More Reasons to Abandon Ethanol Subsidies

USDA Secretary Pick Vilsack Faces Ethanol Decision

“We’re also hopeful that Governor Vilsack will take an objective look at the volatility corn ethanol has imposed on the food and fuel system, and its adverse impact on the environment,” said Ken Cook, the president of Environmental Working Group, an environmental advocacy organization in Washington.

Bentley plan to cut CO2 with ethanol comes under fire

"The weight of the evidence against ethanol as a net reducer of greenhouse gas emissions vis-À-vis gasoline is by now quite overwhelming."

Environmental Groups Oppose Ethanol Bailout in Stimulus Package

The Clean Air Task Force, Environmental Working Group, Friends of Earth, and the Network for New Energy Choices released a statement today saying that federal government subsidies and mandates for corn-based ethanol produce potentially catastrophic consequences to the environment, and have no payback to taxpayers in terms of alleviating global warming effects, providing for energy security, or even simply reducing the cost of driving.

Unrealistic Ethanol Subsidies Should be Dropped in Minnesota

With their darling biofuel project - corn-based ethanol - continuing to prove a disaster, many states are having to reevaluate their commitment and cut back on funding.

Minnesota is one of those states, as Governor Tim Pawlenty will have to make a key decision on how much the state is able to commit to with a projected $5.2 billion budget deficit facing him.

The problem for Minnesota is they hailed the dubious industry as a savior of Minnesota farmers and could face a huge backlash as that assertion and ploy comes back to haunt them.

Last year Minnesota paid out above $15 million to ethanol plants in subsidies, and its going to be hard to justify continuing that in the current economic climate.

All states need to take a hard look at the problem and get rid of this subsidy and misguided effort to produce a biofuel that experts all around say isn't viable and does more harm than good.

More Ethanol Woes as 23 Illegals Arrested at Plant

The ethanol debacle continues to vomit up bad news, as at a Casselton, ND ethanol plant, 23 illegals from India were arrested. The illegals had phony social security cards and drivers licenses from other states.

At a hearing scheduled for Friday, the illegals will face charges of having counterfeit documents in their possession.

While the workers entered the country legally, they were here on short-term visas.

Managers for the Wanzek Construction company contacted authorities when they became suspicious of the workers status in the country.

Livestock Organizations Outraged Over Agriculture Secretary's Comments on Using USDA Loans for Ethanol Companies

It's almost unbelievable that Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said recently that he is considering using USDA loans to bailout the horribly run ethanol companies which are already pillaging taxpayer dollars in order to even launch or survive.

Now the reason they are whining for more money is they invested in corn futures. What are they doing investing in corn futures? They simply don't care.

In an extraordinarily stupid statement, Schafer said they "got away from their focus on producing ethanol and started speculating in the commodity markets. It's hurt them."

I can't think of anything more criminalizing than that statement. Now the Agriculture Secretary wants to do his part be bailing out the dubious corn-based ethanol industry? I don't think so.

The industry is worthless and a huge mistake. It's past time to abandon it, drop all subsidies, and let them all go out of business. It's already starting to happen, and it needs to be put to rest now.

To even consider helping these screwballs by offering them loans to cover their speculation in corn futures is outrageous at least, and potentially criminal.

Greater Ohio Ethanol Latest to File Bankruptcy in Ongoing Ethanol Debacle

Another company bites the dust in the continuing exposure of the ethanol debacle in the U.S. The latest casualty is the Greater Ohio Ethanol company, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

As usual with the ethanol hoax, people let their emotions get in the way of facts, and they make terrible decisions. Unfortunately it's creating a false hope in many communities across the country which were counting on it to make a difference in where they live.

In this particular case, the amount of water needed to make the fuel was seriously miscalculated by half of what is being used, and that has pretty much destroyed the project and the hopes of the people that were counting on it. This is becoming the story across numerous communities in the U.S.

While chapter 11 bankruptcy is initiated in order to attempt to reorganize, the sounds of this is another company has foolishly entered into the ethanol fray without the understanding of the high costs of ethanol.

