Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Is Obama a Shill for the Ethanol Lobby?

[Jack Smith <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Wed, 2008-07-02 at 19:37 -0500, Mike Miller wrote:

> I used to think ethanol was good, but now I think it is wasting too much 
> good farm land.  It's working for Brazil but they can grow lots of extra 
> sugar cane, apparently.

I wouldn't say that it is wasting farm land at all. By definition,
wasting something means getting little to no benefit from it. Farmers
most certainly DO benefit from the overall increased demand for corn due
to ethanol fermentation and distillation in the form of better grain
prices. Just look at the number of acres put in corn this year versus
ten years ago before ethanol was being produced on such a large scale
and you'll see that the land certainly isn't being wasted- in fact, land
that was formerly being used for very little is being brought into
production.

I think that what you're trying to get at is that growing corn for
ethanol reduces the amount of corn available for feed and food or at the
very least causes feed and food to become more expensive. That is true,
which is why corn-based ethanol will never be more than a small part of
the fuel supply of the nation. However, completely turning your back on
something only because it isn't the end-all, be-all, _single_ silver
bullet solution for everything is not too bright. I am not even implying
that you are doing this but I have noticed that the media by and large
has this kind of mindset. I don't see any problem with using several
different energy sources/containers (ethanol is really the latter
whereas gasoline is the former) for energy needs. In fact, that is most
likely what *will* be done due to limitations on the scale of production
of any one medium.

> Do I have a strong reason to care about ethanol policy?  Not right now, so 
> maybe someone should convince me.

It does put an external force on the agricultural and fuel commodity
markets as well as putting an indirect force on the market for other
goods that happen to use these commodities as feedstocks or competes
with them. This "ripple effect" affects all of economically to some
degree or other, so it should matter at least a little bit. How much it
affects you may vary widely depending on your particular situation.

--Jack


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