Greens or lefties (or is it greens and lefties), or lefties who are hippies? I can’t keep it straight…. anyway, THEY’RE behind bio-fuel?

Splendid! Somebody needs to tell the Earth Policy Institute. And here some of us thought it was the huge industrialized agriculture lobby. http://www.informaecon.com/

I gather you read the article you linked to, right?

“The commonly held belief that farmers switching to corn from wheat for bio-fuel production is not a factor in the shortage, Fitzhenry said. Wheat yields are down among the world’s five top producing nations, which have been hit hard by recent drought or bad weather, she said.”

Actually, given the precedent you’ve set here, that’s probably not a good assumption to make.

I won’t even ask how your thoughts here square with your position on the wheat board. I’m not sure my sides could take it.

You’ve either got more moxie or more density that anyone I’ve ever met to come back with something like this after your last two epic blunders. Kudos to you if it’s the former; my condolences if it’s the later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchgrass

You’ve got that right. George W. Bush is a big supporter of ethanol as well, which strengthens your point here; or does it?

Quoting Mr Bush - “Like biodiesel, ethanol helps communities to meet clean air standards, farmers to find new markets for their products, and America to replace foreign crude oil with a renewable source grown right here in the nation’s heartland. (Applause.) Together, ethanol and biodiesel present a tremendous opportunity to diversify our supply of fuel for cars and buses and trucks and heavy-duty vehicles.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news.....50516.html

“In the meantime, we really need to ask ourselves if forcing a child to do without an extra meal is worth the dubious effort to remove carbon from our atmosphere.”

Which children are you discussing here and how do you see a meal being taken away from them? You are going to have to do better than a simple supply and demand argument to support this hypothesis in my opinion. As a percentage of an average household’s expenditures, food accounts for a small portion of those costs (in fact, it is an historical low). Unless you see food pricing vastly outpacing inflation, there does not seem to be a threat that meals will be taken off of tables (at least in first world countries). Third world countries are more of a concern, but their food supply and security problems are vastly more complex and will not likely be made noticebly worse by the ermergence of Ethanol as a fuel source. Sure, adjustments will happen (i.e. the price of corn in Mexico), but as you said yourself, the market will stabilize.

http://www.thepolitic.com/arch.....new-highs/

More of teh crazies.