Government's Ethanol Policy Costing another 75 Jobs: Butterball Laying Off 75 Workers

The horrendous, artificial ethanol industry continues to devastate other American industry, as Butterball announced it would be laying off another 75 workers, this time in Carthage, Missouri.

Last year the company had to lay off another 490 workers in Longmont, Colorado, citing the surging corn prices caused by corn-based ethanol subsidies from the U.S. government.

CEO Keith Shoemaker says this time around the problem continues to be the terrible government-sponsored ethanol policies which have artificially inflated the price of corn.

Many other animal-based businesses are experiencing the same disaster, as feed prices continue to rise.

Ethanol Fix continues to call upon the government to stop this atrocity and rescind the failed law and plan.

Many Reasons to Drop the Ethanol Debacle

"New" ethanol to face crunch time under a Chu DOE


"Steven Chu, Obama's pick for the head of the Department of Energy, is a steadfast supporter of next-generation biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol, expected to be made from the tough woody bits of crops like grasses and fast growing trees as well as plant and timber waste.

"But next-generation biofuels are no quick fix. They are more expensive than gasoline, a problem that was tricky when oil hit $147 a barrel over the summer, but even more difficult now as it trades under $50 a barrel."



Why the Ethanol Mandate is a Joke and a Crime

Shawn McCambridge, senior grains analyst for Prudential-Bache, said capacity could dip below the mandate because the economy will make politicians unwilling to enforce penalties or push for more ethanol at the expense of consumers.



NSW Farmers question lift in mandatory ethanol targets

The NSW Farmers’ Association supports the availability of ethanol blended petrol at service stations throughout NSW, but it believes that this should be determined by market forces, not Government intervention by mandating the percentage of ethanol in petrol.



The Real Future of Ethanol

A state fund that helps North Dakota ethanol plants is expected to run out of money this month.



Ethanol isn't the Answer

Going to ethanol was a great decision for the Brazilians – they got off of foreign oil and, as luck would have it, created a greener fuel which only became important recently. But that doesn’t mean that we can do the same. It’s good that we began to look at other countries to see what they do well, but we need to understand differences between countries, too. Here, we should have known that ethanol wasn’t right for us. If we want energy independence and a greener fuel, we need to look at what else America has to offer.



Ethanol the Killer

Governments worldwide are tempering their drive for biofuel use after a surge in production increased land clearance in Latin America and Asia and reduced food production in some regions. In July, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated wheat and corn prices may rise as much as 7 percent in the next decade because of greater U.S. and European production of alternative fuels.



Ethanol is Worst Biofuel Option

Ethanol-based biofuels will irreversibly damage human health, wildlife, water supply and land use than current fossil fuels ... warns an expert.

VeraSun Energy Requests Permission to Void Corn Contracts

Another reason to abandon the ethanol fiasco!

VeraSun energy has requested permission from a bankruptcy court in Delaware to void contracts with farmers if they give them a 10-day notice.

Pacific Ethanol Performance Underscores Ethanol Debacle

The performance of Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) in the third quarter underscores the debacle that the ethanol industry is in the United States.

Losses for the company widened by an extraordinary amount, surging to $54.9 million, or 98 cents a share, in contrast to the same quarter last year where losses were at $4.8 million.

This happened while revenue increased to $184 million, up from $118.1 million last year. Analysts were looking for revenue to reach $218.6 million. The 98 cents a share was also far higher than the 16 cents a share analysts expected.

It's time to end government subsidies and end the ethanol fiasco in the U.S. Even with subsidies the industry isn't viable, and saying cellulosic ethanol is the answer is wrong as well, as it costs far more to produce than the corn-based ethanol we're now producing.

Monsanto Acquires Brazil's "Aly Participacoes" Eyeing Sugarcane for Ethanol

With demand for sugarcane starting to outstrip production, Monsanto (MON) has acquired Brazilian-based Aly Participacoes Ltda. in order to work on producing sugarcane seeds that will be much higher-yielding than present stocks.

Of course much of the demand for sugarcane has come about from the fixation of governments on using ethanol as a gas substitute, based on the non-factual idea of "peak oil." There's billions of barrels of oil available throughout the world, and even in the U.S. alone.

