A remarkable thing happened Thursday: a press member wanted to ask Nobel Laureate Al Gore about the growing international food crisis and how it relates to ethanol and global warming hysteria.
Not surprisingly, the man who cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate fourteen years ago mandating the use of ethanol wasn't available, and a spokesman for his hysteria-driving Alliance for Climate Protection declined to comment.
Isn't that convenient?
Regardless, the good news is that press outlets continue to recognize this unholy connection, and that someone, even at the conservative New York Sun, would deign to report it (emphasis added throughout):
The campaign against climate change could be set back by the global food crisis, as foreign populations turn against measures to use foodstuffs as substitutes for fossil fuels. [...]
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 don’t think anybody knows precisely how much ethanol contributes to the run-up in food prices, but the contribution is clearly substantial,” a professor of applied economics and law at the University of Minnesota, C. Ford Runge, said. A study by a Washington think tank, the International Food Policy Research Institute, indicated that between a quarter and a third of the recent hike in commodities prices is attributable to biofuels.
Frankly, I believe this is conservative, for I doubt it includes the speculation associated with biofuels. For instance, how much of the current daily futures volume is specifically associated with investor purchases due to ethanol? Maybe more important, how much might such speculative purchases decline if ethanol was taken out of the equation?
But I digress:
“It takes around 400 pounds of corn to make 25 gallons of ethanol,” Mr. Senauer, also an applied economics professor at Minnesota, said. “It’s not going to be a very good diet but that’s roughly enough to keep an adult person alive for a year.”
Mr. Senauer said climate change advocates, such as Vice President Gore, need to distance themselves from ethanol to avoid tarnishing the effort against global warming. “Crop-based biofuels are not part of the solution. They, in fact, add to the problem. Whether Al Gore has caught up with that, somebody ought to ask him,” the professor said. “There are lots of solutions, real solutions to climate change. We need to get to those.”
Mr. Gore was not available for an interview yesterday on the food crisis, according to his spokeswoman. A spokesman for Mr. Gore’s public campaign to address climate change, the Alliance for Climate Protection, declined to comment for this article.
Isn't that dandy? The person that cast the deciding vote in 1994 beginning ethanol mandates, who has been traveling the world advocating biofuels, and even admitted in March 2008 to having investments in biofuel companies, wasn't available to discuss the food crisis and its relationship to ethanol.
Maybe this is why Gore isn't allowing press members into his speeches.
Regardless, the pressure is mounting, and as more media outlets begin seeking his opinion concerning this matter, it seems a metaphysical certitude he won't be able to hide forever.
Stay tuned.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
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Comments Policy
whoosh
April 25, 2008 - 09:31 ET by candanceThat sound you hear is an extra billion dollars being lost to Gore's future bank account. And he had his eye on a nice Pacific island!
Never fear, though. He doesn't have time to comment because he's busy in his dungeon cooking up the new fear tactic.
reminds me from a line from the disney movie
April 25, 2008 - 09:45 ET by audio357Aladdin... the parrot (gilbert godfrey)says to jafar.. ":Oh, there's a big surprise. That's an incredible... I think I'm gonna have a heart attack and die from that not surprise."
. honesty is the best policy... unless your running for office.
I'd also like to ask Al
April 25, 2008 - 09:39 ET by taterI'd also like to ask Al what he thinks about the couple inches of snow that's falling in northern Nebraska this morning at the end of April. (Even seeing some flurries outside as I speak).
"They need to have a course in college called common sense and everyone should take it. Problem is there isn't too many people that could pass or teach it." -my grandfather
tater, get with the program.
April 25, 2008 - 15:48 ET by bktThat snowfall is due to CLIMATE CHANGE, not "global warming".
