/349.pdf

[JoeGar]

Why should people be driving big trucks and SUVs that get 10 mpg when they could be driving full sized cars (like a camry or accord) that gets 30 mpg?

Well, it's unsafe to tow anything of size (like a boat) with a front-wheel-drive vehicle or a light vehicle. Where, in the Camry or Accord, do you put the garbage our gummint makes us carry to the landfill and recycling center? Where in the car do you put the ten bales of landscape pinestraw you bought at Home Depot? SUV's middle name is "utility" -- one vehicle that can do many things unlike a single-function car.

[BlueMondaySkipper]

Ethanol is what you get when you mix corn with tax dollars.

LOL

[Mountain Dewd]

My son most likely would have been born in the front seat of a camry if I had not had four wheel drive (a 4Runner).

I questioned whether having a SUV was justified until that day.

[B Knotts]

the US was actually founded on the ideals of SOCIETAL freedom, not individual freedom.

Have I stumbled onto the wrong website? Is this not Free Republic?

I'm not a minarchist by any stretch of the imagination, but this claim is bizarre.

[talleyman]

Electrical generation is an insignificant use of the US oil demand.

I assume the present amounts are fairly comparable to the 2002 chart amounts? (Even so, 2% is 2% - every little bit helps...) Just curious, do you you have info at hand re: the natural gas breakout? what would be the NG savings from all-nuke (or coal) power plants? (Just curious.)

[Liberty Tree Surgeon]

Good points. My concern is that we will need to raise the rate to incorporate the more accurate costs, and doing it linearly (based on strict $/gallon tax) impacts those with less incremental income marginally more. But, you're spot on when it comes to car pooling and other behavior changes.

[GSlob]

"---when ethanol is used in the machinery people growing the corn and in the burners of the distillation plants manufacturing it, it will have become economically feasible"
Sorry, it would never do. Ethanol is for drinking, aka internal combustion, and is sacred to Bacchus. Every other use is a sacrilege.

[Neoliberalnot]

Yes, yes, as I stated--"It has always been government policy to keep food cheap, hence the prime reason for subsidies in a vary volatile industry. Abscent controls and subsidies, think about food prices doubling and shortages occurring. Not a pleasant prospect."

I don't want to go overboard with pessimism, because during harvest time it is very rewarding to fill semis with food for a hungry world. It provides a real sense of accomplishment.

[Neoliberalnot]

Now would be the time for you to sell me that dreamboat cheap.

[flashbunny]

Yeah, great. I love this line:

"Energy balance value for a given energy product alone is not meaningful in evaluating its benefit"

That's a classic liberal logic line: "Don't look at the results, look at our intentions!"

BTW, you know there's a big corn lobby in illinois too?

And the the department of energy, Which funds them, has what kind of bias on ethanol?

You can not claim bias on the part of one researcher and then ignore the bias of another - especially where it is so obvious.

[Liberty Tree Surgeon]

No, my screen name has everything to do with liberty, which must incorporate responsibility. Your version is "I can do whatever I want, without paying the consequences." You may want to log into DU and give it a try. There, ain't ad hominem jibes oh so fun?

[flashbunny]

Responsibity is something you make yourself do.

Having the govenrment force another person to do something is not 'responsibility', it is simply FORCE.

Of course, you don't seem to care about that.

[antiRepublicrat]

I actually wouldn't mind one of those (with the 3 cylinder diesel engine) for commuting.

I was seriously considering buying one in Germany when gas was $5/gal, as it would have bought itself with the difference in fuel costs, and my other car got 29 mpg actual. They're actually kind of fun to drive, and parking is a breeze.