Comments on: Nearing Election, McCain and Palin Shift Views on Ethanol http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/10/28/nearing-election-mccain-and-palin-shift-views-on-ethanol/ Patriotism that loves our country, our land, and our planet Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:35:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: electrorocket http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/10/28/nearing-election-mccain-and-palin-shift-views-on-ethanol/comment-page-1/#comment-12529 electrorocket Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:48:29 +0000 http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=1444#comment-12529 Corn based ethanol is no environmentalist's dream. It is a most inefficient source of fuel, and is only around because of politics. There are much better sources for biofuel. Switchgrass, jatropha and hemp for example. Corn prices are rising now because of this, and we eat plenty of corn. As far as subsidies go, they're not needed, and drive prices up. Look at New Zealand. After they ended farm subsidies, their farming business really boomed. Without their government telling them what to plant, the free market decided, and they have a much more fruitful and innovative agricultural economy for it. Corn based ethanol is no environmentalist's dream. It is a most inefficient source of fuel, and is only around because of politics. There are much better sources for biofuel. Switchgrass, jatropha and hemp for example. Corn prices are rising now because of this, and we eat plenty of corn. As far as subsidies go, they're not needed, and drive prices up. Look at New Zealand. After they ended farm subsidies, their farming business really boomed. Without their government telling them what to plant, the free market decided, and they have a much more fruitful and innovative agricultural economy for it.

]]> By: Ronald S. http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/10/28/nearing-election-mccain-and-palin-shift-views-on-ethanol/comment-page-1/#comment-11876 Ronald S. Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:01:21 +0000 http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=1444#comment-11876 You write that "it’s the Democrats who support the ethanol and subsidy policies that help so many farmers in the middle of the country to stay afloat" ... as if that is something for which the Democrats should feel proud. They shouldn't. Those policies are, essentially, subsidizing consumption of liquid transport fuels (in part through lowering the price of blended fuels at the pump), and discouraging conservation. They are encouraging the plowing up of former prairie lands, the expansion of corn monocultures, and the intensification of chemical and water use that that implies. And the more that biofuel policies drive up the prices of grains and vetable oils, the more that people in the poorest nations of the world suffer. And who among the farmers are benefitting? Owners of prime arable land, that's who. Livestock farmers do not benefit, nor do farmers who have to lease farmland (as do many young farmers and many producers of organic vegetables). McCain may be wrong-headed on a lot of policies, but he is (or at least was) right to oppose the wasteful way that corn ethanol is being supported in the United States. You write that “it’s the Democrats who support the ethanol and subsidy policies that help so many farmers in the middle of the country to stay afloat” … as if that is something for which the Democrats should feel proud.

They shouldn’t. Those policies are, essentially, subsidizing consumption of liquid transport fuels (in part through lowering the price of blended fuels at the pump), and discouraging conservation. They are encouraging the plowing up of former prairie lands, the expansion of corn monocultures, and the intensification of chemical and water use that that implies. And the more that biofuel policies drive up the prices of grains and vetable oils, the more that people in the poorest nations of the world suffer.

And who among the farmers are benefitting? Owners of prime arable land, that’s who. Livestock farmers do not benefit, nor do farmers who have to lease farmland (as do many young farmers and many producers of organic vegetables).

McCain may be wrong-headed on a lot of policies, but he is (or at least was) right to oppose the wasteful way that corn ethanol is being supported in the United States.

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