The master con artist is
April 25, 2008 - 09:40 ET by dscottThe master con artist is running from the public exposure of his ethanol pyramid scheme. Gore is doing the exact same thing as avoiding the scientist who have repeatedly challenged him to a debate over AGW. As usual, the people at the bottom get crushed and fleeced while the perps of the scheme walk off with millions. Both Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid need to be asked the very same questions as they are his co-conspirators in this scheme since they helped pass the Ethanol Mandates that created the artificial demand for corn based ethanol. They have it in their power to burst the speculative bubble by repealing the mandate and the subsidies.
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
McCain
April 25, 2008 - 10:45 ET by mikebromoDid Senator McCain vote for the use of ethanol?
MB
April 25, 2008 - 10:52 ET by Noel SheppardMB,
Nope. ns
McCain did say the following...
April 26, 2008 - 00:26 ET by PopularTech"I always have a glass of ethanol before breakfast every morning" - John McCain
and
"No drilling in ANWR, nor in the Everglades, nor off the coast of Florida... To think that drilling in ANWR is the solution to our incredible energy needs is frankly, is not keeping in the reality of what's there, and what it would take to get it out." - John McCain
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
"... he won't be able to
April 25, 2008 - 09:43 ET by bassndude"... he won't be able to hide forever."
I think you underestimate the abilities of Gore to change his colors and blend into his surroundings. He may crawl back into that bunker he built in the RVN that time he had to leave Long Bien.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
That's been my thought the
April 25, 2008 - 09:46 ET by motherbeltThat's been my thought the past few days....Global food crisis.....Al Gore, call your office!
And what is Mr. Gore's solution? Bar the press.
Not only did he cast the tie-breaking vote, he continues to push his global warming theory to the detriment of third-world countries (for starters). Well, Al, if a couple of billion people die here, a couple of biliion die there, pretty soon, you're talking about real improvement for the planet!
Al will blame us
April 25, 2008 - 09:44 ET by Mica the MagnificentAl will blame the problem on America, don't ya know.
(In Al Gore's voice) Our hunger for fuel . . . is starving the peoples . . . around the world.
Bad America, Bad!
P.S. - Nice pix of Al, Noel. Looks like he has more gas than the Hindenberg.
Caption: Please turn off
April 25, 2008 - 09:48 ET by motherbeltCaption: <thought balloon> Turn off the damn camera so I can burp!!
This is why Gore will never run for president....
April 25, 2008 - 09:59 ET by Missouri Conservative....he absolutely refuses to answer questions or debate global warming.
"women and minorities hardest hit"
He'll get away with it.
April 25, 2008 - 10:04 ET by mattmHe'll get away with it. Like all libs, he'll never have to own up. He had good intentions, you know.
Questions
April 25, 2008 - 10:31 ET by jokerboySome questions relative to the article.
(this is the real killer, because not only do we pay higher prices for the corn we buy, we pay higher taxes to cover part of the cost of the 30% we don't buy).
Other questions that
April 25, 2008 - 11:23 ET by Sick-n-TiredOther questions that politicians and media don't ask are:
1. How much energy, mostly in the form of CO2 emitting hydrocarbons, does it take to distill the corn to ethanol?
2. How much extra fresh water is used to grow the corn that will be burned instead of consumed for food?
3. How many petrochemicals (i.e. fertilizers, pesticides), made in large part from hydrocarbons, are appllied to the corn fields and how much of that ends up in, and polluting, our surface and groundwater sources for drinking water?
It is ALL way too inconvenient for them now isn't it??
"Controlling carbon is a bureaucrat's dream. If you control carbon, you control life," Richard Lindzen - March 2007.
Good points, and...
April 25, 2008 - 15:21 ET by JohnMAs on MSNBC at noon today, you'll hear the talking heads make the distinction that the corn materials used for ethanol are the leftovers from the feed corn used for cattle, and has not relationship to the corn we humans consume. (Therefore there shouldn't be any concern...)
