If it results in fewer humans walking holy Gaia, then the left is happy. Renewable fuels + fewer humans = happy Left!

You beat me to it, Mikey. My thoughts exactly.
Green is the enemy.

JWM

The cavemen figured out this food thing; don't use food for transportation! This scheme violates even caveman logic:

"Ugg, why you feed horse corn?"

"Well, Ogg, he carry me to eat grass."

"Hmmmm, Think more, Ugg. Ur doin it rong!"

--Gray

Meanwhile, we seem to have a genuine Communist insurrection in Wisconsin. Apparently, Obama's "Organizing for America" is busing in street mobs.

@ rickl
Make sure the buses are parked properly, so that Obama can toss the unions under them when he sees his poll numbers plummet.

The left loves to scold the rest of us about "sustainability", yet none of their schemes are ever sustainable from an economic standpoint. There is a long list of consequences from subsidizing the production of ethanol and it starts with higher food prices and higher government spending. We will soon grow weary of borrowing to pay for it all.

In the interests of "sustainable energy", we grow corn on farmland that overlays a vast sea of hydrocarbon resources, primarily oil, gas and coal. Yet we are forbidden to exploit those resources and now require ourselves by law to burn corn instead. Yet we cannot eat coal, so it is an unsustainable food source!

Meanwhile, through no fault of our own, an increasing number of people in the rest of the world are prevented from being prosperous enough to afford to buy food make from our corn. How do the leftists propose to solve this problem? To give money to these oppressive governments to help drive down local food costs, and in the process destroy the lower tier of their local agricultural sector who cannot compete against us.

von Mises and Hayek were right. The more that government mucks in the economy, the more they must muck to adjust for the effects of prior mucking. And all this mucking only destroys prosperity and liberty.

Well said, Buck.

Bio-fuels are not the problem. Production vs. demand is the issue. Bio-fuels are a very small percentage of the corn crop. The grain commodities across the board are in the process of a price correction. The cause of high grain prices are varied and legion. If you had to point at one single variable which is driving prices right now.. it would have to be the volatile weather patterns or lack there of. Couple that with demand and the grain to buy just isnt there. It is quite possible within the next 24 months to see a market condition which the price isnt the issue but instead the issue will be.. Can a processor even get the grain in the first place????

Bill Henry writes:

"Bio-fuels are not the problem. Production vs. demand is the issue. Bio-fuels are a very small percentage of the corn crop."

The problem is that bio-fuels are a small percentage of the corn crop. That percentage should be zero. Could someone please explain to us mere mortals why it makes sense to make fuel out of food, when food is scarce?

Even if food is not especially scarce, a small change in supply can make for a huge change in prices. People have this funny fear about starving to death, and have this odd compulsion about stockpiling food when it looks like it just might be in short supply.

So little of the world corn production is actually used in basic food production. Most of it is used for oils, sugar, etc..

Biofuels are a distraction. The real issue is supply. I am not an apologist for biofuels. We can completely eliminate the biofuels industry and the supply problem still exists. Is biofuels the cause of the recent cataclysmic floods in Australia? Is biofuels the cause of the recent drought in Russia, Argentina, Canada?

The issue is this.. we have sold all of the hysteresis in the supply system forward for the last 50 years. We thought we could do this and replace it with advancements in efficiency and productivity. It worked for a while...

We have ran out of slack. Keep beating the biofuels drum... its empty.. just like the reserve bins....

Bill, what's the solution?

Casca,

I'm not sure if there is an immediate solution.

As Hale Adams States ..."The problem is that bio-fuels are a small percentage of the corn crop. That percentage should be zero. Could someone please explain to us mere mortals why it makes sense to make fuel out of food, when food is scarce?"

... He poses a good question, but in his question he illuminates my point... the fact that biofuels are such a small portion of the total grain production and the perception being.. that this small demand on total production can drastically effect the price of foods directly points to the issue of lack of production to meet desired market demand.

Like I said earlier.. I am not sure there is a solution.. but I do know that you can expect the following ...

Quite possibly the greatest shift in wealth in our countries history.. from finance to agriculture..

Higher food prices..

Something resembling "victory gardens" on a massive scale..

Sell your stock in Applebees... Buy John Deere and Monsanto...

Also find a "Garden Mentor" Those men and women are going to be a national treasure.

And dont eat your seed corn...

So little of the world corn production is actually used in basic food production. Most of it is used for oils, sugar, etc..

Ah, yes, like "high fructose corn syrup", which has replaced sugar in most processed foods. Another fine result of government policies, namely sugar subsidies.