A Lot of CornA post at This Modern World by Greg Saunders gives some insight into why George Bush, oil baron, is suddenly a big fan of alternative fuels. At least in the case of ethanol. The president spoke Tuesday at the Renewable Fuels Association convention. Greg points out that:
...agribusinesses giant Archer-Daniels Midland (whose Senior Vice President for Ethanol Sales & Marketing sits on the RFA's board of directors) has given over $3 million dollars in political "donations" since 2000.Thing is, although anything is better than fossil fuels for automobiles, ethanol from corn is not as efficient as other sources, particularly biomass sources such as switchgrass. Sugar cane is used in Brazil. It's sad that even when these guys do something good you have to suspect their motives for doing it. You have to wonder cui bono. I guess that is part of life. It becomes clear why they haven't done more regarding alternative fuels and why they aren't doing all they can now.
Greg cites this line in Bush's speech as hilarious:
The way I like to put it would be -- it's a good thing when a president can sit there and say, "Gosh, we've got a lot of corn. And that means we're less dependent on foreign sources of oil."We've got a lot of something. And it ain't all corn.
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