fritz Posted August 2, 2007 Report Share Posted August 2, 2007 This article says farmers will benefit, but I think they should have been more specific--only corn farmers will benefit, the rest of us will pay more for feed>>> Repeal the ethanol program August 01, 2007 - Posted at 12:00 a.m. Editor, the Advocate: Sharp rises in bread, milk and corn prices this year are related. Federal subsidies for production of corn and the federal requirement that a percentage of gasoline be ethanol produced from corn are the causes. Farmers now can profit much more from growing corn than from other food crops, especially wheat and soybeans, because Congress artificially increased demand for (the price of) corn. With the production of food crops declining, prices for basic foods are rising. Since corn, wheat and soybeans are scarcer, their cost as ingredients of prepared food increases. Because corn is used to feed cattle, its reduced supply drives up the price of beef, cheese, ice cream, etc. Ethanol production requires nearly as much energy as ethanol produces. Moving ethanol to refineries where it is mixed with gasoline requires diesel, or gas-burning trucks, since ethanol corrodes pipelines. The ethanol program will greatly increase our dependence on foreign foods due to diversion of our farmland to corn production, while only marginally increasing our energy supply and utilizing more fossil fuels to process and transport the ethanol. The only one to benefit from it are farmers and ethanol processors. The losers: All of us who eat. What can we do? Urge our two senators to push for repeal of the program. Locally, we can inform the county judge and commissioners that they should not have granted a tax abatement to the prospective ethanol processor. Their rash action, apparently in ignorance of the growing food price inflation caused by this ethanol mania, is regrettable, but thoroughly inexcusable and reprehensible is the failure of VEDC to urge denial of the abatement. This omission speaks volumes about the tunnel vision of that parasitic organization which perennially has elevated the gain of a few local moneygrubbers over the welfare of the general populace. submitted by fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 I have to agree. I was in the grocery store a few days ago with my wife and she commented on how expensive beef had gotten. I expalined that it was partly due to the ethanol production. They're really pushing it here in CO. What we really need is fuel efficient cars & trucks. Everyone buys a 250+ HP car when they only need 1/2 or 2/3's of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 I heard a dude on the radio claim there was 3 times more of what ever it is in corn that makes ethanol,in sugar cane,and sugar cane isn't going to raise the price of any foods or livestock feed.I'm wondering if sugar cane is sort of restricted to being grown in the south.I've never seen it grown anywhere but Louisiana,but reckon anywhere along the Gulf Coast would work.If that's true,why wouldn't sugar beets be even better?Why is corn the only raw material we're hearing about? Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlunity Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 I agree. Gas may be important but food is the basic requirement. Convert coal. Karl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted August 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 "I was in the grocery store a few days ago with my wife and she commented on how expensive beef had gotten. " True, but just like the ones that are benefiting from the government sponsored subsidies (the ethanol refiners) the rest of rural America is left out. But the Bush administration mandated more alternative fuels. I am not against alternative fuels, but I am against alternative fools! Jerry, yes ethanol can be made from other than corn, but so many people in this country believe (falsely) that there is enough corn for everything. Obviously those fools have never been a corn producer as I was for over 30 years, and my father for 40 years before that! You can pay now, or pay later! fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 "I was in the grocery store a few days ago with my wife and she commented on how expensive beef had gotten. " True, but just like the ones that are benefiting from the government sponsored subsidies (the ethanol refiners) the rest of rural America is left out. But the Bush administration mandated more alternative fuels. I am not against alternative fuels, but I am against alternative fools! Jerry, yes ethanol can be made from other than corn, but so many people in this country believe (falsely) that there is enough corn for everything. Obviously those fools have never been a corn producer as I was for over 30 years, and my father for 40 years before that! You can pay now, or pay later! fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 It aint about fuel. It's so the Bush administration can say they're doing something good for the world. Same as the Army doing boarder patrol. My son's company spent 3 weeks hanging out around a swimming pool at some hotel just so Bush could tell everyone he's protecting our boarders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 Kenny's probably right,the fuel and border guarding is probably just a pacifier.I can't stand the thought of corn causing the price of beef to skyrocket because it's my favorite vegetable and fruit,but I'm luckier than some,'cause I can raise a beef and grow a big garden.What will all the folks that are stacked up in apartments like cordwood going to do when a McDonalds hamburger cost $5.00 or pizza $20.00? Growing up in rural Texas in the 50's and 60's,we grew probably 95% of what was on our table,and a hamburger(from town) was very special.A Coke and candybar was very exciting.We didn't grow our food because of prices only,it was because we could, what we grew was so much better,we didn't have a store right around the corner,and non of us were fat at 12 yrs old.What I'm getting at is,no matter how expensive the price of corn might make the rest of our food,the fat ass generation we have spawned will somehow find a way to stay fatassed.I'm 20lbs overweight because of the garbage I eat,and the amount has nothing to do with it.You figure out how much money is spent when every meal is ordered from a clown face,how much it cost to drink a Coke just because your thirsty 5 or 6 times a day,how much fuel is spent going after a pizza or chicken nuggets,and we can afford quite a spike in food prices,but a lifestyle will be in order. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted August 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2007 Yes, I have to agree that the ethanol program (as well as the other alternative fuel programs) are really only feel-good measures, promoted by politicians that see the votes they might gain by hopping on the "green" wagon. And by, of course, those "Green Party" fools that know all about how to change the world. It does not take a degree from some big university to realize that the reduction of our dependence on foreign fossil fuel will only come about by using less fuel. Someday, maybe 50 years from now, there will be vehicles that will do this. But as long as the American people have the money to keep blowing it out their tailpipes, the demand for energy will increase. Alternative fuels will not help your bottomline. Just listen to what the last posters (Tanglewood, Kenak, and Horesfly) said. We will pay in the end. God bless those politicians that are using this ethanol program to gain votes! They have the most amazing foresight I have ever seen! fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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