Once again that great leader of the Democrat Party, Harry Reid, declares victory (by 2020!); was it a victory?

Question

From that bastion of unbiased "reporting", the Associated Press:

"The legislation would require ethanol production for motor fuels to grow to at least 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, a sevenfold increase over the amount of ethanol processed last year.

It calls for boosting auto fuel economy to a fleet average of 35 MPG by 2020, a 40% increase over current requirements for cars, SUVs, vans & pickup trucks.

The legislation also calls for:

Price gouging provisions that make it unlawful to charge an 'unconscionably excessive' price for oil products, including gasoline."

Gee, a few questions come to mind:

1 - How much more will YOU be willing to pay for food as more and more of the nation's agricultural capacity goes to producing corn for ethanol?

2 - Wow - 35 MPG by 2020; now THAT'S a great victory, Harry!

3 - After bazillions of Senate "investigations" why have The Evil Oil Companies NEVER been shown to have engaged in "price-gouging" or "market manipulation"?

Ok, ok, if you must - FEEL free to clue me in to the "fact" that it's all the fault of The Evil Republicans that Harry The Lip didn't get EVERYTHING he wanted. We really DO need and require a one-party state, don't we? ;-))

Answer 1

just so you all know - substituting the word 'democrat' for democratic is a sort of right wing shill tell.

shill alert...

Answer 2

Its so interesting that many say ethanol production can never meet the needs of this country but its a BIG part of this bill. And yes I think it will cut into food production since it is a feed crop for animals and used in other parts of the food chain or production while I really doubt if the ethanol of Brazil who use sugar cane is in the same light so their major production of ethanol is a lot easier.
I think the 35 is to be an average for all from the worst truck SUV to the best car but I am not sure, I would need to see the legislation. But really they need to show what the average care will be, the average truck will be, and the average SUV for me to see some victory as you say.
They can never prove this because the costs oil companies have from dry wells, exploration, etc is so much that if you look at their overall profit rate it is not much different than other companies. Its just when you take a huge company and show its profit is so many million yes it looks large but you need to look at the percentage increase.

Answer 3

If corn prices increase by ~ 55 percent, year over year, then will the corn used for hog, cattle, chicken, turkey and fish feed go up 55 %? Doesn’t that increase the price of meat, poultry, fish, milk and eggs? If corn is used in corn meal, corn flakes, corn oil, and hundreds of other food items goes up 55%, doesn’t that increase the price of all these foods?

It costs money to store, transport and blend ethanol with gasoline. Since ethanol absorbs water, and water is corrosive to pipeline components, it must be transported by tanker to the distribution point where it is blended with gasoline for delivery to your gas station. That’s expensive transportation. It costs more to make a gasoline that can be blended with ethanol. Ethanol is lost through vaporization and contamination during this process. Gasoline/ethanol fuel blends that have been contaminated with water degrade the efficiency of combustion. E-85 ethanol is corrosive to the seals and fuel systems of most of our existing engines (including boats, generators, lawn mowers, hand power tools, etc.), and can not be dispensed through existing gas station pumps. And finally, ethanol has about 30 percent less energy per gallon than gasoline. That means the fuel economy of a vehicle running on E-85 will be about 25% less than a comparable vehicle running on gasoline.

So. How much does the consumer pay for a gallon of corn ethanol? With the increase in food prices, transporting, blending etc estimates now show the cost (direct and indirect) of producing ethanol will approximately $6.89/gallon .

Answer 4

Oil companies win in this bill because it requires burning fossil fuels to produce ethanol. it is terrible that legislaters refuse to research wind and solar power but have no problem dumping money into ethanol that will end up in big oil's pockets anyway. and its about time they increase fuel economy standards.
you bring up a good point that we are sacrificing land to grow fuel for our cars, by losing land that used to grow food for people.

ethanol is not the answer. ethanol is what car manufacturers and oil companies want to see as alternative fuel.

Answer 5

Harry Reid only ever says anything for a reason. It may not be a reason that any of us would ever approve of and it often is not a reason that he has ever told to anyone, but if he does something perplexing, you just have not looked hard enough.