ethanol
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The Senate likes ethanol slightly less than it used to
For years, Washington has been really gung-ho about putting corn (America’s crop!) into cars (America’s bikes!), and has supported corn ethanol production with a suite of subsidies. But now senators are ready to say: “With food prices rising, we're not so comfortable with that! Maybe people should eat the corn instead, in the form of some kind of high-fructose syrup.” esterday, the Senate passed a measure that would end a 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit for ethanol producers.
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SciAm op-ed: Kill biofuels to solve the food crisis
With the Senate successfully passing an amendment to end the 45-cent-per-gallon ethanol subsidy for American refiners and the 54-cent tariff on imported ethanol, I thought I'd point to this terrific op-ed in Scientific American on how to solve the food crisis. According to author Timothy Searchinger of Princeton University, it's the biofuels, stupid.
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Critical List: Floods herald largest Gulf dead zone on record; the Senate hearts ethanol
Louisiana fishermen can't catch a break. Flooding on the Mississippi River could create the largest dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico on record.
Louisiana, in general, can't catch a break. A plant that blends chemicals used in oilfields exploded on Tuesday.
The Senate decided against ending subsidies for corn-based ethanol in a vote that split, not just along party lines, but also between Big Ag states and everyone else.
Google's newest clean energy investment hands $280 million to a solar company that leases panels to customers. -
Critical List: More Midwest deaths after storms; White House, NASCAR go green
More deaths in the Midwest after storms hit Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Some areas of Texas have received less than one-fifth the normal amount of rain in the last six months. The drought has cost $1.5 billion so far. But these catastrophes are totally unrelated, right? Bill McKibben takes his sarcastic stick to anyone who'll […]
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Tim Pawlenty is not interested in winning Iowa
Here’s a great way to start your campaign in Iowa: Tell them you want to phase out ethanol subsidies. Classic Tim Pawlenty! Does he even want to be president? Grist is no fan of corn ethanol, mind you — if you have a spare moment you should get Tom or Dave started, it’s super entertaining. […]
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Government-backed corn ethanol lurches on, paving a road to nowhere
During the Bush II administration, I used to groan that the closest thing we had to a concerted policy response to climate change was the federal government’s slew of goodies for corn-based ethanol. It was a monumentally depressing situation, because propping up corn-derived fuel is expensive and (despite industry hype) doesn’t actually do much, if […]
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Ron Paul hates energy subsidies, doubts climate change, and loves riding his bike
No war for oil, and no action for climate, says Ron Paul.Photo: Gage SkidmoreRon Paul kicked off his presidential bid on Tuesday, in the customary loosey-goosey exploratory-committee way. As standard-bearer for the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, the U.S. rep from southeast Texas has a small but diehard following. His fans will make some […]
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Europe to turn Africans into fuel
After discovering the disastrous consequences of turning its own food crops into fuel, China has turned to cassava — mostly from southeast Asia — as a source for biofuels. Europe, meanwhile, is buying up tracts of "marginal land" in Africa in order to grow jatropha for biofuels. In the U.S., of course, it's corn for […]
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Why it’s a good idea to put sugar water in your gas tank
Photo: Alexander KaiserWouldn’t it be awesome if we could solve our waste problem and our fuel problem simultaneously, by turning one into the other? Okay, we’re nowhere near the stage where you can just scrape your plate into your car, but there are an increasing number of procedures for turning useless crap into fuel. Most […]