A friend posted a You-Tube video by Minnesotans for Global Warming. It's not only funny, but makes some good points. However, what is even better is their website which is full of pertinent information regarding what's going on with the weather and the politics surrounding it.
I love the quote from Congressman Bachmann regarding the refusal of the Democrats to open up more areas of the U.S. for drilling for oil: "It's like having a room full of hungry children and a pantry full of food with a lock on it." Go check out the M4GW website!
Showing posts with label ethanol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ethanol. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Ethanol Ads
My husband tells me he's hearing ads now from desperate ethanol producers who are out to make us realize that ethanol has NOTHING to do with rising food costs. No! Of course not! Because [get this!] they aren't producing ethanol out of the corn we eat for food. Oh, no! They are just using the feed corn.
Well, of course. The feed corn for the animals is what's going into our fuel tanks. Not the food we humans eat! See? NOTHING to worry about!
Are they really so stupid as to think we don't realize the animals' feed corn is what provides us with milk, butter, cheese, eggs, beef, chicken, and pork? Good grief!
(And the scary thing is ... what if they're right, and we are stupid enough to buy into this propoganda???)
Well, of course. The feed corn for the animals is what's going into our fuel tanks. Not the food we humans eat! See? NOTHING to worry about!
Are they really so stupid as to think we don't realize the animals' feed corn is what provides us with milk, butter, cheese, eggs, beef, chicken, and pork? Good grief!
(And the scary thing is ... what if they're right, and we are stupid enough to buy into this propoganda???)
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Fetching Our Own Oil
From the Chicago Tribune: "Obama has said he opposes lifting the federal ban on offshore drilling. And on Friday he promised a moratorium on the practice. Now he will find out if the pain voters are feeling at the pump will be inflicted upon him for his position."
McCain still doesn't have the right position on drilling in Alaska or easing up restrictions on producing our own oil. But at least he's starting to talk about getting oil from the Gulf and temporarily reducing the enormous gasoline taxes. Now if only he could get 'em all to begin undoing the damaging demands for more and more ethanol.
McCain still doesn't have the right position on drilling in Alaska or easing up restrictions on producing our own oil. But at least he's starting to talk about getting oil from the Gulf and temporarily reducing the enormous gasoline taxes. Now if only he could get 'em all to begin undoing the damaging demands for more and more ethanol.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Janesville
After news of the GM plant closing, the city I love(d) is dealing with more devastation. This time it's flooding. The paper has a variety of stories, but none of the stories told me what I'd heard from Janesville people: that the library may have to close because of flooding and that the bridges are being compromised.
When we read about the signs of the end of the world, the floods and earthquakes and wars, I realized that those things would mean ruin and mess and injury and death. But something else crossed my mind this weekend. It also means ruined crops. And later, food shortages.
Gas prices are rising. Food prices are rising. There are shortages of food in other parts of the world. Our government has mandated that we need to put a certain amount of corn into making inefficient fuel for our vehicles. And now God has destroyed a whole lot of the corn crops. Even those of us with dry basements, even people in other countries, are going to be feeling the sting of these floods. (But not at all as much as those who are losing their homes and possessions!)
When we read about the signs of the end of the world, the floods and earthquakes and wars, I realized that those things would mean ruin and mess and injury and death. But something else crossed my mind this weekend. It also means ruined crops. And later, food shortages.
Gas prices are rising. Food prices are rising. There are shortages of food in other parts of the world. Our government has mandated that we need to put a certain amount of corn into making inefficient fuel for our vehicles. And now God has destroyed a whole lot of the corn crops. Even those of us with dry basements, even people in other countries, are going to be feeling the sting of these floods. (But not at all as much as those who are losing their homes and possessions!)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Gas Prices
An excellent point heard on Mark Belling's show today:
The Democrats want the Saudis to increase the supply of oil. There isn't enough available; that's causing the price to rise. An increased supply would help keep prices from sky-rocketing so badly.
So why are they so dead-set against AMERICA increasing the oil supply? If we need more, why don't they change a few environmental policies and a few tax policies and a few OSHA policies so that we can GET the oil we HAVE instead of asking the Saudis for more?
The Democrats want the Saudis to increase the supply of oil. There isn't enough available; that's causing the price to rise. An increased supply would help keep prices from sky-rocketing so badly.