Weak Economy Exposes Ethanol Subsidy Debacle

Towns across America ran hard to partake in another government scheme to buy votes through offering subsidies for the production of ethanol.

Many buildings and plans are now sitting empty and idle, while a growing number are declaring bankruptcy, or are already in the process.

While mainstream media is in love with the industry, and refuses to point out the horrid effects the misguided effort has or will produce, that doesn't stop the realities of it from happening.

Many goofy liberals even tout it as patriotic. In reality it's not patriotic, it's idiotic. Not only that, even though it's increasingly apparent that it's a terrible idea and will have more negative impacts than positive, it's now becoming close to being embraced as a religion by liberals, and they are clinging to it like it's their god, rather than the folly it is.

The weak global and U.S. economy has exposed the weakness of the debacle, and that's the reason so many ethanol projects are shuttering their doors.

The reason it's faltering is that people couldn't care less about it, and are starting to understand the extraordinary costs related to forcing upon them.

A large number of these attempts have partly come from taxpayer money as well as subsidies, and that has in many cases been money thrown down the drain. It's past time for the government to be involved with this stupidity and let the market decide what type of fuel and energy they want to use.

For now, in America we have billions of barrels of oil available for use. We need to drill and retrieve that for our fuel before we do more stupid things that not only cost poor people around the world from soaring food costs, but the damage the pursuit is doing to the environment.

What's worse about all this is many small towns joined the bandwagon, hoping it would produce some jobs for the communities. Now they have empty buildings and ruined dreams as the fantasy of ethanol being some type of savior to the community has come crashing to the ground.

Yet in the midst of the government-induced economic crisis we're now in, they still hold to devastating and disastrous ideas that interfere in markets and destroy the lives of unsuspecting people.

Related Stories:

U.S. Ethanol Subsidies to Keep Food Prices High Everywhere

More Reasons to Drop the Ethanol Nonsense

Ethanol no more than Heavily Subsidized Cash Crop Supported by Powerful Lobby

Corn Farmers in Denial over Taking Responsibility for High Cost of Food

Is U.S. Government Responding Quickly Enough to the Ethanol Disaster?

Tensions Continue Building as Ethanol Continues to Cause Increase in Corn, Food Prices

More Reasons to Free us from the Ethanol Devil

The growing number of reasons to drop ethanol and its government subsidies continues to reveal the utter stupidity of pursuing ethanol as a significant source of renewable fuel.

As people continue to deconstruct the arguments made in favor of ethanol, it's getting clearer and clearer it's an initiative pushed by special interest groups who created fear of foreign energy dependency at the cost of sanity.

While we obviously need to look at real alternatives in the years ahead, we are far from being in some type of serious trouble, as the billions of barrels of oil under American soil, as well as under its oceans attest to.

Environmentalists and opportunist have created this false problem by panicking people into believing we're on the cusp of a worldwide disaster, when in reality there's enough oil to last for decades ... if not longer.

Recent discoveries in Brazilian waters, along with the huge oil deposits in the Canadian oil sands are also proof of the need to slow down and take into account all the effects and unintended consequences that always accompany decisions that are motivated by fear and political expediency.

U.S. Ethanol Subsidies to Keep Food Prices High Everywhere

The outrageous subsidy for corn-based ethanol in the U.S. continues to batter consumers across the world, as even though other commodities have been dropping, food prices are expected to stay the same, and in a number of cases - rise.

For retail food prices in the U.S., they have been growing at a 6 percent rate this year, in contrast to the regular inflation rate at about 2 percent.

With irresponsible politicians and ongoing ignoring of stories like this by the mainstream media, the cost of food items related to corn price increases like chicken, beef and pork are projected to continue rising for the immediate future. The majority of that related to the misguided and terrible idea of subsidizing big corporate corn farmers so it can look like the government is doing something related to energy.

The disaster will continue until the story is continually reported on and the reality of the consequences understood by the public.

The next meat to be affected will be chicken, which so far producers haven't passed on the higher feed costs to consumers, but Bill Roenigk, senior vice president of the National Chicken Council said that's all about to change.

