Ethanol IS a good thing

I hope that my blog hasn't seemed too alarmist so far. I do not want to suggest that ethanol is this horrible thing that will irreparably damage the Chesapeake Bay and will make beef and poultry $15 per pound. I just want to give air to certain things in regards to ethanol that I feel aren't emphasized enough. The main things that are being emphasized (more than others) are that ethanol reduces our dependency on foreign oil (it could) and that it reduces harmful emissions from the cars that everyone drive (it does).

Of course, if you are trying to sell a car to someone, for instance, you are not going to say "this car is worthless. It breaks down when I just look at it, much less drive it." If you say this, and still think that you are going to sell the car, well I wish you the best of luck. This idea applies to "selling" the idea of ethanol. The proponents of ethanol are not going to emphasize what is bad about it. My goal is not as much to emphasize the bad about ethanol, but rather to present a balanced picture of it.

I just wanted to make that clear. Now, on to how ethanol can be a good thing. Ethanol will undoubtedly contribute to the economy. More ethanol being produced means an increased demand for corn. An increased demand for corn means farmers will have bigger and better profits from their corn crops.

However, as I've mentioned, higher corn prices do drive up the price of poultry and beef. Ethanol will not be THE thing that will wean our dependence on foreign oil. But, as I've also said, it is a good place to start.