So why are they so dead-set against AMERICA increasing the oil supply? If we need more, why don't they change a few environmental policies and a few tax policies and a few OSHA policies so that we can GET the oil we HAVE instead of asking the Saudis for more?
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Scary
Between using our soil to grow ethanol and drought/war conditions in parts of the world, the price of food is going up. (Oh! You may have noticed that??) Some stores are now beginning to ration rice. Now I'm pondering what the neighbors would think if I grew wheat instead of grass. And would I know how to harvest and thresh it if I did?
Ethanol to prevent global warming -- when we're having news reports of an impending ice age. (Good grief! If that's true, we're just making things WORSE with the whole "fight global warming" trend!) Ethanol running up the cost of groceries here and causing starvation in poorer nations. WHY is it so hard for politicians to stand up for what's right and let the oil companies start drilling for all that oil in Alaska and North Dakota and the Gulf??
Ethanol to prevent global warming -- when we're having news reports of an impending ice age. (Good grief! If that's true, we're just making things WORSE with the whole "fight global warming" trend!) Ethanol running up the cost of groceries here and causing starvation in poorer nations. WHY is it so hard for politicians to stand up for what's right and let the oil companies start drilling for all that oil in Alaska and North Dakota and the Gulf??
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Dakota Maid Flour
For years I have used Dakota Maid flour. The price was ideal -- less than half of Gold Medal or Pillsbury. The product was superior. I couldn't figure out why it was priced so nicely.
I know food prices have gone up. (Those blasted politicians and the global-warming elitists and their ethanol....) But what has happened to my flour prices has boggled the mind. 79 cents up to a year ago. Then 89 cents a bag. Up to $1.29 in fall. Up to $1.89 in January. This week it was $3.39 for a 5#-bag. Yikesy!! This time I bought King Arthur instead.
Wondering what happened, I started web-searching. Turns out that the Dakota Mill is the only government-owned mill in the country. I have this sinking feeling that someone discovered that their prices were low, and decided to quadruple the price to make up for having sold their product for too little for so many years. Granted, it's a superb product, but not many people are going to continue on as customers when the flour costs 50% more than the name-brand products.
I know food prices have gone up. (Those blasted politicians and the global-warming elitists and their ethanol....) But what has happened to my flour prices has boggled the mind. 79 cents up to a year ago. Then 89 cents a bag. Up to $1.29 in fall. Up to $1.89 in January. This week it was $3.39 for a 5#-bag. Yikesy!! This time I bought King Arthur instead.
Wondering what happened, I started web-searching. Turns out that the Dakota Mill is the only government-owned mill in the country. I have this sinking feeling that someone discovered that their prices were low, and decided to quadruple the price to make up for having sold their product for too little for so many years. Granted, it's a superb product, but not many people are going to continue on as customers when the flour costs 50% more than the name-brand products.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Food Availability
Spent some time chatting with one of the local farmers on Saturday. He's getting near retirement age and ready to quit. Of course, ethanol came up. He says that, right now, hog farmers are spending twice as much to raise a pig as they can sell it for. It costs 50% more to raise a cow than the farmer can sell it for. That's what ethanol is doing to the farmers. So the grocery prices have sky-rocketed, and they're not anywhere close to as high as they're going to get ... even IF farmers stayed in the business of farming.
If young people don't go into farming, and the older farmers retire or give up, where will our food be coming from in another 20 years? How much will it cost? Are Americans willing to spend ¼ or ½ of their income on food? What would that do to our economy? Are we willing to ignore the oil in Alaska and the Gulf, and instead use our food-producing soil for production of inefficient fuel? We're afraid of being dependent on the middle-east for oil, but we're willing to be dependent on other countries for the food we need to stay alive??
I remember a conversation about 20 years ago where people were talking about a drought-year. They said the farmers were complaining, but that didn't matter to non-farmers because they could just water their lawns and gardens with a hose. And they buy their food at the grocery store. Not like those farmers who grow their own. These ding-dongs even suggested that the farmers might have to start buying food at the grocery store, too, if it was a bad year and they couldn't grow their own. Are we really that clueless about where food comes from???
Every now and then, I think it might be better for our family to be content here (even if there's no income) because here I at least have a couple of acres of dirt. Well, actually, clay. But it's theoretically possible that I could have a big garden and raise chickens and keep a Jersey cow. I keep thinking how the people in the country suffered less during the Depression than did the people in the cities.
