Food Crisis Starts Eclipsing Climate Change Worries | The New York Sun: "With prices for rice, wheat, and corn soaring, food-related unrest has broken out in places such as Haiti, Indonesia, and Afghanistan. Several countries have blocked the export of grain. There is even talk that governments could fall if they cannot bring food costs down.
One factor being blamed for the price hikes is the use of government subsidies to promote the use of corn for ethanol production. An estimated 30% of America’s corn crop now goes to fuel, not food."
-------------------
I have learned over the years that there are few things more dangerous than a lot of people who are absolutely convinced that they are right and will brook no disagreement. As in "The debate is over" from Al Gore and the global warming mob. Here is what Al Gore said on his campaign web page back in 2000:
Vice President Al Gore maintains that “it’s well known that I’ve always supported ethanol. I have a consistent record of shoring up the farm safety net.” Gore, who as vice president cast a tie-breaking vote in 1994 against a proposal Senator Bill Bradley sponsored to cut tax incentives for ethanol fuel, adds that “I have not ducked when votes for ... agricultural interests were on the floor...Our administration’s goal is to triple the use of biomass technologies, ethanol, gasoline additives, plant-based textiles and other environmentally friendly products by 2010. This is just one of the exciting ways our efforts to protect the environment will begin to help America’s ailing farming economy.”
Now it turns out that burning food for fuel may be a bad idea. Where is Mr. Gore to explain why he was so wrong, and maybe to show a little humility about his other pronouncements on what we must do to stave off the disaster he predicts? I am concerned about the environment, too, but I also realize that there is a whole lot nobody knows and we had better not start adopting radical solutions until we are sure of the outcomes.
No comments:
Post a Comment