Ok, I don’t know who Jimmy was, but he apparently cracked a lot of corn. Too much corn for one person to care about, but apparently just enough for them to write a song. Ironic? Well, there are a new bunch of Jimmy’s in town, cracking corn and pretending to be apart of the green movement. And there is something ironic about them as well.
Lesson #1: Don’t be fooled by a bunch of Jimmy’s.
Left and right, people are questioning the proponents of corn based ethanol’s and biofuels. Why? A bunch of Jimmy’s told them it was supposed to save the environment, help farmers, fight terrorists and produce fuels with little or no carbon output. Unfortunately, the science isn’t supporting those claims. The carbon output in the creation of corn-based ethanol is apparently slightly less than that of gasoline.
Lesson #2: Jimmy will tell you anything in order to sell more corn.
In fact, Corn subsidies raise the prices of corn, helping some farmers but hurting poor countries that need it to subsist. It’s those subsidies that we can give toward farmers of switch grasses or halophytes, and keep Bio-Fuel from becoming the new bad word.
Lesson #3: If we want to see subsidies go towards businesses that we really want, we will have to speak up now and in great volumes.
Perhaps we can start with a catchy song. “Go blow off the dust on those policies, and subsidize ye ole Halophytes and trolleys” has a nice ring to it…
Science:
Science Mag
Halophytes:
Flight Global
Still confused? Then it’s time for some flash:
Visit National Geographic
More song titles or anything else to add? Talk back.
Mon, Apr 7, 2008
Transportation & Alternative Fuels