The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 432
In the same vein, I'm wondering why there is no general hue and cry to
stop new vineyards and hop fields from being planted. I don't know how
much you guys know about wine and beer, but as a wine and beer aficionado, I can tell you that we don't need any new wines or beers. We have
plenty, and there's never a shortage at supermarkets and liquor stores.
Perhaps the American Council For Capital Formation should address the
crucial over-supply of wine and beer issue at a later time.
And don't forget that all of these golf courses, campuses, residential communities and an ever-increasing number of vineyards and hop fields require care and maintenance that utilizes tractors, lawn mowers, small engine tools, other service vehicles, and of course all the personal internal
combustion engine vehicles driven by the patrons, employees, students,
home owners, etc. I can't even imagine the quantity of harmful emissions
spewing out of all these machines. Do you think Dr. Ugarte has an agricultural model that can calculate this?
Something else just occurred to me, Dr. Ugarte does know that all of
these activities involve soil erosion, doesn't he? If so, how can he in good
conscience worry about soil erosion from corn farming? Maybe if everybody just stayed home and lived off the nutrients carried in the air and
vitamins from natural sunlight we'd all be better off?
Incidentally, how much harmful engine emissions and soil erosion goes
on around the world that's caused by military efforts that are needed to
defend oil production and shipping. Let's see, there are aircraft carriers,
destroyers, tanks, jet fighters, tankers, jet bombers, jeeps, Humvees, staff
cars, bombs exploding, and the production of all the materiel. There's also
the loss of American lives, but I'm sure you guys can't concern yourselves
over these trivial people.
But what really makes me wonder if Dr. Ugarte knows anything about the
overall issue of using ethanol for fuel is his (and ACCF's) overall attack
on biofuels. He and you act as if fossil fuels are not poison; as if the entire
fossil fuel industry has not required trillions of dollars in subsidies; as if
gasoline and petroleum diesel do not damage engines; as if gasoline is a
superior fuel to ethanol; as if there are no environmental and health problems arising from fossil fuel production and use; and as if ethanol (or a
logical anti-knock ingredient) is not needed in high-compression engines.
Without ethanol, we have leaded gasoline or gasoline with MTBE or gasoline loaded with toluene.
