As much as we never expected to say it, Al Gore has finally shared an inconvenient truth that is genuinely instructive and important for people to hear.
Specifically, the former vice-president and alleged environmentalist is admitting that the multi-billion dollar ethanol subsidies that he backed during his run for the presidency weren't actually so good for the environment, for energy, or for the economy...but were darn good for attracting votes from corn farmers.
And what makes this so instructive is that it provides a great window into how government really works, and the unintended consequences of bureaucratic meddling.
Turning corn into alcohol is a process that actually uses as much or more energy (those evil old fossil fuels, no less) as the resulting ethanol will produce when put into your gas tank. So there's no benefit to the environment, and no lessening of dependence on foreign suppliers.
And to make sure that there was plenty of corn available for this expensive and nearly useless process, the government offered multi-billion dollar price subsidies to farmers and gasoline producers... causing the price of corn to go up, and the amount available for other purchasers to go down.
And who are those "other purchasers?" That would be you and me, the people who eat corn, or eat meat that was raised on corn, or use any of the millions of grocery items that contain ingredients like corn syrup. The price of all of these items went up...because our tax money was forcing them to go up.
Not for the environment. Not for energy policy. But to buy votes from farmers - even if it meant our elected officials needed to lie about the "science."
Frankly, we appreciate Mr. Gore's sudden and surprising attack of candor as the cash-strapped U.S. considers extending the subsidies (currently $7.7 billion) for another year.
And we hope that if he has any other "inconvenient truths" on his conscience, he doesn't wait quite so long to share them.
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15 comments:
Actually, it wasn't about attracting "votes from corn farmers". Most corn production is by corporately owned farms. So, it was about attracting "semolians from corporate corn producers".
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but didn't GW Bush strongly support ethanol production and corn subsidies? He may have been a marginally better president than Algore would have been but lets be honest. Any chance GW will admit to being wrong? Sauce for the goose...
Such is the evil that is spawn of subsidies; they create a feedback loop that is practically impossible to break. Groups or industry lobby for a subsidy, then the subsidy spawns an industry of dependents that feed money back to the politicians that support them. Everyone involved has complete incentive to keep it going forever. In 100 years, 100% of our energy needs might be running from solar power and self-esteem, and yet we'll not only be subsidizing ethanol, but an entire infrastructure to get rid of all the ethanol we no longer need or want as well.
So Al, what other things have you supported in the name of politics or money over science? It's a shame that we have to get this news from an agency out of Africa, instead of our own press here at home. But then again, they've got their own feedback loop running too, don't they?
Oh, and how about the collateral damage of our ethanol policy, like the food riots down south when corn prices spiked and shortages appeared because we were busy making a substandard fuel that absolutely nobody outside of the feedback loop wanted? Where are the chants of "Gore lied! People died!"?
It's strangely quiet out there.
When is Al going to admit the whole global warming thingy was just to get votes, too?
To get votes? Hardly, if Nov 2nd was any indication. It was to get power & money.
Angry Hoosier Dad- Democrats and Republicans are to blame for this mess. They both play the same games, buying votes with our money. And as John the Econ points out, once the money pump is primed, it almost never stops delivering. We're honestly surprised and impressed that Gore had the honesty to be truthful about the situation.
I really doubt it was a simple urge to tell the truth; wait for the other shoe to drop. Algore has never done anything that was not for his own personal benefit, and I don't think this will be any different.
Dr.D- Yeah, I only said something nice about Gore's alleged honesty to show that I'm fair and balanced. Don't tell anyone, but I still think he's a conniving skunk.
Call me a skeptic, but I just have this creepy feeling that, if Big Al is admitting this was a bad idea, he must be trying to draw attention away from some really HUGE bad idea.
You know, it's all in the timing.. Algore-rhythm.... rim shot please...
I NEVER got the whole 'lowers CO2' part - We're burning it, right? IIRC my high school chem, there's less energy in ethanol because there's less carbon involved. So you have to burn more of it, to oxidize a comparable amount of carbon to get a comparable amount of energy?
Pete--talk about your "inconvenient truth", eh?
JustaJeepGuy
My question is...WHY did Gore suddenly blurt all this out? Surely he has an agenda! People like him do NOTHING without an agenda.
pryorguy- Maybe Gore's tortured logic is "if I admit lying about some stuff, it will make people think the other stuff must be true!"
Picture an America in some parallel universe: The oil industry announces that it is mixing 10% or more Ethanol into the gasoline supply. Immediately, the industry is attacked from all quarters for literally attempting to "water down" American's fuel to rip off consumers. Ralph Nader would be filing lawsuits for the losses in lower mileage and damage to automobiles, and Al Gore would be on a rampage about the increased carbon footprint and other environmental damage because of the resource intensive nature of producing Ethanol. There'd be food riots in the 3rd world, because of the diversion of food crops to produce Ethanol, and vast amounts of rain forest would be cut down for crop land needed to make up the difference.
Oh wait, the last part actually did happen in our universe too.
At least the America in that universe retains sanity. Ours clearly does not. Ethanol is a complete scam. The idea that "ethanol is low carbon" is a flat-out lie, especially considering that it takes a gallon of oil-based products (gasoline, diesel, and fertilizer) to produce a gallon of Ethanol, which actually has lower heat content than the fuel it's replacing. Getting lower mileage these days? That's probably why. Never mind the damage that may be happening to your engine. But now that the US government is also an automaker, they're okay with the idea that your older car is going to die a premature death. Just consider it your sacrifice for keeping the UAW in business.
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