Ethanol? Ethan NO!

The Ethanol story and the attempts by government to promote it are a classic example of what happens when the government thinks it knows better than the free market, ignores economic realities, and intrudes to 'Make things the way they ought to be!". The Ethanol story seems to be yet one more case of lobbyists for a special interest getting their way with the legislature to the deteriment of the rest of America. I'm in agreement with you that we should "Stop this stupidity NOW!".

Ethanol-based gasoline has been around for decades. Some critics said it is not good for car engines. Not only the States, other countries also face the same problems of abandoning other crops to produce corns.

Why are we whining about THIS! The last I checked Ethanol was cheaper then gasoline and is made right here in the USA! As long as we can grow corn here (which we always have been able to), then we'll have it forever! Maybe we don't have it as much because it's just getting off the ground, and not all cars offer FlexFuel. (Mine doesn't and believe me, if I could use Ethanol in it, I wouldn't hesitate!) Look at how many hybrid vehicles were on the road not 5 years ago. As for how much less HP and gas mileage you'll get, oh whoop-de-do. So you'll get 5 less HP and a few less MPGs. It's MADE RIGHT HERE WITH OUR OWN STUFF! You want to stop being dependant on foreign oil, then this is what to buy! I'm sorry, but I am sick and freakin tired of hearing how we'll soon be paying $10+ a gallon in a few years! Wanna ruin our economy for good? Just keep buying gas! It's already happening! We're on our way to a recession from hell due to $3+ gas. I'm not buying the scare tactics! Ethanol is going to be the product that saves our economy, and if you can put it in your car and you don't, then you're stupid! Oh BTW if it takes more oil to produce Ethanol, then why is it CHEAPER?!

I'm not sure where you found that corn is the #1 cash crop. I know it is up there on the list pretty high though. Corn and soybeans are the main crops fed to farm animals. The corn prices have already had an impact on several farmers and different grains are being used (I'm an agriculture major so we have discussions about this topic all the time in our classes). What bothers me the most is not that the animal feed may have to shift to another grain, but that ethanol production is actually very inefficient. There are much better uses of corn. And much more efficient sources of fuel.

I agree...we have an Ethanol plant that was just built and opened up near me recently and after talking to my husband about it etc the reality is it was a BAD FREAKIN IDEA....

I have been against it since its inception - as many homesteaders have been. It has made a huge impact on the economy, and not to the better I am afraid. Corn fed cattle.... sky rocket beef and beef bi products (butter milk cheese leather ...) corn fed chickens - chicken meat and eggs sky rocket corn for eating, skyrocket Ethanol for fuel - less economical, less mileage per gallon, not good on many engines... and mandatory!!!! in some states. that last part really burns my beans as well - consumers in this "free country" have very little choice any more, it seems. we see what ethanol production has done, if only in hindsight it is proven... then why can we not band together and insist that the program be dropped? it ain't right, I tell you, it jes ain't right!

ParaTed I am glad to see you back. Now on to Ethan No, if ethanol was so great why does it requires government subsidies to stay aflot. If ethanol was so great why are not private companies triping over each other with private money. Everything either has corn in it, or is feed corn. So when you start using corn for fuel of course grocery will skyrocket. You are right to say that ethanol does a greater harm to the environment. First you must grow more corn, so that either means that you switch current crops to corn, or create new farms. Then there is how it is created. Petroleum is just a better fuel source. Petroleum gets better mileage, cars run better on it, and it is just cheaper.

This is all about the Global Warming Religion where a group of greedy politicians and activist got the insane idea that we had the ability to alter the climate. We keep hearing about biofuels and ethanol and the so called benefits of using them, when the reality is the benefit are none existent. Ethanol puts out more pollution in it's production than it prevents in it's use, and it really isn't all that good for engines either. We now know that CO2 is not a big factor in Global Warming/Cooling and Climate change... it is the Sun and Water Vapor... which makes all of these Man Made Global Warming claims nothing more than a big hoax. We are spending massive amount to stop Global Warming, we are about to spend a LOT more, and it is all for nothing. Even if all of the things go according to the plans they have, a recent EPA study showed that it would take until 2095 to reduce CO2 by 25 PPM at a cost of $2.9 trillion by 2050. We would be reducing our GDP by something like 6.9% The last time our GDP went down that far was during the Great Depression. A 25PPM reduction in CO2 would change absolutely nothing even if CO2 was a cause of Global Warming. Because of political reaction to the Global Warming hype, our crop lands are being used to produce ethanol because our farmers can make more money with it. Our food supply is now in competition with our fuel supply, and for no good reason. Meanwhile food prices will continue to soar as our economy continues to get worse.... and it is all due to the Man Made Global Warming Religion and the Prophets of Doom who preach the Global Warming Religion. Meanwhile, Gore is all set up to trade in Carbon Credits and cash in on all of the scare mongering that is driving this craze.

I think you are exactly right for once being a supporter and backing off now. The whole process has been destroyed by several factors. IF we hadn't run the American farm substructure into the ground. IF we had started conversion back when oil was more available (versus demand) and therefore more affordable. IF we had begun efforts to produce "clean ethnanol factories" instead of giving tax abatements to ANY ethanol factory. IF we had an intelligent, planned process for changing the world's major fuel to ethanol, it MIGHT have worked. The whole thing was doomed from the beginning as far as I was concerned. Free market economics never would have developed ethanol and social control programs couldn't drive the change well enough. Because several governments around the world have been trying, we are now stuck with a process that is in limbo. Getting out of the mess now will take better minds than we currently have at the top of government! We can't just pull out the demand for corn and leave farmer's hanging, but we can't keep turning more and more land over to corn (repetitive corn planting saps nutrients faster than many other crops, so without proper crop rotation, more and more acres will have to be opened up for corn). We'll have to end up subsidizing another crop to maintain the incentive for rotation and we'll pay a high price in clean up for the existing ethanol factories. Short of making leisure driving illegal, though, we're doomed to high gas prices one way or the other!