But they gloss over the fact that the emphasis on producing more feed corn (in order to get the materials for ethanol) actually creates competition for other resources needed to grow the kind we eat. Whether it be a tractor not available, or a loan that goes to the high-profile ethanol producer, there is an impact. Anyone who pretends there isn't most assuredly has an agenda. (read: money invested)
Ethanol facts......an easy "google"
April 25, 2008 - 23:54 ET by sbarkhttp://www.iowacorn.org/ethanol/ethanol_3a.html
http://www.ethanolfacts.com/ETHL2007/quickfacts.html
http://www.ethanolfacts.com/ETHL2007/downloads/foodcornprices0407.pdf
Ag Fed Prog. has given back to the Fed billions last year in used Fed Ag subsidy pymts due to ethanol..........any other program done that......
USA has a 50 cents a gallon tarriff on incomeing brazillian Cane ethanol, est. at 6 billion gals........
add in the 160,000 jobs created by ethanol........do the math
***Food Costs: increased mainly due to transportation/energy costs......in conjunction with the tremendous increased demand from the billions of people in China, India and Indo areas......
ie the "perfect storm".....all happening at the same time....
Dont let the MSM's continue to pit one group against another.....when its pure politics easy to see......when it hits pocketbooks easy to exploit by MSM's........
What we oughta do is riot for the right to drill for oil, and build refinery capacity etc...........tell the envior's to go to h$ll
What we oughta do is riot
April 26, 2008 - 00:09 ET by bigtimerWhat we oughta do is riot for the right to drill for oil, and build refinery capacity etc...........tell the envior's to go to h$ll
Couldn't agree more...not gonna' happen until the masses are furious...and finally understand what has happened over decades because of critters in congress....that they voted for.
Waking up and smelling the roses will be nice to see, but it has to happen nationwide...msm are doing this best to keep it all tamped down for now...their two candidates are against any of the drilling...and we have one that is too...now if it was just him against this, it would be a major news story ect....
Pathetic...we all end up paying because of stupidity, laziness, and the agenda with the msm and their leftist party friends...and RINO's to-boot.
The jobs his could of created years ago, and the oil we could of had coming by now, it has been over 30 years now....plus all of the other finds we have like this recently makes one cry every time you go to the pumps...let alone all other areas this touches, that we out here all pay for, unfortunately most citizens do not understand this all.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
I Have Previously Predicted...
April 25, 2008 - 11:20 ET by geoff.galeIn past years, I've predicted that when the AGW fiasco is finally put to rest, there will be retribution on a major scale against those who used loyalty to the AGW flag as a litmus test for hiring/funding of academics and scientists.
Talk about chickens coming home to roost!
The distraction of AGW has prevented any meaningful debate about an energy policy for the future of all of mankind. When it's over, there'll be hell to pay for those who've delayed that debate by 10-15 years.
"All that is necessary for the trimuph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)
www.conservativeboot...
When will the grown-ups
April 25, 2008 - 11:56 ET by HelenSWhen will the grown-ups come in and suggest that we all just leave stuff alone!
Our continued meddling is going to back-fire one of these days.
I'm sure when God created this planet He incorporated checks and balances and variety and other useful features into it and if we keep fiddling with it, we really are going to hurt ourselves because (surprise! surprise!) we don't know what the heck we're doing.
"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war" - Shakespeare
"Going to"?!?!?
April 25, 2008 - 12:41 ET by Mike From CanmoreCan't we say "HAS back fired"?
I was thinking on the lines
April 25, 2008 - 13:32 ET by HelenSI was thinking on the lines of the more assinine suggestions of late: aluminum foil on the Alps; an array of orbiting umbrellas to shade the planet; trying to cut CO2 emissions; or ethanol.
So far I feel the damage has been done mostly to the overall IQ of the population but if they actually succeed in implementing some of their wacky "solutions" (which assumes a problem) then we could really see some interesting consequences.
...although it might be a good thing for the aluminum-foil people and assorted tin-foil hat sorts.