If young people don't go into farming, and the older farmers retire or give up, where will our food be coming from in another 20 years? How much will it cost? Are Americans willing to spend ¼ or ½ of their income on food? What would that do to our economy? Are we willing to ignore the oil in Alaska and the Gulf, and instead use our food-producing soil for production of inefficient fuel? We're afraid of being dependent on the middle-east for oil, but we're willing to be dependent on other countries for the food we need to stay alive??
I remember a conversation about 20 years ago where people were talking about a drought-year. They said the farmers were complaining, but that didn't matter to non-farmers because they could just water their lawns and gardens with a hose. And they buy their food at the grocery store. Not like those farmers who grow their own. These ding-dongs even suggested that the farmers might have to start buying food at the grocery store, too, if it was a bad year and they couldn't grow their own. Are we really that clueless about where food comes from???
Every now and then, I think it might be better for our family to be content here (even if there's no income) because here I at least have a couple of acres of dirt. Well, actually, clay. But it's theoretically possible that I could have a big garden and raise chickens and keep a Jersey cow. I keep thinking how the people in the country suffered less during the Depression than did the people in the cities.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Another Ethanol Rant
I got stuck having to fill (I mean, FILL) the tank with ethanol-laced gasoline. After driving on it for a few days and topping off the tank, I discovered that instead of 29 mpg on real gas, I got 20 mpg on the corny stuff. That means I'm gonna have to pay FIFTY PERCENT MORE for gas when I can't find real gas anymore. That stinks. Who came up with the bright idea to "save gas" by making our fuel-economy nosedive???
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Mileage
There were three local stations that I could patronize that sold real, non-ethanol gas. Two of them switched over to the corn-stuff in the last couple of weeks. Now I must fill the tank every single time I'm near the one remaining Real-Gas gas station, even if I only need a couple of gallons.
Last week, I pulled into one of the three stations, had my credit card in the machine, had the gas cap unscrewed, and already was putting the nozzle into the tank, when I saw the sticker by the button for 87-octane: "May contain up to 10% ethanol." Argh! What to do; what to do? So I went ahead and pumped the gas. "How much difference could it make?" I thought. After all, I only needed 1/4 tank. So I drove for a week with 3/4 of my gas being real, and 1/4 being corn.
Today I filled up. I've been getting 28 miles to the gallon. Today I computed that I got 25 mpg since my ethanol-laced fill-up. That's a 10% decrease in mileage.
Now, lets' think about this. Ten percent (or less) of my fuel purchase last week was ethanol. That means the corn was only 2-3% of what was in my tank. However, I got 10% worse mileage.
Good grief! If the corn were simple FILLER, my mileage would've been 3% worse. But it was 10% worse. It's like that corn-stuff handicapped my Real Gas.
And they're trying to tell us ethanol is good for the environment? We have to use the same amount of Real Gas (or more) to get to where we're driving. But we get to pay more for it because it's been "thinned down" by the ethanol mixed in. Seems to me that anybody who wants to be green would be running away from ethanol as fast as possible. And so would anybody who's not particularly green, but who prefers to keep as much cash as possible available for expenses more interesting than gasoline.
Last week, I pulled into one of the three stations, had my credit card in the machine, had the gas cap unscrewed, and already was putting the nozzle into the tank, when I saw the sticker by the button for 87-octane: "May contain up to 10% ethanol." Argh! What to do; what to do? So I went ahead and pumped the gas. "How much difference could it make?" I thought. After all, I only needed 1/4 tank. So I drove for a week with 3/4 of my gas being real, and 1/4 being corn.
Today I filled up. I've been getting 28 miles to the gallon. Today I computed that I got 25 mpg since my ethanol-laced fill-up. That's a 10% decrease in mileage.
Now, lets' think about this. Ten percent (or less) of my fuel purchase last week was ethanol. That means the corn was only 2-3% of what was in my tank. However, I got 10% worse mileage.
Good grief! If the corn were simple FILLER, my mileage would've been 3% worse. But it was 10% worse. It's like that corn-stuff handicapped my Real Gas.
And they're trying to tell us ethanol is good for the environment? We have to use the same amount of Real Gas (or more) to get to where we're driving. But we get to pay more for it because it's been "thinned down" by the ethanol mixed in. Seems to me that anybody who wants to be green would be running away from ethanol as fast as possible. And so would anybody who's not particularly green, but who prefers to keep as much cash as possible available for expenses more interesting than gasoline.
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