"From a consumer standpoint, more and more of these feed costs are going to be passed on and that means higher prices at the supermarket," said Roenigk.

All this because of the usual pressure from special interest groups with an agenda, as well as a government that continues to pass themselves off as the big daddy of the universe. Until this attitude is reined in, Americans and people around the world will continue to suffer from the continual rise in food prices.

Just like we need to drill for the billions of barrels of oil on American soil or it's coastlines, so we need to stop this outrageous subsidy that is helping no one but the huge corporate corn farmers in America, as well as some landowners cashing in on rising farmland prices.

Battle over Ethanol Continues: Resistance Grows

Cellulosic Ethanol turning into fight

Is Ethanol a Boon or Drain on Our Economy?

Big Horn Basin Ethanol puts brakes on new plant

Minus microphones, ethanol critics still have their say

Texas Gov Calls Ethanol Mandate a 'Scam'

Ethanol blend petrol not much healthier

Ethanol producers say they didn't cause spike

What are the future of biofuels?

More Reasons to Drop the Ethanol Nonsense

As Kenneth P. Green wrote in a recent article concerning ethanol, we need to adapt a new slogan: "Ethanol: Drink It, Don't Drive It."

He offers a number of reasons increasingly understood as to why we need to drop this disastrous policy and taxpayer subsidy for corn-based, or any other type of ethanol, encouraged for the dubious reason of being energy independent, creating jobs, lowering gasoline prices and reducing the non-existent global warming.

The truth is, other than the corn industry, nobody is really prospering from this misguided government policy set up to make it look like something's being done. I guess people deserve it for making big government their god.

Other possibilities like making use of switch grass or other cellulosic crops to produce ethanol would "increase greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent compared to using regular gasoline."

Whether or not increasing greenhouse gas emissions is really bad for the planet, using the standards of those promoting ethanol as the answer, it is a negative.

Anyway, go here to get a number of reasons this needs to be stopped ASAP.

Moronic EPA Rejects Ethanol Waiver Request of Texas Governor Rick Perry

As Texas Governor Rick Perry said in response to the idiotic decision by the EPA to refuse an ethanol waiver, "Congress specifically created an emergency waiver provision for situations like these and EPA refuses to implement it."

In the latter part of April, Perry asked the EPA for a 50 percent waiver on the so-called Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which artificially forces about 9 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol to be added to U.S. gasoline supplies on a yearly basis. Next year it'll rise to 11.1 billion gallons.

It's caused huge food problems around the world, and has significantly impacted the price of food in the U.S., as prices continue to rise.

According to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, the agency denied the waiver because it did not find it caused "severe economic harm."

I wonder if he knows how stupid that sounds? He's basically acknowledging it's causing harm, but as long it's not "severe," it's ok. Screwball!

The only recognition that it's causing higher prices was that it has in the EPA's terms it is only adding 7 cents to each bushel of corn.

While that could be disputed, even if it's true, you add that to the number of bushels sold and it's significant. But that's far from the whole story, and Johnson and the EPA know it. There are huge residual effects not talked about, like the cost of feed and seed, which adds to the price of various meats. Even more significantly, the increasing use of acreage for corn is causing less acreage to grow other crops, which is also raising their prices.

The cost of ethanol is huge, and largely not worth the effort. It's already seen as a disaster in the making, and the usual good intentions of government interference in the free market is again rearing its ugly head, as people pay the price of lawmakers' folly.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry Continues Battle Against Ethanol and Rising Feed Prices

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, still concerned about rising feed prices, continues his battle to pressure the federal government to cut ethanol production requirements in half.

Perry rightly notes that federal requirements to increase the ethanol mandate is "no longer a good idea. It's hurting America. It's hurting our families."

The high cost of corn-based ethanol has not only devasted the food industry for human consumption, but also the cost of feeding livestock, which of course also goes directly to consumers' pocketbooks.

There is growing opposition to the ill-advised Renewable Fuel Standard by just about everybody but those taking advantage of subsidies; including the corn growers.

The EPA administrator has the authority to dismiss the requirements after it consults with the Energy and Agriculture secretaries.