Most of this is ideologically driven, rather than based on facts.

While that's a misguided illusion, at the same time that illusion will stick around for some time until all that fails. So in that sense, this is a good investment for Monsanto, as the obsession with ethanol will continue based on unwarranted fears that are driving the fixation.

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?

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.

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

So said one writer recently, and I think he's right.

While the usual proliferation of polls - that can no longer be trusted - have been recently thrown out as evidence the American people are behind the corn-based ethanol fiasco, it's only because of the way the poll is worded, as well as marketing campaigns from the dubious, but powerful corn lobby.

The rise in food prices directly related to the overgrowing and overuse of corn, has resulted in less acreage for other crops, and higher costs of seed as well. Some places in the world have dramatic food shortages as a result of this politically motivated, misguided policy.

Another less-than-honest reality is the performance of ethanol, which is far less productive than regular gasoline, and takes much more to make up the lower mileage difference ethanol gets.

As Bob Sommer, writing for Midwest Voices said, "... as long as every politician, Republican or Democrat, who sets foot in Iowa or Nebraska or any corn-producing state thinks the way to solve the energy and climate crises—and get elected in the bargain—is to drink the ethanol Kool-Aid, our future will look dim indeed."

Many of the polls I've seen in support of ethanol have come from ethanol-backed coalitions that have financial stakes in the continued tax-payer subsidy of the alternative fuel. Here's one as an example.

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

In an extremely pathetic assertion, the president of the National Corn Growers Association, Rick Tolman, said this about rising food prices: "bottom line, there's been a very clever marketing disinformation campaign directed at bio fuels for those with deep pockets."

Here's this organization representing huge, corporate farmers, who are subsidized by taxpayer dollars saying other companies with a lot of money are spreading disinformation.

All these big corporate farmers are fighting is losing the tax dollars they're getting to grow corn that is causing a lot of pain in the pocketbook of consumers who don't only pay for it with their taxes, but worse, through higher food prices.

Corn-based ethanol is a debacle that needs to be stopped now. The assertion that cellulosic ethanol is going to be the answer is also smoke in the wind. Not only is it years away in coming, if it ever does, but it's also far more expensive than corn-based ethanol is.

What was thought to be a slam dunk by politicians, subsidy-loving corporate farmers and environmentalists, is now becoming a destructive power against human beings. It simply needs to be stopped and dropped right now!

Texas Governor Rick Perry Seeks U.S. Ethanol Cutback Waiver

Calling the ethanol mandate of the federal government "misguided," Texas Governor Rick Perry solicited the government for a waiver on the renewable fuel standard. He's asking for it to be cut in half for Texas.

"We're diversifying our state's energy portfolio at a rapid rate, but this misguided mandate is significantly affecting Texans' family food bill," Perry said.

He added: "The artificial demand for grain-derived ethanol is devastating the livestock industry in Texas and needlessly creating a negative impact on our state's otherwise strong economy while driving up food prices around the world."

This is what almost always happens when the government enters into the marketplace. Think of the term "good intentions," and then add "unintended consequences."

These are already destroying lives of people across the world, and riots are ensuing and the government of Haiti has already fallen in response to the fallout.

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

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has finally commented on the ethanol disaster resulting from the corn subsidy's given to farmers to grow it.

He said the U.S. would be "moving away gradually" from corn-based ethanol development, although there is really no alternative, as far as ethanol goes as a biofuel, because cellulosic ethanol is still far too complicated and costly to be a viable alternative.

"The reason that cellulosic fuels like ethanol are not on the market in large volumes is not because we don't know how to make it in commercial quantities," Bodman said. "The production process at present is too complex and too costly, but I am confident that we can find the way forward."

The continuing discovery of oil, along with the new way oil may be produced, offers a much better future for energy than ethanol, or any other option at this time.

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

The misguided policy of artificially creating a legal level of ethanol biofuel use is reeking havoc across the world as food and meat prices continue to soar in response to the unintended consequences.

That's always the problem when fear and torment are used as tools to push through policies built upon personal agendas.

As Paul Haugens, vice-president for Newedge Trading said, "The food-versus-fuel battle is going to get bigger and it's a political year in the United States so I don't see anyone making any changes (to ethanol policy)."

