Next time you fill your car with gas, look at the pump. Many of the pumps I have used have a little sign that says your fuel may be 10% ethanol. I am sure that is part of the reason it is more expensive. It may also be part of the reason your car is leaking. This is another one of the Greens victories in trying to save the earth, since you won’t do it yourself.
The federal government has given generous subsidies to make sure that someone is willing to turn corn into ethanol to be used in gasoline engines. It has been the usual series of bribes, kickbacks and corruption that seems to go with all of the environmentally friendly projects. First they put big tariffs on ethanol that comes from other countries and is made from sugar cane. Never mind that it is better suited for gasoline engines, is cheaper, and does not remove food from the pantries of the world. Ignore that it could be grown in third world countries by poor farmers who would be benefited by it. The subsidies the government will be paying will be going to the friends of your patriotic congressman. Their gratitude will help him get reelected.
The real joke is that you will be paying for it, not only at the pump with higher prices but by higher taxes. What is there not for a progressive politician to like?
Then there is the Law of Unintended Consequences. Since it is more profitable to raise corn for fuel, less is available for food. For the large corporate farms it is a win-win. They get subsidies for the corn they raise for ethanol and the corn they sell for food also brings in higher prices. For the people of the world that don’t have the surplus income to absorb this, the increase in food costs reduces their standard of living. It could possibly lead to hunger and death in extreme cases.
You don’t care? Let’s bring it home then. Ethanol is more corrosive to your engine than gasoline. It eats away at the seals that keep your engine from leaking. Have you seen the little label on some cars that says “flex fuel”? That means that they have been given different gaskets so that they won’t be damaged by the solvents in ethanol. I bet your car doesn’t have that little sign on it, does it?
I have heard that congress is not planning on renewing the subsidies. Good. But it may be too late to help the people who have been going hungry.
Elections are coming folks. Vote differently. It might be time to vote everyone out. When in doubt vote against the incumbent. (Or to quote SLW, "When in doubt, vote them out.")
homo unius libri
The last I heard, it takes more petroleum to produce a gallon of ethanol than that gallon of ethanol saves in petroleum. Isn't saving the earth a wonderful thing?
ReplyDeleteI head the same thing. This is such a brain dead policy that it could only be a product of a bipartisan congress.
ReplyDeleteGrace and Peace.
So we pay for ethanol in tax subsidies, then we pay for it in higher fuel prices and then we pay for it in lower fuel economy and higher repair costs and higher food prices. Ain't government wonderful.
ReplyDeleteG706, How did the line go in "My Fair Lady"? "By George he's got it." And if you send your kid to private school you pay twice. And how about the toll roads paid for by taxes?
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace.