Great to have my long winded twin back!

Wayne,

If we took away demand from ethanol, corn prices would probably drop below $2. I am not for that. 

I am for the US to be energy independent. The best way that we can do that is to maximize usage of our massive supply of fossil fuels. As you mentioned, the US has alot of crude oil which is being extracted with new technologies.

The US has more coal than any other country on the planet......something like 200 years worth.  The US has 100 years worth of electricity generating natural gas.

The US also grows more corn than any other country and has been able to use almost half of that to make ethanol for fuel, thanks to record production.......mostly because of climate change/the best weather/climate in over 1,000 years, along with advances in technology. 

The Huuuuuuuuge problem happens when there is a drought or short crop of corn in the US. With a huuuuuge demand base, prices MUST soar higher to ration the limited supply.  That's why corn went to $8, 5 years ago.

This does not happen with fossil fuels we develop at home. They have been in the ground for 1 million years. It doesn't matter if we have droughts, floods or extreme weather(some of it does increase demand for cooling and heating) which can(will) cut the corn crop down in some years, those fossil fuels supplies are much more dependable.............whether the wind blows or the sun shines(other renewable s). 

I am all for renewable energy. I am an environmentalist for conserving natural resources and minimizing pollution.  There is no conflict in having this position and being for fossil fuels.............just the opposite.

The increase in beneficial CO2 from burning fossil fuels and best weather in 1,000 years is CAUSING corn yields to be much higher. This is affording us the luxury to use 40% of the corn crop for fuel. 

If I was a producer, I would also be a big cheerleader for corn ethanol and see all the positives for agricultural income and economic opportunities. This is a huge plus. 

With regards to reliable, cheap and efficient energy with less pollution.......renewables don't hold a candle to fossil fuels. But you and your fellow farmers, who I greatly respect see it subjectively. 

You  are not going on forums touting the importance of solar and wind power because solar and wind power doesn't contribute to your income. There is nothing wrong with that.  Whatever business a person is in, if they believe in it, they should be selling the positives...........even if it means they  often see a biased/distorted picture that is skewed towards benefiting their pocketbook. 

This is on an entirely different energy topic but it just came to me by email. I am not advocating this position and have not done enough research to even have a position on this specific topic(dishwashers) but it's worth looking at to try to understand it................if that's interesting to you/me.

Make dishwashers fast again Mike,   If you brought home any new appliances recently, you no doubt noticed something strange. They look great, but take forever to work. The Department of Energy is considering fixing this problem, specifically when it comes to dishwashers, and has asked for public comment.  Please join CFACT and make a comment to the Department of Energy.  Ask them to make our dishwashers fast again.  Commenting is quick and easy.  The deadline is June 25th, so why not do it now? How many hours should it take to wash a load of dishes or clothes?  How about less than one. In fact, prior to 1983 most dishwashers did cycle in under an hour … but then government bureaucrats got to work “fixing” things. DOE began regulating dishwashers that same year, and Congress joined the act in 1987 by passing the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) establishing efficiency standards dishwashers. Nothing has worked quite as well since. Even worse, very little energy is saved by these standards.  And while water use has been cut somewhat – a typical dishwasher might have used 10 gallons in the 80’s and only 5 gallons today – no one knows how much this “savings” is offset by people having to wash clothes twice in order to get the really tough stains out. What we are wasting, on the other hand, is a lot of human time. Labor saving devices were among the great advancements of the 20th century.  They freed people to use their time in more productive and satisfying ways. Green ideology led the Department of Energy to make our appliances slow and ineffective.  The cult of scarcity that drove past decisions doesn't hold up when we examine the facts. Please make a quick comment to the Department of Energy right now and let's make our dishwashers fast again. For nature and people too,

Given the price of ethanol vs fossil fuel

My thinking was that blender pumps would lower the cost of pump gas and increase useage of ethanol

Perhaps people would choose E-15 or E-20 blend

Plus with no mandate for ethanol the ethanol haters would be happy

MY point was that blender pumps would increase the useage of  ethanol, due to lower price for E-15 or E-20 vs pump gas with no ethanol if they had the choice and it was cheaper to fill the tank with what ever blend you want

You still need a clean octane booster and ethanol is the cheapest source of safe and clean octane booster

Maybe I am wrong??

I agree with the dish washer thing

We finally had to buy a new dish washer

Seems soap and dish clothes are out of style

Our new dish washer takes hours to do a load

No way to measure water useage