Oops!

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Barack Obama rethinking ethanol:

“What I’ve said is, my top priority is making sure people are able to get enough to eat. If it turns out we need to make changes in our ethanol policy to help people get something to eat, that has got to be the step we take,” said Mr. Obama on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“We have rising food prices around the United States. In other countries, we’re seeing riots because of the lack of food supply, so this is something we’re going to have to deal with,” the Illinois Democrat said.

What does it say about our politicians that a demented old fidel castro actually understands the consequences of burning up food (rather inefficiently) as a fuel source before they do? (Note to those who don’t understand subtlety: That’s NOT an endorsement of fidel castro, it’s an insult directed toward the democratic candidates)
At least old man McCain has been against subsidies for corn ethanol for as long as I can remember. Let me state this clearly, corn ethanol is GIGANTIC boondoggle. We’re subsidizing farmers to create a fuel that costs more to produce than its worth and driving up food and feed prices in the process. Another short-sighted scheme from bureaucrats and politicians in Washington.
These are the same politicians (including McCain) that want to implement a whole bunch of regulations and taxes based on the incredibly flexible theory of man-made climate change. I’m sure that when we find out that it was the most expensive hoax in history they’ll just say “Oops, my bad.”
Yeah right.
H/T: Malkin
More on the ethanol boondoggle here.

British thermal units measure energy content. A gallon of ethanol has 76,000 Btu. Conventional gasoline, in contrast, has 115,000 Btu. If you purchase a blended gallon of gas that contains 10 percent ethanol, you get 111,100 Btu.
That amounts to a 3.4 percent reduction in energy. So if you have a car that gets 20 miles per gallon, you’ll likely end up losing seven-tenths of a mile per gallon because of the energy content loss…
AAA now calculates a price for E-85 to adjust for its energy content. The national average pump price for the fuel on Thursday was $2.91 per gallon; regular gasoline was $3.56. But adjusted for its energy content, the price for E-85 jumps to $3.83, or 27 cents more than regular.

I’ve noticed stickers on the gas pumps in Miami lately that say the fuel contains 10% ethanol. Fantastic.

3 thoughts on “Oops!”

  1. You know, it is funny that you write about this. I watch Jim Cramer (Mad Money on CNBC) everyday and he has been speaking against the ethanol mandate for quite some time. I remembered that the cadaver andante en jefe wrote about this some time ago and I really couldn’t help but think: wow is this really the first time in my 32 years of life that I think he was actually right on something? I am not endorsing him either but this ethanol thing seems to be the wrong approach.
    I was listening to Sean Hannity on the radio last night and he was talking about how drilling here will be a great help and how this is opposed by all the proponents of the incredible flexible theory.

  2. Me too — for the first time this past weekend, I saw a “10% Ethanol” silver sticker at the Exxon pump. Getting educated on this issue, I think ethanol is turning out to be a great white elephant.

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