That said I agree with the report as not only corn is being diverted but additional acreage to corn from other grains and beans. The same can be said for biofuels in other countries as both product and acreage are being diverted from food to fuel.

The whole corn ethanol subterfuge was a Frankenstein created by Big Ag, the chemical companies and farming state Congress. And all states claim some kind of Ag subsidies.

Of course, biofuels also drive up fossil fuel consumption, especially natural gas, since corn-based ethanol in particular requires more fossil energy to produce than it yields. But the impact of biofuels on natural gas prices should be almost negligible.

Let’s try and put our politics aside, and look at these things a little more skeptically. I hope you value your credibility more than you do the chance to take a shot at Dubya.

I would like to see a study on the number of lives lost and trillions wasted by arbitrary government mandates.

We let politicians under the influence of lobbyists make decisions that affect everyone and everything without much, if any, consideration for potential consequences.

Ethanol from corn was a dog idea from the very beginning but that didn’t stop the politicians from championing the idea.

Which is why this article in the latest Wired magazine worries me greatly. We’ve got a bunch of idiots who want to try and cool the Earth by simulating what happens in massive volcano eruptions. Of course, there are some negatives, such as acid rain and who knows what else. Jeez. Is there no end to our foolishness?

Check out:
Can a Million Tons of Sulfur Dioxide Combat Climate Change?
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/16-07/ff_geoengineering

This can’t be serious!

Let’s assume this report would have been published as it should have been. What was Dubya going to do? Bomb the World Bank? Cut the US contribution to it? Call and scold them? Given also the fact that he is soooo respected everywhere, who’s supposed to give a hoot about his feeling anyway?

Give me a break!

I can’t wait to see how the politicos (and most especially the candidates) in DC are going to struggle with that report. The amount of spin will be enough to create another Katrina of BS.

Nobody in Washington seems to have the kahunas to confront the lobbies and tell them to go to hell this time. But for these same politicians, low income Americans (not mentioning people in other countries) can be damned, since they don’t contribute to their electoral slush fund.

This is pure madness.