GOOD MORNING BOYS AND GIRLS!
Today we’re going to find out why the cost of our corn flakes and other foods are going up, up, up!
In case you have been living under a rock…or in Washington DC, you may have noticed an increase in the price you pay at the checkout line at your grocery store. Most folks just blame it on higher gas and fuel prices, BTW, there is a difference between the terms “gas” and “fuel” one refers to gasoline the other to diesel fuel, in case you didn’t know the difference.
Well…higher gas/fuel prices are certainly the most obvious reason why food costs have gone up but, as you should expect, i’m going to give you the REAL reason behind our rising food and gas/fuel costs. To do this we must take a trip back in time to August 3rd, 1994.
Imagine if you will, on the floor of the U.S. Senate a debate is raging. Louisiana Democratic Sen. Bennett Johnston is trying to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from mandating the use of ethanol in reformulated gasoline. The Senate narrowly killed the measure, voting to table it by a margin of 51 to 50. With the vote tied, Vice President Al Gore had to come in and cast the deciding vote. And THUS, with his vote Al Gore allowed the EPA to FORCE oil companies to blend ethanol into our gasoline supply. A prime example of BIG GOVERNMENT/BIG BROTHER telling private corporations what is best for everyone. Sen. Bennett Johnston was heard to say, “This is really a gigantic flim flam to the American public.”
For the entire article click here
Because of Al’s vote we where blessed with either MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether), a petroleum derivative, (wait a minute, aren’t we supposed to be reducing our oil usage?) or ethanol, a corn by-product, designed to oxygenate our gasoline and reduce smog. WONDERFUL!!!! THE EARTH IS SAVED! However it seems that MTBE caused some sort of problem…let me see…OH YES! I remember… MTBE, which was in use since 1979 as an alternative to lead in boosting octane levels, was getting into OUR DRINKING water and contaminating wetlands, killing ducks and other wildlife! If you read the articles from that last links you will see the very government agency that promoted ethanol was behind MTBE as well! That’s right, THANK YOU BIG BROTHER EPA! The Environmental Protection Agency, now if that isn’t an oxymoron. (it’s ok, go look that word up if you have to) Now, since MTBE is persona non Grata in our gas, Ethanol now makes up to 30% of each gallon of gasoline.
This switch of corn from a human and cattle food source to a gas/fuel additive is NOT the answer to our energy/environmental problems. The manufacture of ethanol is causing widespread food prices to rise and it’s continuing manufacture will seriously drain our fresh water supplies! OH! you haven’t heard of ethanol causing drinking water shortages which will lead to rising costs at OUR taps!
The story of corn ethanol in the US, is no laughing matter. Last year’s energy bill requires 36 billion gallons of annual biofuels production by 2022 — probably about half of them from corn. The measure, largely a giant gift to agribusiness interests, appeared to address both environmental and energy security issues, while really doing neither. And now what’s surfacing is a threat to the nation’s water security.
Like an ethanol plant or two. Or a dozen. Here’s a snapshot of the demand a single plant can place on water supply, from the Economist:
Officials in Tampa, Florida, got a surprise recently when a local firm building the state’s first ethanol-production factory put in a request for 400,000 gallons (1.5m litres) a day of city water. The request by US Envirofuels would make the facility one of the city’s top ten water consumers overnight, and the company plans to double its size. Florida is suffering from a prolonged drought. Rivers and lakes are at record lows and residents wonder where the extra water will come from.
So, Thanks again AL…inventor of the Internet, oh high and mighty potentate of Global Warming (not!) BTW AL…did you pay any royalites to the producers of the movie, “The day after tomorrow” when you borrowed that CGI (that’s a computer generated image for those of you who graduated high school in california) picture of the melting ice cap/glacier you portrayed as REAL in your “highly acclaimed” movie, “An Inconvenient Truth” guess you forgot to mention that at the Oscars didn’t you Al.
Maybe that is the real inconvenient truth at work here…your Healthy Lifestyle solution for today is never let liberal politicians and BIG BROTHER government dictate policies. Don’t fall into the trap where by you make yourself “feel” better by supporting such unproven ideas like Global warming and ethanol. Want to really feel better, BE PRODUCTIVE, BE SELF RELIANT , BE THANKFUL FOR THE FREEDOMS WE HAVE AND INVEST IN YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY!
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