The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 301
millions upon millions of dollars that they give every year to politicians and those
who are in the hip pockets of the oil/gasoline industry.
After watching the Stossel/Taylor and Fridley videos I sent them both emails
expressing how appalled I was at their lack of knowledge and recitation of lies,
and I offered various facts that contradict their statements. Mr. Fridley sent a
very nice reply in which he only stated what he had said in the video. He had
no answers to the points I raised. Mr. Taylor replied a bit differently. He wrote:
“You will have to be more specific with regards to my appalling ignorance.
But before you pipe up, make sure you're not demonstrating any of your
own.” He included a link to a report he wrote for the Federal Reserve
Bank of St. Louis, titled “An Economic Critique of Corn-Ethanol Subsidies.” (https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/jerrytaylor_aneconomiccritiqueofcornethanolsubsidies_2009.pdf)
Now I have to admit that taking on a scientist at the prestigious Lawrence-Livermore Lab and a guy described as “among the most widely cited and influential
critics of federal energy and environmental policy in the nation” is pretty heady
stuff for a simple little man like me who hails from the backwoods of Brooklyn,
NY; but the good thing is that when you catch a rascal with his hands full of
misinformation, it’s really not so daunting a task.
So, after reading Jerry Taylor’s report to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis,
I sent him the following email:
Hi Jerry Thank you for having taken the time and having the interest to respond to my
email. I also appreciate you sending me the link to the report you wrote for the
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
I read it and I will comment on it below, along with addressing the specific problems I have with your responses to John Stossel in the video interview he conducted with you. To make sure you know the video interview that I am referring
to, you can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9QQcP_Y1II. It may be
available at other places on the web as well.
In my initial email to you, I wrote that I was “absolutely appalled at how little you
know (or knew) about the subject (of ethanol). I hope you learned something
since you did that video.” I then asked, “How can the Cato Institute be for
