Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Dan Conine <dconine@dotnet.com>]

I agree with Mark here. There are a lot of factors which are ignored in 
the ethanol debate which I think shouldn't be. The problem which is 
manifest is overconsumption and eventual collapse of a species. We need 
to look at the Net Creativity of the human species, and what usefulness 
we create vs. what we consume in resources. The idea that we have to 
feed the desires for liquid fuel at all costs is the first that should 
go. The second is the idea that we cannot reduce population pressure on 
politicians. The third is that everyone gets to enjoy the slovenly life 
of America's Dream with white picket fences and pesticide laden lawns.
The construction of an ethanol plant alone isn't worth the lost cropland 
in it's footprint. The problem with feeding corn to cattle isn't 
necessarily that people could eat the corn, but that the cows aren't 
healthy. There is a fundamental flaw in feeding high energy foods to 
cattle. They evolved to eat low energy foods, and they create a net gain 
for the ecosystem when they do so.
Not only do I agree with Mark's statement "Just because we can do 
something, doesn't mean we should.", I also think that we need to think 
about doing the things we should do, and that they need to be done 
RIGHT. The ethanol that will be produced by all that corn could easily 
be replaced by a small reduction in fossil fuel use. The only farmers 
who will benefit from growing large quantities of corn are the ones who 
do it 'efficiently', which means without fences, cattle, or people on 
their land. To be good stewards of the land, we have to be ON it.

Dan Conine
Belgium, WI,

> Well, I guess we'll just have to disagree.
>
> Your discussion centers around mass production.  While mass production is 
> efficient, it is so at the expense of needing to promote growth.
>
> None of this is sustainable in a growth environment.  And seeing that the 
> economic system that maintains these methods of production rely on growth in 
> order to operate, it's not a workable system long-term.
>
> Ethanol production (especially from corn) is going to ramp up big time.  And 
> it's not because it's a good idea, but rather because of the existing lobby 
> groups.
>
> As to your statement "Properly processed, remaining solids could even provide direct 
> nutrition for human consumption," there's that magic word- "processed."  At what 
> cost is this production?  How much energy are we going to pump into this?
>
> Just because something can be done doesn't mean that it should.
>
> I'll forgo comments on the environmental impacts from  ethanol 
> production/processing.
>
>
> -Mark Nagel
> Everett, WA
>
>
>