"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war" - Shakespeare
Same old, Same old
April 25, 2008 - 14:25 ET by dboBig government micro-managing around the world has lead to double digit increases in the price of food. So what's the solution the central planners come up with? You guessed it - more big government.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-24-un-hunger_N.htm?csp=34
just doing some calculations
April 25, 2008 - 14:42 ET by TjexciteIf the US was to use all corn that it produced in one year about 280 millons metric tons which is 617 trillion pounds and at the ratio of 16 pounds per gallons for gas, you get 38 trillions gallons. Now take consumption of 20 millions bbl or 840 millon gallons a day
you get a total of 45 days of use.
Does this this make sense, in the math not the idea.
Sources: Corn via Wikipedia and Oil via Wikipedia
Tj, only 20-25% of the oil bbl is gasoline.
April 25, 2008 - 15:17 ET by upcountrywaterwe ain't running 100% ethenol not yet anyways.. Of course we could have gas rationing , and if you are alotted 2 gallons a day. Well then we have kicked the oil addiction.
And we thought 55 MPH was bad.
<gaia/love>SAVVVE The Whales N' Earth; conserve N' recycle !
IranianUranium<sleep>New/Infrastructure/repair?/ROFLMAO
the other 80%
April 25, 2008 - 17:25 ET by Tjexcitethe other 80% would go to power generation in place of the evil coal, gas fired or nuclear.
It does put it in perspective that if they take all the corn to fuel it is still just a drop in the barrel and then there is no food for anyone.
This puts a nice
April 25, 2008 - 15:17 ET by dscottThis puts a nice perspective on it, so what about the other 320 days; just like solar only can deliver 4 hours of day, so what about the other 20 hours of the day?
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
Ethanol could only replace 12% of U.S. motoring fuel
April 26, 2008 - 00:24 ET by PopularTechA Study was already done on this:
Study: Ethanol Won't Solve Energy Problems (USA Today)
"Ethanol is far from a cure-all for the nation's energy problems. It's not as environmentally friendly as some supporters claim and would supply only 12 percent of U.S. motoring fuel even if every acre of corn were used."
I would NOT trust any figures from Wikipedia:
The Faith-Based Encyclopedia (Robert McHenry, Former Editor in Chief, the Encyclopedia Britannica)
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
Lawrence Solomon
April 26, 2008 - 09:57 ET by Mike From CanmorePopular Tech:
The above author of "The Deniers" has written a couple of op eds on Wikipedia and it's distortion of people in the anti catastrophic AGW arena and it's promotion of the alarmist loons. I'm not sure if you can see this. I subscribe to the National Post but it should be available in a week or so. He also did one on how he tried to adjust Oreskes page; specifically with regards to Peiser's critiques of her. Wikipedia is a joke for anything political in nature.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2008/04/25/the-real-climate-martians-solomon.aspx
Square this Circle, Al
April 25, 2008 - 15:23 ET by dboI was also proud to stand up for the ethanol tax exemption when it was under attack in the Congress -- at one point, supplying a tie-breaking vote in the Senate to save it. The more we can make this home-grown fuel a successful, widely-used product, the better-off our farmers and our environment will be.
Al Gore, December 1998
Did he promote that photo?
April 25, 2008 - 15:53 ET by amberDid he promote that photo? He looks like he is about to blow up.
LOL amber.... That's the
April 25, 2008 - 15:55 ET by bigtimerLOL amber....
That's the first thing I thought of too with the picture...
Stick a fork in him...and he is done.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
MSM fails to inform about farm policy; major farm bill pending
April 25, 2008 - 17:48 ET by nkviking75How many of you are aware that this very incompetent Congress is still debating the 2007 Farm Bill? The farm bill will have a tremendous impact on ethanol policy as well as subsidies and other issues of concern to all of us. Even so, farm news rarely makes it into the media except in predominently rural areas. The chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, Tom Harkin of Iowa, is up for reelection this year. He has an unknown GOP opponent. This would be a great year to hold Harkin's feet to the fire.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.