Listening to the irresponsible comments by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer Tuesday confirms Haugens is right, as schafer said, "energy is the big issue as we look at those food prices."

No it's not! The subsidizing of growing corn for the pet ethanol project is by far the major reason for the increase in food prices across the world.

The impact of this policy is being called "a crime against humanity" by Jean Ziegler, UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food; basing his assertion on the huge increase in food prices across the world.

Riots and protests are spreading globally, and the Haitian government was toppled last week because of when riots move senators in the country to fire the prime minister. It's going to get worse.

This foolish policy needs to be dropped now, as the growing number of oil discoveries show the hoax of Peak Oil is just that. There's no huge rush to get these things pushed through, as billions of barrels of oil have been discovered by Brazil, and new reserves in an area adjacent to the Canadian Sands could hold billions more. This doesn't include the billions awaiting to be taken out of the oil shales in the U.S.

Unfortunately, millions will suffer because of the newest government sponsorship of biofuels which are dubious at best, and deadly at worst.

Taxpayers Fork Out $82 Million to Range Fuels Inc. for Another Dubious Ethanol Project

More of our tax dollars are being wasted on another government-sponsored hope for utopia, as Range Fuels received $76 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, and another $6 million from the state of Georgia to help build its commercial cellulosic ethanol plant close to Soperton, Ga.

Some even have the nerve to call it "private funding." My question is: Where did the state of Georgia and the U.S. Department of Energy get their money from? So let's call it what it is: taxpayer funded.

Now the true private sector has also gotten involved, as Series B round of financing led by Passport Capital has landed another $130 million for the project.

All of this for an increasingly controversial, unproven source of bio-fuel, which is viewed by a growing number of people as causing more harm than good.

Concerning cellulosic ethanol, Range Fuels asserts its K2 process can use woody biomass for its source of ethanol, which uses 75 percent less water than corn-based ethanol. They also claim the K2 process yields far more ethanol per ton of biomass than biochemical processes.

They also say they will be able to produce ethanol at a cost far below the almost $2 per gallon it's currently produced for with corn ethanol production costs, as well as enzymatic processes.

Of course anyone can assert something in order to justify tax dollars being wasted on them.

The truth is the existing ethanol fiasco is already being discovered that it isn't worth the consequences and costs. This is why the government and others are desperately searching for an alternative before their failure is made open to the public.

Keeping up with Ethanol: News Around the Web

More on the high cost of Ethanol


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Germany backs off biofuel plan

Germany's environment minister on Friday scrapped a plan to double the amount of ethanol that can be mixed into gasoline, saying that too many cars would be unable to cope with the change.

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Downside of ethanol

As spring is here, we will soon see public service announcements on when to mow the grass and when to fill our vehicle gas tanks to reduce the pollutant ozone in our atmosphere.

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Ethanol’s Unsexy Dilemma

Ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, meaning a car filled with ethanol gets fewer miles per gallon. Accounting for this energy difference, at the time of publishing, E85 was retailing for a nationwide average of $3.56 a gallon compared with $3.28 for regular gasoline, according to the Automobile Association of America.

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Pacific Ethanol reports on losses, plans for 2008

The net loss for the company's fourth quarter of 2007 was $14.7 million, up from $3.1 million the previous year, the company reported. The loss came despite sales growing from $80 million in the fourth quarter of 2006 to $130 million during the same quarter of 2007.

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Times Writers Group: Ethanol, not the greenest option

"It takes more energy to make than it produces!" "It's driving up food prices!" "It's government meddling in the market!" "Those crazy environmentalists want to force us all to buy ethanol!"

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Against the grain: What are they thinking?

All that glitters is not gold. And all that grows is not green.

That is the belated realization about grain ethanol -- in fact, about any ethanol whose feedstock is grown on cropland. Joe Romm has done a good job posting on this issue, including his report on the recent studies featured in Science magazine. I'd like to weigh in with a few additional points.

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Kernel of ethanol's problems

Ethanol producers looked for a great year as the price of gasoline rose, making it more profitable to produce. But, despite rising sales, Pacific Ethanol Inc. lost $14.4 million last year due to high prices for corn, low prices for ethanol and losses on derivatives.Higher corn yields, higher ethanol yields?

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