Jimmy cracked Corn Ethanol, and I don’t care!

Bad Idea

Written by Adam Shake

Corn Ethanol: Hero or Hype? From Mother Earth News.

• In current engines, E85 provides about 30 percent less fuel economy than gasoline
• Ethanol cannot be transported through existing pipelines because it is corrosive and easily absorbs water.  It must be delivered by trucks, barges and rail cars, which produces more pollution.
• Converting remaining prairie, forests and rain forest into cropland will release CO2 and add to the problems of global warming.
• Even if all current U.S. corn production went to biofuels, we could offset just 12 percent of our current gasoline use, according to a 2006 study from the University of Minnesota.
• Expanding ethanol production could diminish and pollute local water supplies.
• The energy produced by corn ethanol is only slightly more than the energy required to make it.

Hmm…

Why are we using corn to make gas, when there people are starving?

When I was a kid, my Mom worked for the Agriculture Dept. in the Midwest.  She wrote checks to farmers.  If

Corn is king

the Government decided that there was too much milk on the market, (in other words, prices were dropping) they would have the dairy farmers dump their milk down the wells, and then pay them market value for the milk.  You cant stop milking a milk cow, but you can throw away the milk and create a false milk shortage, thereby driving up the price.  The Government does the same think with what we grow in this country.  If some dummy in Congress passes a bill saying that by 2010, 25% of the gas sold in this country has to be made of Corn Ethanol, then farmers across the nation quite growing soybean, fruit, vegetables and jump on the corn bandwagon.  They grow the corn and sell it to the Government instead of the grocery stores.  The Government then holds onto it and it rots.  Why?  Because we don’t have the demand for E85 fuel!  We don’t have gas stations pumping the stuff!  We don’t have car companies making the cars because we don’t have people who want to buy them!

Why are we growing corn that we cant eat to sweeten our food, instead of using sugar?

Corn is good for you?

One simple reason.  It’s cheaper, because there is a gluttony of the corn on the market, its cheaper to turn some of it into “High Fructose Corn Syrup” or “HFCS” than it is to buy sugar cane from overseas.  But hey, why not plant more “Sugar Beets” here in the states?  But who am I?  Just some stupid consumer sheep without an opinion.  Is Corn Syrup making our kids fat?  Nope, its the parents who are buying there kids food with corn syrup in it, that are making kids fat.  Do you want to know what has corn syrup in it?  Everything!  I found a partial list on-line and it was only about one company, Nabisco.  The list was 5 pages long.  Basically, every drink except water and milk and every food except for what walks, swims or fly’s, and any food grown straight out of the ground.  Have fun with that.

Why are we feeding corn to cows?  Cows aren’t made to eat corn.

Why do we feed corn to cows?  One simple reason.  It makes them fat.  There is nothing better than a fat cow.  Fatty meat tastes good.  It also weighs more.  But feeding cows corn causes bloat, ulcers, liver disease and a weakened immune system.  What do we do to combat these problems?  We get them as fat as we can, as fast as we can.  Less than a decade ago, the average beef cow lived to be at least 2 years old.  Now we can get them to weight in as little as a year. Hopefully, we can get them fat enough, early enough, so that they don’t die of what we are feeding them.  Corn makes them sick, so we inject them with antibiotics almost from the day they are born.  There are more antibiotics going into cows in this country than our entire human population!  And you guessed it.  You’re eating those drugs every time you eat beef.  Did someone say kids in this country are going through puberty earlier and earlier and that they are becoming immune to antibiotics? I didn’t think so.

How more “non edible corn growing” leads to less pasture to grow edible foods.

So, Corn Is King.  We are growing so much of it, and eating so little of it.  Most of it goes for gasoline, as sweetener in our foods and into the bellies of cows.  What were farmers growing before they were growing this corn?  Fruits, Vegetables, Alfalfa, Hay, Oates, Soy, Barley…….  So why are food prices going up?  Maybe because we don’t grow our own food anymore!  We leave it to Brazil, Argentina, Honduras….  Latin America is the new Bread Basket!  And all that food that’s grown there is sent to us how?  On boats, trains, trucks and planes, which all use more what?  Gas!!  Aahh, how the cycle is fulfilled.

But what happens when Latin America cant keep up with our Soy consumption?  We need those Soy Milk, Soy Lattes, Tofu burgers, hot dogs, dog treats, snacks, ice cream……  Well, country’s like Paupau New Guinea and other places surrounding rain-forest, slash and burn the jungle to clear the land to grow the Soy that we aren’t!

Alter the Eco and keep up the good fight,

Adam

To receive updates of Twilight Earth, please press the Orange button in the header at the top of this page.

Related posts:

1. 1,000 Gallons of Water for 1 Gallon of Ethanol – How Green is That?
2. USDA: No Environmental Impact Study Needed to Deregulate Genetically Modified Corn
3. Ethanol, Pitting Ranchers Against Farmers?