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?

Like many opinion articles, this one a light on evidence. Unfortunate since this particular subject has people arguing in both directions, and more hard facts are needed. Gives a very good overview of U.S. petroleum history. Accurate.

This well sourced & the authors conclusions are in plain site. A bit inflammatory in style maybe but still solid. There are reports coming out of Mexico that the lack of seed corn caused by US corn producers snapping up the supply has caused the price of corn to soar. So there are already some very real effects being felt. Most discussions of crop fuel sources do not take into account the full cost of production. Phosphate fertilizer run off, water table depletion, lack of sustainable soil chemistry, pollution from the conversion process, the morality of limiting food production for fuel production (a very real cost if you ask me) just to name a few. From the union of concerned scientists site(there is also a biomass energy 101 ... More »