![\"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys.\" Listen to the man.](https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/hunters460.jpg "\\"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys.\\" Listen to the man.")
There is no greater condemnation of an industry's lack of competitive spirit than seeing its executives hanging around political conventions. Their sudden interest in the future direction of America sends a single resounding message: we have failed on our merits and our misery demands company. And while Detroit snuggles up to Obama, courtesy of McCain's semi-stand against a D2.8 bailout, the E85 lobby gets to represent the failures of America's auto and energy businesses at the Republican convention in Minneapolis. Of course, it helps that Minnesota is a standard-bearer for ethanol, bringing countless millions in pork to the land of a thousand lakes. But the mere presence of E85-backers at the RNC convention isn't enough to hammer home the ugly, thoughtless greed of the corn-juice movement. Domesticfuel.com reports that the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest has purchased a number of pro-ethanol TV spots and billboards aimed specifically at the Donkey do. "Addicted to Oil?" asks a sign on the St. Paul skyway. The query that really begs an answer here is "what the hell is a respiratory health advocacy group doing schilling for agribusiness?" Meanwhile, yesterday's E85BOTD poster child POET has given the University of South Dakota a $3.9m grant to study cellulosic ethanol. First, why not just build another plant, considering POET's first cellulosic ethanol plant in Scotland cost $4m? Second, will this research grant simply provide academic fodder for the corn farming lobby's campaigns? And third, why didn't POET ask the government to fund this grant? Is ethanol finally learning to stand on its own? Don't count on it.
Find Reviews by Make:
Read all comments
The Brazilians would love to sell you lots of ethanol – at about half the price if only you would let it in.
Technically, Minnesota claims to be the land of ten-thousand lakes. So they deserve more pork funding, right?
“The massive, frustrated energies of a mainly young, disillusioned electorate that has long since abandoned the idea that we all have a duty to vote. This is like being told you have a duty to buy a new car, but you have to choose immediately between a Ford and a Chevy” Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail.
The Brazilians would love to sell you lots of ethanol.
While that might be true, it doesn’t make any economic sense either. Brazil easily consumes all the ethanol it produces. In fact, Brazil burns as much gasoline as ethanol. Counting diesel, ethanol makes up merely 18% of liquid fuels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel_in_Brazil). So, if they send a billion gallons of the stuff to the USA, the USA’s gasoline consumption goes down by a billion gallons and Brazil’s goes up by a billion dollars.
All in all you have:
(1) transported ethanol a few thousand miles for no net reduction in worldwide gasoline use
(2) taken ethanol from a country which already has ethanol infrastructure (pumps, transport, and vehicles designed for it) and sent that ethanol to a country that has very poor ethanol infrastructure
The Texas Gov just lost a big fight with the feds on this as well.
Doctor, Doctor…I’ve got a bad case.
I am trying my best to stay calm and keep the blood pressure somewhat near 190/95.
I even limited my drinking to after noon.
Its just so much harder to keep calm without the booze!
I feel out of control and the crooks have the wheel.
The additive sucks.
It causes poor mpg.
It makes every farmer ignor other crops and now everybody only has two crops in all mid-west fields….corn and soybeans.
That’s it.
Its another forced welfare program where we don’t end up with children without married parents (you got a fatter check as a single), but we end up with stores without vegetables and a one crop farmer.
The gas goes up.
MPG goes down.
The food prices go up.
The farmers are happy.
I have the shakes.
As long as ADM and Cargill are alive, this madness will continue. Logic, unfortunately, is not an option.
racebeer : The wife of Cargill’s CEO bought a Rolls Royce Drophead shortly after it was announced because she saw a targa SLR and wanted something “more unique.” So I think we’re doing pretty well in that regards…
I think what tends to be left out of the equation is that the US does brew more ethanol than Brazil, and Brazil has it’s own strong oil reserves as well as the benefit of being a less “thirsty” country. Just because ethanol works for them, doesn’t mean it’ll work for us.
The ethanol infrastructure in the US already exists. Simply put 10% ethanol in all the gas.
we could distribute all the ethanol we could make.
This would slow down IRAN nuclear program without any negotiations by 10% the vaporization of New York would be delayed. The EPA would like it because it would reduce pollution and the illegal aliens would like it because we could pay them a decent wage. Replaces, the auto workers as the new middle class.
Somebody on FastLane was inspired by your article title:
Fear and Loathing in Denver
It was posted just today, 8/29/08.