I’ve done a 180 on corn ethanol. I’m agin it.

12 comments June 23rd, 2008

I’m watching Glenn Beck, who has Ben Stein for a guest. Stein made a good point: We are devastating previously natural land in an effort to grow more corn for ethanol, but we won’t drill for oil on 2,500 acres in Alaska, or off shore. Strange.

Stein also noted that we’re perfectly willing to starve the Third World in order to make auto fuel out of a crop that’s better suited to feed people and animals.

Now, I have a confession to make. Two years ago I was gung-ho in favor of ethanol. I believed it would put the U.S. on the path to energy independence.

One year ago I was saying, hmmmmmm., is this really the right thing to do? And why are all these rich guys forming consortiums to build ethanol plants? And I figured naturally that the gub’ment was giving away free money for ethanol production. Yup.

Now, I’ve completed a 180 on ethanol made from corn with a massive federal subsidy. I’m agin it. It is ruining the environment and it is immoral. As Stein said, when food prices go up, Americans grumble and pay more. In Haiti, people starve.

McCain’s Mega Millions competition

2 comments June 23rd, 2008

I thought John McCain had a good idea today when he proposed a $300 million prize — a dollar for every American — for the person who develops a better battery to power future cars. Of course, everybody in the media laughed, but it kind of makes sense.

Motivation is key to every invention, and what inventor worth his salt wouldn’t look at that pot of money and say, Yes, I can. Oops, wrong campaign. Anyway, what do you think of McCain’s idea?