Ethanol: Feed a Person for a Year or Fill Up an SUV?

While politicians and Big Agriculture insist on casting the need for ethanol in terms of national security, the larger issue is a moral one: are we going to use our precious farmland to grow food, or use it to make motor fuel?

The ethanol scam just keeps getting more and more absurd. In January, three U.S. senators -- two Democrats, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Barack Obama of Illinois, along with Indiana Republican Richard Lugar -- introduced a bill that would promote the use of ethanol. It also mandates the use of more biodiesel and creates tax credits for the production of cellulosic ethanol. They called their bill the "American Fuels Act of 2007."

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Posted by Dale Penn

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3.3
by Dale Penn - Mar. 5, 2007

This opinion piece had me until the last sentence. "...are we going to use our precious farmland to grow food, or are we going to subsidize the growth of an industry that turns food into a commodity, motor fuel, of which we already have an abundant supply?" Abundant supply? Did I miss a memo on peak oil?

(12 answers)

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