Giuliani, and Energy Independence
Lamenting American dependence on foreign oil, and America’s lackluster performance with regards to alternative fuels, Rudy Giuliani basks in the middle of a cornfield, telling corn farmers how he can use the strong arm of the government to make them rich. Using buzz-words like energy-independence probably helps, too. (via Yahoo)
Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani argued he can lead the country away from reliance on foreign oil with increases in ethanol production and nuclear power.
Sure. And you could grow a vinyard in Scotland, if you’re so inclined. But the wine would be “about thirty times the expence for which at least equally good can be brought from foreign countries.” That’s why the Scots make Scotch whisky, and trade it to the French, the Australians, the Californians, etc., for wine. The road to self-sufficiency is the road to poverty.
“But we’ve got Brazil way ahead of us on ethanol. It doesn’t make sense that Brazil, per capita, would be ahead of us on ethanol.”
It doesn’t? Of course it makes sense. The article continues:
The United States produces and uses more gallons of ethanol fuel than Brazil — a relatively recent development — although Brazil remains the world’s largest exporter. Ethanol is made from sugar in Brazil and from corn in the U.S., where government farm policy keeps sugar prices higher and limits supply.
A-ha! The reason we can’t get ethanol as cheaply as the Brazilians is probably not because we’re stupider, or have less capital with which to work. No. We are prohibited, we are not allowed to produce ethanol from sugar in an economically viable manner.*
This man is a scary-dangerous idiot.
* For the record, I’m not convinced that ethanol is at all productive. But that’s beside the point.
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Meanwhile, Mexico’s poor are getting slammed by rising tortilla prices due to ethanol-driven demand for corn. So too will beef and milk prices here (cows eat corn).
But it will probably take the nascent increase in beer prices (as farmers switch from barley to corn) before semi-literate, Main Street America figures it out.
Don’t forget about $4 Milk.
Given our huge demand for energy, and the growing thrist in India and China (which will eventually dwarf us as they liberalize their markets)politicians must realize we have only three main options for ending our need for foreign oil:
More coal-fired plants.
Start drilling the ANWR for oil.
Build nuclear plants.
So if Giuliani is serious about nuclear, I’ll give a listen. But somehow I doubt it.
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