Posted by
On the Right on Wednesday, May 07, 2008 9:06:50 AM
Ethanol's lesson -
Ethanol once was touted as the be-all and end-all for at least putting this country on the on-ramp to the
superhighway of energy independence. And in short order, the government subsidies began.
But not even the facts could stem the spendthrifts' euphoria. Questions abound about ethanol's basic efficacy. Not
only can ethanol likely not be produced in sufficient quantities to make much of a dent in those oil drums, it still
takes lots of fossil fuel to produce it. It looks to be worse for the environment. Miles per gallon? Oftentimes
worse.
And then there's the economics fallout. Switching crops away from food and to government-subsidized ethanol
production soon led to higher domestic prices for just about everything connected to them, especially corn.
Then, the grand ethanol experiment blew up: It's seen as one of the primary causes for escalating worldwide food
prices that, as scholars at the Competitive Enterprise Institute characterize it, pushed "millions of people in
the developing world to the brink of starvation and causing riots across the globe."
Congress now says it will attempt to put maybe one arm and one leg of this ugly genie back in the bottle. Hindsight
always is 20/20, of course, but this disaster was widely foretold.
America should learn a valuable lesson from its mistake. Sad to say, it probably won't. (Pittsburg Tribune-Review)
When
Will Media Expose Gore's Ethanol Investments? - As media turn against ethanol due to the growing international
food crisis, there's one idol they need to topple: Nobel Laureate Al Gore.
After all, this man has not only been strongly advocating the use of biofuels for years, but has also admitted to
having investments in companies involved in such agri-business.
Of course, it's possible press members aren't convinced enough about the the connection between ethanol and rising
food prices around the world that they're willing to fell their Green God. (NewsBusters)
U.S, EU Must Cut Back On Biofuels -
UN Adviser - BRUSSELS - The United States and Europe should cut back on production of biofuels because they are
hurting food supply at a time of rising prices, an adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday.
Biofuels derived from crops have come under attack in recent weeks on fears they compete with food for farming land
and help to push up food prices, worsening a global crisis that is affecting millions of poor. (Reuters)
Speeding
Up Safety: With the government slow to act and consumers quick to mobilize, companies have learned to take swift
action on potentially dangerous products. - After a government panel said there was "some concern"
that the chemical bisphenol A could be harmful to infants and small children, it took less than a week for Wal-Mart
and Toys R Us to announce that they would stop selling baby bottles that were made with it.
The swift response stood in stark contrast to the drawn-out reaction to concerns about another chemical, polyvinyl
chloride, or PVC, that go back to the 1970s. Ikea came up with a plan to remove PVC from its products and packaging
in the early 1990s. Sears Holdings, the parent company of Sears and Kmart, pledged to do so just last December.
The actions of Wal-Mart and Toys R Us were also notable for what the companies didn't do: wait for lawmakers or
federal regulators to step in or for scientific consensus about bisphenol A's negative health effects. In fact, they
chose to disregard the Food and Drug Administration's position that food containers made with BPA were safe.
"When clouds begin to form over something, as they have increasingly over phthalates or bisphenol A, we don't
wait for a final judgment," Toys R Us chief executive Gerald L. Storch said. "Our principle at Toys R Us
is that it is always okay to be more conservative than required."
The rush to banish BPA is an example of how businesses have learned to respond quickly when their customers become
alarmed. Major retailers and manufacturers have been taking their own measures because of a regulatory system that
has not kept up with changes in the marketplace, said lawmakers, former regulators and corporate management experts.
(Washington Post)
What they mean is that they're running scared of bloody idiots who say nasty and totally unfounded things about
compounds: Anatomy of a Chemical Murder.
They are surrendering to a bunch of rumor-mongering ratbags who hate industry and capitalism and we are all worse
off for it.