Biofuels will Starve Us
- added December 30, 2007
- 5 responses
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- uroborus8
- added this
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Biofuels are bad for the environment. Rain forests are leveled for crops. Only a small percentage of biofuels can actually be considered renewable. Pesticides and GMO corn are used heavily for ethanol.
Biofuels will not reduce our need for foreign oil significantly, "If, in 2006, we had dedicated the entire US corn crop to ethanol production we would have replaced only 12% of the gasoline we used."
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You have a great point. My concern is the emphasis on corn for a source of ethanol. I grew up in Iowa and watched as presidential candidates came through. The farming lobby is strong in that state, and the candidates were and are highly influenced by it. The company that primarily profits from corn production is Monsanto. Monsanto has a lot of ties with the Bush administration, so much so that former Monsanto players pretty much run the FDA. Clarence Thomas was their lawyer for two years. Rumsfeld served on their board. Their reach is deep and dangerous. You should see "The Future of Food" for a clear picture of the problem. Or for a lengthy list of problems with them, check out this organization I linked called "Millions Against Monsanto."
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We can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. This concept has hardly been considered and there is of course the recent breakthrough of using Algae to manufacture Biofuel.
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- phillyharper
- 11 months ago
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Corn-based ethanol is a total waste and it is only produced because a bunch of farmers want to get rich quickly.
Cellulosic ethanol is a different story, however.
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I wish "Biofuels, the Biggest Scam Going" were true. But it isn't. I can think of two bigger scams right off the top of my head: The Iraq war (war in general?) and Nuclear Power. Having said that, Jim Goodman makes many valid points, but there are promising ways to make biofuels. Corn, soy, sugarcane and oil palms are not on the list of good sources, though.
Interesting short pod on ethanol and food here:
http://current.com/items/76449322_global_warming_and_ethanol-
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- covelogibbs
- 11 months ago
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Tell me again why idustrial hemp isn't grown in the US. Sometimes you can't help believe some of the stupidist folks in the universe run our government and set policy.
Hemp is one response to the crop shortage as well as the bio fuel "needs" of our pertoleum based economy. It is time the US government admits to the fraud about industrial hemp.
Bio fuel isn't nesessarily bad. Taking food from the world to run our errands is. We have better alternatives than corn and they should all be pursued.
