Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - [Livingontheland] No one asked my opinion or anyone I know....

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Harold and Sue Karber" <karber@pldi.net>
  • To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] No one asked my opinion or anyone I know....
  • Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 00:43:59 -0500

this is just nuts....we need to educate the general public because no one asked anyone in real agriculture only those far removed from reality or on the corporate profit side of it. Anyone with even slight knowledge of growing anything would see how insane it is.
General News
Nearly three out of four Americans are pro-ethanol: survey
http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=19181
By Tom Johnston on 11/2/2007 for Meatingplace.com


Despite agriculture's skepticism about the feasibility of relying on renewable fuels to reduce America's reliance on foreign fuels, the general public favors the idea of filling their gas tanks with corn-based ethanol and the like.

According to a recent survey, some 74 percent of Americans say the United States should increase domestic production of renewable fuels.

Those polled also said Washington should play a role in supporting such efforts. Eight-seven percent indicated the government should actively support the development of a renewable fuels industry, and 77 percent feel Congress should encourage oil refiners to blend more ethanol into their gasoline products.

Meantime, Americans don't appear to believe that ethanol production is the root cause of an increase in food prices, with 84 percent saying there is something other than ethanol to blame. Higher oil prices (46 percent), increased global demand (15 percent) and poor weather conditions such as drought (14 percent) were cited over ethanol production (7 percent).

The survey was released by Renewable Fuels Now, a coalition of associations and companies, including the National Corn Growers Association, pushing energy independence via domestic production of renewable fuels. It was conducted Oct. 23-Oct. 25 by the Mellman Group and commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association. The poll surveyed 1,000 adults.

Perspective

But Ron Plain, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, told Meatingplace.com the United States could devote every acre of every agricultural crop, from corn to strawberries, to renewable fuels production, but the country would still need some 50 billion gallons of gasoline "to keep our cars going at the same rate they're going now."

The United States uses about 141 billion of gallons of gasoline per year. Plain projects it would take 79 billion bushels of corn to produce enough ethanol to completely replace that amount of gas.

This year, American farmers will produce 13 billion bushels of corn, of which only about 3.2 billion will be milled for ethanol.

"Ethanol can reduce [gasoline use] somewhat, but it's not going to replace gasoline," Plain said. "We use way too much gas to be able to offset it all with ethanol."







  • [Livingontheland] No one asked my opinion or anyone I know...., Harold and Sue Karber, 11/02/2007

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page